Video: The Swon Brothers performing tonight on “The Voice” Top 10
The Swon Brothers
“The Voice” live playoffs continue at 7 tonight on NBC, and Muskogee’s The Swon Brothers will be performing, along with the rest of the Top 10.
Oklahomans Zach and Colton Swon are the first duo to make it to “The Voice” live rounds, but their minds won’t just be on the show tonight, considering the destructive and deadly tornadoes that have ripped through the state Sunday and earlier today.
“We need and appreciate your votes tonight, but more importantly we need your prayers for our friends and family in Oklahoma. Thanks y’all,” they posted tonight on Twitter (@TheSwonBrothers).
The devastating tornadoes also are on the mind of the Swon siblings’ celebrity coach, Oklahoma country music superstar Blake Shelton:
“Just landed in LA and hearing about all the tornados in Oklahoma right now… Get somewhere safe!!!” Shelton posted a few hours ago on Twitter (@blakeshelton).
The reality show will not air tonight on KFOR, the local NBC affiliate, due to the ongoing storm coverage. I’m going to follow along tonight on Twitter @NBCTheVoice. NBC is good about making video clips and episodes available online at www.nbc.com/the-voice.
Here is your “The Voice” Season 4 Top 10:
Team Blake: The Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbury, Holly Tucker.
Team Adam: Judith Hill, Amber Carrington, Sarah Simmons.
Team Shakira: Kris Thomas, Sasha Allen.
Team Usher: Josiah Hawley, Michelle Chamuel.
-BAM
Video: For his 61st birthday, George Strait becomes 1st artist in music history to achieve 60 No. 1 singles
Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait became the first music artist in history, regardless of genre, to place 60 songs at the top of the charts when Mediabase named “Give It All We Got Tonight” as this week’s most played song on country radio, according to a news release that came out today.
The song is the first single from Strait’s new album “Love Is Everything,” released last week. “Give It All We Got Tonight” was written by Mark Bright, Tim James, and Phil O’Donnell.
“I didn’t realize we were making history — I just hoped we were putting out music that my fans would enjoy,” said Strait in the release. “As always, I’m thankful to the fans and country radio for their support on all 60 of these number one songs as well as my entire career. They are the ones who made this happen.”
Strait fans, radio stations and some of country music’s biggest artists joined the “Sixty For Sixty” movement at sixtyforsixty.com to accomplish the historic career milestone — giving the Texas troubadour his 60th No. 1 single, while he was 60 years old. It came down to the wire, as Strait turned 61 on Saturday, May 18, but in the words of the man himself, “I may be 61, but I don’t feel a day over 60.”
“The amount of support shown by fans, industry and especially country radio to give George his 60th No. 1 single is the ultimate testament in a format that has been defined by his music,” said Royce Risser, SVP Promotion for Universal Music Group Nashville, in the release. “No one is more deserving of this accomplishment than George Strait, the undeniable King of Country Music. Happy Birthday, George!”
“Love Is Everything,” which Strait co-produced with longtime collaborator Tony Brown, is receiving stellar reviews during its first week of release, including:
‘This veteran may hang up his traveling boots, but his consistency as a recording artist isn’t slowing down.” — Associated Press
“In the case of Love Is Everything, it truly is an album worth giving a listen to, and then again, and then again. Strait and longtime producer Tony Brown have assembled incredible material – which granted, is a given with a Strait album. If you haven’t bought a Strait release in a few years, this might be the one!” – Billboard
“[George] shows he hasn’t lost a step in the studio. (**** out of four).” – USA Today
Strait kicked off 2013 in high gear for the first leg of his “The Cowboy Rides Away Tour,” which included a sold-out show at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena. Only the June 1 show in San Antonio’s Alamodome remains in the sold-out tour. Known as the “house they built for George,” the Alamodome sold out within an astounding six minutes of going on sale.
Strait is the highest-ranked country act on Pollstar’s 2013 Worldwide Tickets Chart. Dates for the second leg of his tour, taking place in 2014, will be announced later this year.
