55th Annual Grammy Awards nominations: Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Ronnie Dunn, Vince Gill & Time Jumpers, John Fullbright and Kelli O’Hara among the nominees
Ronnie Dunn (AP file)
From multiplatinum country superstars and an Americana up-and-comer to an acclaimed Broadway belter and a late, great folk icon, Oklahoma was well-represented when the nominations list for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were unveiled tonight (Wednesday night).
For the fifth year, the nominees in the top categories were revealed on the CBS special “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night,” co-hosted this year by LL Cool J and Taylor Swift.
As expected, several Oklahomans earned nominations in the country music categories. Three artists with Sooner State ties are nominated in the Best Country Solo Performance alone: Checotah native Carrie Underwood for her chart-topping story-song “Blown Away,” Tishomingo resident Blake Shelton for his hit power ballad “Over” and former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn for his timely anthem “Cost of Livin’.”
Dunn and Phillip Coleman also got a nod for Best Country Song for penning “Cost of Livin’,” while Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins are nominated in the category for writing Underwood’s “Blown Away.”
Vince Gill (AP file)
Shelton’s wife and Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert earned a Best Country Album nomination for her fourth effort, “Four the Record.” The 11-piece Western swing band The Time Jumpers, which counts Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill among its members, earned a nod in the category for its self-titled studio debut.
The Norman-born and Oklahoma City-bred singer/songwriter/musician co-wrote and provides the lead vocals on “On The Outskirts Of Town,” which garnered The Time Jumpers a nomination in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
Gill’s propensity for musical collaborations is apparent among the nominations: He, Dunn and Lawton-born Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell are among the guest stars on Jamey Johnson’s “Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran,” another of the Best Country Album nominees. Also, Gill, Midwest City High School graduate Kevin Welch and Soper native Ray Wylie Hubbard are featured on “This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark,” which is nominated for Best Folk Album.
John Fullbright
Bearden native John Fullbright earned a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album with his debut studio effort, “From the Ground Up,” which he recorded at 115 Studios in Norman and released on his own Blue Dirt Records label.
Four-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O’Hara, who was born in Elk City and raised in Edmond, shares principal soloist duties with Matthew Broderick on the Broadway cast recording of “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” nominated for Best Musical Theater Album.
The lasting legacy of Okemah native Woody Guthrie is represented among the nominations, which is particularly appropriate since much of the musical world has spent 2012 celebrating the 100th anniversary of the folk icon’s birth. Although he died in 1967, Guthrie’s name appears in several Grammy categories:
Elizabeth Mitchell’s “Little Seed: Songs For Children By Woody Guthrie” is nominated for Best Childen’s Album. Art director Fritz Klaetke is competing for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package for “Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection.” In addition, Jeff Place and Robert Santelli, compilation producers, and Pete Reiniger, mastering engineer, are nominated for Best Historical Album for “Woody At 100.”
Art director Noah Wall is nominated for Best Recording Package for “Love This Giant,” the collaborative album for Tulsa-born singer/songwriter/musician St. Vincent and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne.
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 10 on CBS.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Fun., Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean and Kanye West top the nominations with six each; the Black Keys, Chick Corea and Miguel each received five nods; and producer Jeff Bhasker, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig and Nas are each up for four awards.
-BAM
Various Artists, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my movie review of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” click here.
Soundtrack
Various Artists, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” (Summit Entertainment/Chop Shop/Atlantic Records)
Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas assembles another talented group of established and up-and-coming indie-rock stars to set the mood for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.”
But it’s Oklahoma-born singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent who cures the atmospheric gloominess that threatens to fog up the whole album. The Tulsa native also known as Annie Clark, who previously collaborated with Bon Iver for a track on the “New Moon” soundtrack, unleashes her supernaturally gorgeous voice and mighty guitar prowess on the eerie, aptly named rocker “Antidote,” saving the whole affair from softly, beautifully sinking into a melancholy haze.
Make no mistake, the soundtrack for the fifth and final film in the franchise continues the honorable “Twilight” tradition of spotlighting musicians outside the mainstream and features achingly lovely ballads from Feist, A Boy and His Kite and Broadway Spider-Man Reeve Carney. Nikki Reed, who plays vampire Rosalie Hale in the movies, partners with her singer-husband Paul McDonald for the dreamy love song “All I’ve Ever Needed,” and frequent “Twilight” soundtrack contributor Christina Perri duets with Tony winner Steve Kazee (Broadway’s “Once”) on a reprise of her hopeful “Breaking Dawn — Part 1” ballad “A Thousand Years.”
Even with Passion Pit’s “Where I Come From,” Ellie Goulding’s “Bittersweet” and The Boom Circuit’s “Everything and Nothing” providing more of a dance beat, the series’ last soundtrack nearly gets caught in an angsty rut. “Twilight” newcomers Green Day are perhaps the worst offenders with their boring ode “The Forgotten.”
