Miranda Lambert

From Tuesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.

Fall offers must-have new music

For Oklahoma music fans, fall holds the promise of fantastic new offerings.

The year has already seen the release of big-time albums from Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Samantha Crain, Rodney Carrington and St. Vincent, all artists with state ties. Even the late Woody Guthrie had a four-disc box set, “My Dusty Road,” released last month.

But even more major records from Okies are still to come this autumn, starting today.

If the title is…

Tulsa comic Rodney Carrington plans to follow up his successful comedy album “El Nino Loco” with a non-comedic Christmas record, according to a Billboard.com story.

“El Nino Loco” is No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Comedy Albums chart for the second straight week, according to the story. Carrington said the album provided ”a way to write novelty songs that could potentially get played on the radio and also make music videos.”

“El Nino Loco” was produced by fellow Oklahoman Toby Keith and Steve Dorff. Carrington and Keith co-wrote and co-starred in the 2008 action-comedy film “Beer for…

A version of this story also appears in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.

Toby Keith and friends raise $550,000 for charity

NORMAN – Despite the recession, country music superstar Toby Keith has helped get Oklahoma cancer charity Ally’s House more than half a million dollars closer to its goals.

The sixth annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic June 12-13 in Norman raised $550,000, his publicist announced Wednesday. This year’s take brings the event’s overall total nearly $3 million.

Ally’s House is a Norman-based nonprofit that helps Oklahoma children with cancer and their families. It…

Rodney Carrington

Tulsa comedian Rodney Carrington released his new album of humorous songs, “El Nino Loco,” the follow-up album to 2007’s popular “King of the Mountains,” today.

The album features several songs produced by fellow Oklahoman Toby Keith, who appears in the music video for “If I’m the Only One,” which is funny but just plain wrong.

The video is posted here from CMT.com:

Other CDs offered today include a collection of songs by the late George Harrison (which I’m currently listening to and loving), the…

Today’s featured event:

SHAWNEE – Catch Tulsa standup comic/comedic musician Rodney Carrington at 7 and 9:30 tonight at Firelake Grand Casino, 1601 S Gordon Cooper Drive.

For more information, go to www.firelakegrand.com.

For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.

-BAM

The Radio City Rockettes and Santa Claus

Family

- “Radio City Christmas Spectacular”: See the Rockettes kick it out at 7:30 tonight, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday at the Ford Center, 100 W Reno. Information: 235-8288 or www.okfordcenter.com.

- The Oklahoman Holidays on the Canal: Take a free boat ride to celebrate The Oklahoman Holidays on the Canal from 6 to 9:30 p.m. today-Sunday D26-28 on the Bricktown Canal. Information: 236-3640 or www.downtownindecember.com.

- Children’s Hour: Take your family to the children’s hour from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen…

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Country music star Toby Keith and musical country comic Rodney Carrington know what their fans like.

The Oklahomans co-wrote and co-starred in “Beer for My Horses,” a good ol’ boy action-comedy that takes its name but not its plot from Keith’s hit 2003 duet with Willie Nelson.

Set (but not filmed) in the Oklahoma hamlet of Mangum, the film follows a pair of sheriff’s deputies, tough guy and ladies man Rack (Keith) and his amiable, bumbling buddy Lonnie (Carrington). Rack’s finds new romance when his…

Oklahoma music fans have two very different movies to choose from among this week’s new releases.

Oklahoma City resident Wayne Coyne and his Grammy-winning alt-rock band the Flaming Lips released their long-awaited film “Christmas on Mars” to DVD today. You can buy just the DVD, or a set that includes the DVD and CD of the film’s music.

Seven years in the making, “Christmas on Mars” is described as a “fantastical and disturbing film freak-out.” Set at Christmastime. On Mars.

What else would you expect from the Lips?

On the other end of the…

The summer  “Beer for My Horses,” co-written by and co-starring Oklahoma country music star Toby Keith and Tulsa comedian Rodney Carrington, will premiere at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 on Country Music Television, according to a news release.

The film, produced jointly by CMT Films and Keith’s Show Dog Productions, is a follow up to Keith’s 2006 CMT Film ”Broken Bridges.” 

“Beer for My Horses” shares the same title of Keith’s 2003 No. 1 single and video with Willie Nelson. Nelson appears in the movie.

“Beer for My Horses” received a limited theatrical release this summer…

Tulsa comedian Rodney Carrington performed the first of a two-day stint just up Interstate 44 tonight at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK.

He will perform another show at the casino at 7 p.m. Saturday. For more information, go to www.rodneycarrington.com.

The countrified comic’s King of the Mountains tour is taking him all around the U.S. this fall, from Billings, Mont., to Fort Worth, Texas. He also will play several dates at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

But Carrington - who was raised in Texas but has lived in Tulsa for 15 years “because…