In this “Sixty For Sixty,” a tearful Miranda Lambert, who lives in Tishomingo, explains how George helped mend a rift with her father while she was touring with the King of Country Music:
-BAM
John Fullbright’s Summer Breeze Concert postponed to June 9
NORMAN – Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter John Fullbright, who hails from Bearden, was scheduled to kick off the annual Summer Breeze Concert Series Sunday night with a full-band show, but the outdoor event was canceled due to tornadoes and severe storms in central Oklahoma.
The outdoor concert has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 9, said Fullbright’s manager, Greg Johnson.
Summer Breeze Concerts are produced by the Performing Arts Studio. All concerts are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. Sundays in Lions Park, Symmes Street and Flood Avenue.
The next Summer Breeze show is set for June 2 and will feature Austin, Texas, band The Gourds. To see the full Summer Breeze lineup or get more information, go to www.thepas.org.
To read my recent feature on John Fullbright, click here.
-BAM
UPDATED: What to do in Oklahoma on May 20, 2013: Hear Tiger High at Kamps Lounge
Tiger High
UPDATED at 2:05 p.m. Monday: Word from organizers is that tonight’s show has been canceled because more severe storms and possible tornadoes are forecast for tonight. The concert is expected to be rescheduled in late August. Look for updates on the new date on the Kamps or Tiger High Facebook pages. Stay safe tonight, everyone! – BAM
Today’s featured event:
Hear Memphis, Tennessee-based band Tiger High play at 10 tonight at Kamps Lounge, 1310 NW 25 Street. The Garden and Cosmonauts will open the show.
The sophomore release “Catacombs After Party” from psychedelic garage rock quartet Tiger High is available now via Burger Records and Trashy Creatures Records.
For more information, go to www.kamps1310lounge.com or www.facebook.com/KampsLounge.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Graduation advice 2013: Red dirt music star Jason Boland
The full version of this story, which appears in Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman, was compiled by The Oklahoman’s Features and Entertainment Staff, including yours truly. To read graduation advice from other Oklahomans, go to NewsOK.com.
Beyond ‘laugh often,’ ‘live much’: unique words of wisdom
If they knew then what they know now, here is what an assortment of Oklahomans would say to today’s graduates — or wish they had heard at their own graduation.
Thousands of Oklahoma students are graduating in the month of May; many this weekend. We asked some notable and interesting Oklahomans what they’d say to this year’s graduates, or what they wish they would have heard at their graduations. Here’s what one of them had to say:
Jason Boland, red dirt music star, Harrah native, former Oklahoma State University student: ‘Do something with meaning’
“Go on to college. Go try to keep believing in something that’s a little bit greater than maybe just how we trade for food or buy a place to live. …
“I was going to college and just not really knowing what I wanted to do. That’s why I don’t really take lightly what (red dirt music pioneers) Bob Childers and Randy Crouch and Tom Skinner and Brad Piccolo and John Cooper and Ben Han and all those guys, what they meant. Because they said don’t be afraid and do something you love. … The rest will work itself out. Do something with meaning. …
“I do not want to wax Bill and Ted here, but have some fun but not too much fun, you crazy kids. … Enjoy it and don’t get lost in the enjoyment.”
-BAM
Graduation advice 2013: Toby and Krystal Keith
Toby Keith and his daughter, Krystal, perform during the 38th annual Country Music Awards, held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, November 9, 2004. After theri duet “Mockingbird” became a hit, Krystal was eager to embark on her music career, but her dad made her go to college first. Her first EP was released last month. (AP file)
The full version of this story, which appears in Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman, was compiled by The Oklahoman’s Features and Entertainment Staff, including yours truly. To read graduation advice from other Oklahomans, go to NewsOK.com.
Beyond ‘laugh often,’ ‘live much’: unique words of wisdom
If they knew then what they know now, here is what an assortment of Oklahomans would say to today’s graduates — or wish they had heard at their own graduation.