In keeping with another “Twilight” album custom, the soundtrack closes with the composer Carter Burwell’s evocative piano lullaby “Plus Que Ma Propre Vie.”
— BAM
New releases for Nov. 13, 2012: The Departed and Tom Skinner release new albums
It’s a big day for red dirt music fans, with two eagerly anticipated new albums now available for our listening enjoyment.
Oklahoma-Texas red dirt rockers The Departed have released their first album of original material, “Adventus,” which is Latin for “arrival,” on Underground Sound through Thirty Tigers.
The band consists of former Cross Canadian Ragweed singer/guitarist Cody Canada and bassist Jeremy Plato, who formed The Departed with Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen when Ragweed split up in 2010. Drummer Chris Doege has since replaced Bowen, who retired for medical reasons, in The Departed lineup.
In June 2011, The Departed released their debut album, “This Is Indian Land,” an 18-track salute to the Sooner State songwriters, from Leon Russell and J.J. Cale to the Red Dirt Rangers and Tom Skinner.
Speaking of Skinner, the beloved red dirt singer-songwriter dropped today a new album simply titled “Tom Skinner,” a rare collection of original music released n 598 Recordings, a new upstart label headed by Mike McClure and partner Chance Sparkman. Skinner plays in McClure’s eponymous band.
An Okie through and through, Skinner grew up in Bristow and started playing music in Stillwater with his brothers during the time Brooks was trying to making a name for himself. Now an Owasso resident and musical megastar, Brooks called on Skinner and his brothers to create the Sante Fe Band, and after a stint of playing around the local clubs, they all moved to Nashville in the pursuit of landing a record deal. As Brooks was turned down by everyone in town, Skinner became homesick for Oklahoma moved back home.
In the late 1990s, Skinner found himself in Louisiana, where he landed a small record deal with Binky Records and recorded two albums. He played the Louisiana circuit for a few years and again found himself back in Oklahoma where he became a favorite of the musicians in the red dirt scene and was a mainstay at the now-fabled Farm, a safe haven on the outskirts of town where musicians ended up at the end of the night. It was at The Farm that Skinner met longtime friend, bandmate and producer McClure for the first time, and their mutual respect and camaraderie is just as legendary as the music they have both created.
Skinner joined the Mike McClure Band in 2007 and has played bass ever since. McClure felt that Tom needed a definitive recording that could bring to the world what Stillwater musicians have long since known. The recording was made at McClure’s Boohatch studios in Ada with longtime Skinner fan and friend Steve Ripley (the Tractors, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell). The album was produced by McClure and the legendary Joe Hardy (Steve Earle, Georgia Satellites, ZZ Top).
In addition, the soundtrack for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” the fifth and final movie in the blockbuster film franchise, debuted today. The soundtrack features Oklahoma-born singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent, punk rockers Green Day, Canadian singer-songwriter Feist and many others. I attended the pres junket for the final “Twilight” film earlier this month in Los Angeles, and I will be bringing you many features, as well as reviews of the movie and the soundtrack, later this week.
Here is a list of more new CDs, DVDs and books, from Amazon.com and VideoETA.com:
CDs
The Departed, “Adventus.”
Tom Skinner, “Tom Skinner.”
Various artists, “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.”
One Direction, “Take Me Home.”
The Rolling Stones, “GRRR!”
Green Day, “Dos.”
Susan Boyle, “Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From The Stage.”
Christina Aguilera, “Lotus.”
Deftones, “Koi No Yokan.”
DVDs/Blu-rays
2 Days in New York
Brave
Dark Horse
Doctor Who: Series Seven, Part One
Nitro Circus: The Movie
Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2
The Queen of Versailles
Savages
Vamps
The Watch
Books
The Third Wheel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7) by Jeff Kinney
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
The Last Man: A Novel by Vince Flynn
My Year in Meals by Rachael Ray
Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott
The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper
Sweet Tooth: A Novel by Ian McEwan
The Joy of Hate: How to Triumph over Whiners in the Age of Phony Outrage by Greg Gutfeld
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: St. Vincent and David Byrne on “The Colbert Report”
The Colbert Report
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Singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent, who hails from Tulsa, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne, best known as the former frontman for the Talking Heads, performed last week on “The Colbert Report.”
The duo also sat down with host Stephen Colbert for an entertaining little interview in which they talked about Hurricane Sandy, brass bands and their collaborative album “Love This Giant.”
The album was recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, N.J. and is billed as a true collaboration, with Byrne and St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) co-writing 10 of the album’s 12 tracks.
Each artist also penned one song individually. The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming.
Check out their performance of “Who” and “Weekend in the Dust”:
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
-BAM
St. Vincent, Green Day, Feist and more confirmed for “Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ soundtrack
Oklahoma-born singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent, punk rockers Green Day and Canadian singer-songwriter Feist are among the musicians contributing songs to the soundtrack for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” due out Nov. 13.
The fifth and final film based on the best-selling books by Stephenie Meyer is due in theaters Nov. 16. Just as the previous movies have all been blockbusters, their soundtracks have all been big sellers, too.
St. Vincent
According to MTV.com, Summit Entertainment has confirmed that Passion Pit, Broadway Spider-Man Reeve Carney and Christina Perri will be featured on the soundtrack, too. Appropriate for franchise’s romantic storyline, Ellie Goulding will have a track on the compilation produced by real-life love Skrillex, while Paul McDonald and his wife, “Twilight Saga” actress Nikki Reed, have collaborated on a song.
Tulsa native St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) provided a song called “The Antidote” to the film finale’s soundtrack. She previously was featured on the “New Moon” soundtrack.
Check out the track listing for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ soundtrack after the break.
Video: St. Vincent and David Byrne perform “Who” and “The Forest Awakes” on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
Singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent, who hails from Tulsa, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne, best known as the former frontman for the Talking Heads, performed Monday night on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Monday night, and not surprisingly, they blew my mind.
The made-for-each-other pair, along with an awesome horn section, performed “Who,” the first single from their collaborative album, “Love This Giant,” out today.
Watch the performance a few times and don’t call me in the morning, because this will cure what ails you.
NPR is offering fans a chance to listen to the album; to hear “Love This Giant,” click here.
The album was recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, N.J. and is billed as a true collaboration, with Byrne and St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) co-writing 10 of the album’s 12 tracks.
Each artist also penned one song individually. The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming.
Even better, here is a web-exclusive bonus performance from Monday night’s Fallon appearance of “The Forest Awakes.”
You’re welcome.
-BAM
New releases for Sept. 11, 2012: St. Vincent & David Byrne and The Time Jumpers release albums
Oklahoma natives St. Vincent and Vince Gill are team players in two new albums released today.
Singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent, who hails from Tulsa, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne, best known as the former frontman for the Talking Heads, released today their collaborative album, “Love This Giant.” NPR is offering fans a chance to listen to the album; to hear “Love This Giant,” click here.
The album was recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, N.J. and is billed as a true collaboration, with Byrne and St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) co-writing 10 of the album’s 12 tracks. Each artist also penned one song individually. The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming.
Byrne and St. Vincent performed “Who,” the first single from “Love This Giant” on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Monday night. To see the performance, click here.
Since 2010, Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill, who was born in Norman and raised in Oklahoma City, has been an official member of the 11-piece Western swing supergroup The Time Jumpers, and the renowned Nashville-based ensemble today released its debut album on Rounder Records. The self-titled album also marks the group’s first studio effort; their 2007 live recording “Jumpin’ Time” was nominated for two Grammys.
“I think people at home — you know, in Oklahoma and Texas — will eat this band up. … It’s an 11-piece Western swing band that primarily does Western swing music like Bob Wills used to do with triple fiddles and accordion, upright bass and two electric guitars,” Gill told me in an interview last week.
“This is the kind of thing that’s born out of the love of the music.”
On Sunday, Gill will headline the grand opening benefit concert for the Hudson Performance Hall at his alma mater, Northwest Classen High School. For tickets and information, go to www.NWCFriends.org.
Look for more of my interview with Vince, specifically his thoughts on The Time Jumpers and his memories of Northwest Classen, on Wednesday and Friday here at BAM’s Blog.
Here is a list of the other new CDs, DVDs and books out this week, from Amazon.com and VideoETA.com:
CDs
The Time Jumpers, “The Time Jumpers.”
David Byrne & St. Vincent, “Love This Giant.”
Bob Dylan, “Tempest.”
Dave Matthews Band, “Away from the World.”
The Avett Brothers, “The Carpenter.”
Little Big Town, “Tornado”
ZZ Top, “La Futura.”
Pet Shop Boys, “Elysium.”
Various artists, “Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical Album.”
Kathy Mattea, “Calling Me Home.”
The xx, “Coexist.”
Kix Brooks, “New to This Town.”
DVDs
30 Rock: Season 6
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Fifth Season
Blue Bloods: The Second Season
Castle: The Complete Fourth Season
For Greater Glory
Girl in Progress
Lola Versus
Private Practice: The Complete Fifth Season
Rosewood Lane
Snow White and the Huntsman
Spartacus: Vengeance – The Complete Second Season
Terra Nova: The Complete Series
Titanic
Up All Night: Season One
The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Third Season
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Books
Delusion in Death by J. D. Robb
A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
Telegraph Avenue: A Novel by Michael Chabon
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
Frozen Heat (Nikki Heat, Book 4) by Richard Castle
-BAM
St. Vincent and David Byrne to perform on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” tonight
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne and Tulsa native St. Vincent will be the musical guests tonight on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” The show airs at 11:37 p.m. on NBC (KFOR-4 in Oklahoma City).