Thousands of Oklahoma students are graduating in the month of May; many this weekend. We asked some notable and interesting Oklahomans what they’d say to this year’s graduates, or what they wish they would have heard at their graduations.
First on our list are thoughts about college from a father-daughter team, Oklahoma country music superstar Toby Keith, who wanted his daughter to go to college, and his daughter, Krystal Keith, emerging recording artist, who didn’t:
Toby Keith, 51, Oklahoma country music superstar: ‘Be relentless’
“You just have to be really careful because some of these colleges are teaching such a political view in classes that have nothing to do with politics … but I still think it’s important. You just have to research it. Find your way. Have a game plan and carry it out.
“And be relentless. Don’t let anybody outwork you. I told them the day I signed my record deal, ‘There may be people out-sing or out-write me or sell more tickets than me or more records than me, but they’ll never outwork me.’ And they never did. There was no one that put in the time that we did. …
“So be productive, have a plan and carry it out. And give back.”
——————————————————————–
Krystal Keith, 27, emerging Oklahoma country music recording artist who just released her first EP, daughter of country superstar Toby Keith and University of Oklahoma graduate
“After high school, I was like ‘Nashville, here I come.’ And he (her country superstar dad, Toby Keith) was like, ‘No, I said college.’ I was like, ‘No you didn’t. You just said graduation,’ and he’s like ‘college graduation.’
“I kind of thought that I would work my way out of having to go to college. I got to do ‘Mockingbird’ (a hit duet with her dad), and I had the fever. So I kind of didn’t really take school seriously the first year or two, and he did not give in. I thought that he would eventually be like, ‘OK, college isn’t your thing; let’s just go into music.’ And he held his ground and just was really firm on it. Finally, I was just like ‘You know what, he’s not giving in. I’ve gotta get this over with or I’ll never have a music career.’ And I literally did four years of school in 2 ½ years; I took every intercession, everything. …
“He definitely knew what he was doing. I can’t tell you how immensely important the experience of college was on my life, just finding out who you are and just getting life experience and being around other people. The whole experience matures you, so to have the life skills and life knowledge I have now, it helps me with my writing. It helps me with every aspect of my career. You know, I took business classes, so that helps me on the business side of it. If I would have gone into this industry at 18, there’s no telling where I’d be right now. No telling. It really gives you the opportunity to become who you need to be to survive in this world.
“I fought it, and I’m actually thinking about getting my MBA now. So to go from somebody that really fought having to go to college at all to somebody that’s considering an MBA just because I want it is a pretty big turnaround I would say.”
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on May 19, 2013: See Perpetual Motion Dance Company’s “Water Won’t Wait” (with video)
Today’s featured event:
See the final performance of Perpetual Motion Dance Company’s spring production “Water Won’t Wait” at 2 p.m. today at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at State Fair Park, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.
“Water Won’t Wait” is a new and original production featuring the modern dance company’s signature blend of stunning visuals and technical ingenuity as it delves into the fear, despair, and courage inspired by the unalterable current of time. “Water Won’t Wait” emerged from conversations between Perpetual Motion’s Artistic Director Michelle Moeller and Aerial Arts Director Kimberly Kieffer, who both recently experienced major life changes.
“The idea is that our lives are like water, so even if there is a wall, we will go right through it,” Kieffer said in a news release. “If we are sharp water, the wall will move out in front of us. If not, we will get beaten up in the process of getting through, but one way or another, we are going through the wall.”
Moeller believes the universal struggle of change will give audiences a chance to bring their own life stories into the production. The choreographers are using classical elements, water, air, earth, to expand and explore the theme of change. More time has also been afforded to exploration during the rehearsal process than previous years because of the magnitude and introspection of the subject matter. In addition to the stage choreography, Perpetual Motion is collaborated with local filmmaker K Edward Van Osdol to create a series of dance films to be interwoven throughout the concert.
This presentation is supported in part by an award from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Through state appropriations and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council funds more than 1,200 events annually with an estimated total attendance of more than 3.5 million. Projects funded by the Oklahoma Arts Council generally account for more than $20 million in grants and matching funds distributed throughout Oklahoma’s economy throughout the state’s rural and urban communities.