The pair will perform one of the tracks from their collaborative album “Love This Giant,” due out Tuesday.
Oklahoma music fans will have extra reason to watch Fallon tonight, since country music superstar Blake Shelton, an Ada native who lives in Tishomingo, also will be a guest on the program. Shelton will be talking up the Season 3 premiere of “The Voice”; the hit reality TV show debuts at 7 tonight on NBC.
“Love This Giant,” which will be released worldwide by 4AD, was recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, N.J. NPR is offering fans a chance to listen to the album before it is released; to hear “Love This Giant,” click here.
The album is billed as a collaboration in the truest sense of the word, with Byrne, the Grammy and Oscar winner best known as the principal songwriter of the Talking Heads, and St. Vincent, the Tulsa-born singer/songwriter/guitarist also known as Annie Clark, co-writing 10 of the album’s 12 tracks. Each artist also penned one song individually.
The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming.
“There was no delineating what the roles were,” explains Clark in a news release. “It’s a collaboration I’m truly proud of.” The duo also split lyrical and vocal duties on the record, which despite eschewing a traditional guitar/bass/drums lineup in favor of idiosyncratic horn arrangements, presents itself as infectious and modern hook-laden rock.
Byrne and Clark met in 2009 at the ‘Dark Was the Night’ benefit at Radio City Music Hall and were approached shortly after by the Housing Works Bookstore to collaborate on a night of music. They began composing remotely, trading song ideas and structures online while Clark toured and it quickly became apparent that they had more than just one night of music in them.
Byrne performed with Clark at her “American Songbook” show at Lincoln Center in 2010, and Clark contributed vocals to Byrne’s “Here Lies Love album,” released the same year.
-BAM
Video: Blake Shelton appears this morning on “Today,” tonight on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to talk up “The Voice”
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The three-night Season 3 premiere of the hit reality TV show “The Voice” starts up tonight on NBC, and Oklahoma country music superstar Blake Shelton, one of the four celebrity coaches on the show, appeared this morning on “Today” to talk up the singing competition.
Blake Shelton (AP file)
“I think season three, it really does trump both the first two seasons,” the Ada native said on “Today.” “I mean, for so many different reasons. There’s been a lot of rule changes, and the coaches, we’ve all kind of had our fights and got back together again. … It seems like it’s made us, as a group, that much tighter. We all have each other’s backs when it’s time to, and we’re stabbing each other in the back when it’s time to also.”
“The Voice” will debut from 7 to 9 tonight, but it will be just the beginning of a three-night premiere. Even more blind auditions will air from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on the peacock network. To learn about some of the intriguing changes promised for Season 3 of the show, click here.
Shelton – whose finalist, Jermaine Paul, won the second season of the singing contest – also will appear tonight on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to talk about “The Voice.” Jimmy Fallon’s show airs at 11:37 p.m. weekdays on NBC (KFOR-4 in Oklahoma City).
Oklahoma music fans will have another great reason to tune in to Fallon tonight: Tulsa native St. Vincent and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne will perform on the show. Their collaborative album “Love This Giant” is due out Tuesday.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: See David Byrne and St. Vincent’s “Who,” hear “Love This Giant”
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Byrne and Tulsa native St. Vincent have unveiled the cool music video for “Who,” one of the tracks from their collaborative album “Love This Giant,” due out Tuesday.
The album, which will be released worldwide by 4AD, was recorded over two years largely at Water Music in Hoboken, N.J.
NPR is offering fans a chance to listen to the album before it is released; to hear “Love This Giant,” click here.
The album is a collaboration in the truest sense of the word, with Byrne, the Grammy and Oscar winner best known as the principal songwriter of the Talking Heads, and St. Vincent, the Tulsa-born singer/songwriter/guitarist also known as Annie Clark, co-writing 10 of the album’s 12 tracks. Each artist also penned one song individually.
The album centers around an explosive brass band and is propelled by John Congleton’s drum programming.
“There was no delineating what the roles were,” explains Clark in a news release. “It’s a collaboration I’m truly proud of.” The duo also split lyrical and vocal duties on the record, which despite eschewing a traditional guitar/bass/drums lineup in favor of idiosyncratic horn arrangements, presents itself as infectious and modern hook-laden rock.
Byrne and Clark met in 2009 at the ‘Dark Was the Night’ benefit at Radio City Music Hall and were approached shortly after by the Housing Works Bookstore to collaborate on a night of music. They began composing remotely, trading song ideas and structures online while Clark toured and it quickly became apparent that they had more than just one night of music in them.
Byrne performed with Clark at her “American Songbook” show at Lincoln Center in 2010, and Clark contributed vocals to Byrne’s “Here Lies Love album,” released the same year.
-BAM