Check out the videos previewing the show posted below. For more information, go to www.perpetualmotiondance.org.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on May 18, 2013: Hear Sugar Free Allstars at Uptown Kids
Today’s featured event:
Hear local kindie rockers Sugar Free Allstars play from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. today at Uptown Kids in Classen Curve, 5840 N Classen Blvd, Suite 3.
For more information, go to http://uptownkidsstyle.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Album review: Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Dark and Dirty Mile”
A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my interview with Jason Boland, click here.
COUNTRY
Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Dark and Dirty Mile” (Proud Souls Entertainment/Thirty Tigers)
Jason Boland & The Stragglers keep steadfastly walking the classic country road with “Dark and Dirty Mile,” the renowned Austin, Texas-based band’s seventh studio album.
Released Tuesday, the follow-up to 2011’s excellent “Rancho Alto” showcases the worn-leather baritone of singer/songwriter/guitarist Boland as well as the hard-earned musicianship of his road-tested red dirt outfit, which includes guitar, pedal steel and resophonic guitar player Roger Ray, bassist Grant Tracy, drummer Brad Rice and fiddler/mandolin player Nick Worley.
More than that, the album, which Boland coproduced with Shooter Jennings, son of the legendary Waylon Jennings, affirms the band’s dedication to its hard-core country sound, folk songwriting sensibilities and outlaw country attitudes.
A Harrah native and former Oklahoma State University student, Boland, 38, again proudly shows his deep Oklahoma music roots on the new album, which features a stellar rendition of red dirt pioneer Randy Crouch’s thought-provoking “They Took It Away.” Like the somber story song “Ludlow” and the snappy and sharply worded cautionary tale “Nine Times Out of Ten,” the cover expresses what the frontman considers a healthy suspicion of the powers that be.
Even the two-stepping ballad “Electric Bill” includes the timely and darkly funny lyric “When they need to take a closer look at what it means to love, they can watch with a drone from miles above.”
In classic country fashion, “Dark and Dirty Road” walks the line between topical and timeless. The gorgeous love song “Lucky I Guess” seems custom crafted for two-stepping, while the closing ode “See You When I See You” tenderly bids “happy travels my old friend.” The loping Tex-Mex anthem “Spend All Your Time” channels the elder Jennings while urging listeners to really live life.
The rowdy rocker “Green Screen” cuttingly jabs at our society’s lies and false fronts, but authenticity isn’t a problem for the new album. Recorded to tape at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin. “Dark and Dirty Mile,” like the title track that opens the 11-song collection, has a warm, live and real vibe.
The Stragglers will celebrate the new album with a home-state show Friday night at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom. For more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.
IN CONCERT
Jason Boland & The Stragglers
With: Jason Eady.
When: 8:30 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.
Information: www.cainsballroom.com.
-BAM
Interview: Jason Boland & The Stragglers take “Dark and Dirty Mile” to Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my “Dark and Dirty Mile” album review, click here.
Jason Boland & The Stragglers take “Dark and Dirty Mile” to Cain’s Ballroom
The red dirt band will celebrate the release of its seventh studio album with a return trip to the legendary Tulsa venue.
Call him a classic country torchbearer, a musical outlaw or an old-school folk singer, Jason Boland just wants to make sure his songs mean something.
“It’s just folk music is all it is. All folk music should have a little wink and nod to the salt of the earth, and that’s all it’s ever doing. It’s just trying to live up to Woody Guthrie on through Merle Haggard. Man, go listen to a lot of old Merle Haggard — it was all topical and about something. I think that’s one of the biggest problems with music is that it’s just lost talking about anything. It just talks about have a good time or cry over something,” or just pour salt in the wound or I don’t know,” the Harrah native said in a phone interview last week.
“Not every song has to be some world-changing protest song or some great history lesson. There’s time for dance songs, cry-in-your-beer songs. There’s time for everything. So I think we just try to keep a mix of it.”
That mix is evident on “Dark and Dirty Mile,” the red dirt musician’s seventh studio album with his band, The Stragglers. Released Tuesday, the album is already earning widespread praise for its old-school country sound, profound songwriting and Boland’s weathered baritone. The 11 tracks include the poignant funeral ode “See You When I See You,” the lovely ballad “Lucky I Guess” and the timely two-stepper “Electric Bill.”
That last one, a toe-tapping tribute to love in hard times, sneaks in the topical line “When they need to take a closer look at what it means to love, they can watch with a drone from miles above.” From the sobering story song “Ludlow” to the band’s cover of red dirt pioneer Randy Crouch’s “They Took It Away,” Boland often expresses what he considers a healthy distrust of the government in his music.
“Well, I guess that’s why they call us outlaws or something,” he said with a laugh. “I just think, isn’t that what patriots are called to do? Is just always question things, you know. I think that’s just part of our job is just being critical thinkers. Just to be aware of things.”
The Crouch cover didn’t just make the cut because it fit the theme. Boland and his cohorts make it a point to record great songs by their red dirt music forerunners, and they never have a problem finding plenty of options.
“We’re always lookin’ to do songs by the people that inspired us to approach music the way we do today. So, we always do (Bob) Childers songs, and we’ve done several Crouch and this was another one that just fit the record. I think we got a really nice take of it,” Boland said from the road in his adopted home state of Texas.
Boland, 38, co-produced “Dark and Dirty Mile” with singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings. who had helped on a couple of projects but had never taken on such an active producing role.
“It was just an organic thing. It wasn’t anybody, ‘Hey, we need to set this up in a meeting,’” Boland said.
“You know, producers help arrange the songs, so he was in the rehearsals with us and he helped arranged some of the melodic licks. “He was just what you need, just a good hands-on producer, an extra trusted ear in the room, another set of ideas, another person that’s not one of us in the band that’s locked into this that’s been playing ‘em night after night getting ‘em ready. The guys worked really hard on this record, too, just arranging their parts and getting their songs together. It was a big group effort of producing the music on this record.”
The band again recorded at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin, Texas, and he said Jennings understood the tone and sound they wanted for the album.
“We just got in there with the band and some buddies and cut it straight to tape and mixed it down to tape and tried to keep the computers out of the process and had a great time doing that. And I think anybody that was a fan of the tone and the sound we were going for on our first record, ‘Pearl Snaps,’ I think they’ll really enjoy listening to this record and hearing where we’ve gone,” Boland said.
“What we were going for again … was to capture a pretty live recording. We were still in the studio and we rewound the tape a lot, but it’s performances. It’s not put through ProTools or any of that environment, which anymore that’s pretty rare. It’ll probably be to our folly: Some people hear it and think ‘oh, that doesn’t sound right.’ But it’s what I enjoy hearing.”
The singer-songwriter recently returned from a European tour that included a solo show in Belgium, acoustic performances in Italy with Stragglers fiddler Nick Worley and a full-band gig at Mayfest in Pontivy, France.
“It was a lot of fun, good crowds and a lot of good sightseeing,” said Boland, who had previously played a 2004 festival in France but saw more of Europe on this trek. “They’re very attentive, they know way more of the material than you ever think they’re going to, and it’s just a great experience.”
He and his bandmates are playing a much more familiar spot Friday, when he will celebrate the new album with a home-state show at Tulsa’s legendary Cain’s Ballroom.
“Cain’s is truly one that rises to the top when we say our favorite all-time gigs. It’s just it’s special to us all in so many ways, really. However cheesy it may sound or nostalgic, if there’s any place that fires that up in us, it’s Cain’s,” Boland said.
“We’re rooted in the region. I don’t think any of us consider ourselves any kind of spokespeople or anything, but … if they hear it and they know it’s true, then we feel like we’ve done our job.”
IN CONCERT
Jason Boland & The Stragglers
With: Jason Eady.
When: 8:30 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.
Information: www.cainsballroom.com.
-BAM
