Entertainment blogging from The Oklahoman's Brandy McDonnell

The Great Divide to play Jan. 14 at OKC’s Wormy Dog Saloon

Reunited seminal red dirt band The Great Divide has set a Jan. 14 show at Oklahoma City’s Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.

The band, which reunited last year more than eight years after the original lineup split up, will play at 10 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Bricktown venue. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the opener – who is to be announced later – at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $20 and available at www.wormydog.com. The show is expected to sell out.

After all, the influential quartet played only two concerts last year – a special show during the College Days Music Festival at the Tumbleweed in Stillwater in August and an October show at City Limits in Stephenville, Texas – and both of them sold out.

As you can read in my review of the College Days concert, the group’s fervent fans are ecstatic over the reunion. They immediately began clamoring for more shows. The band plans to book a select number of dates in 2012, and the Wormy Dog will be the first stop.

For a decade, drummer J.J. Lester; his brother, rhythm guitarist Scotte Lester; bassist Kelley Green; and singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike McClure not only nurtured their rootsy country-rock sound in the musical hotbed of Stillwater but also took the red dirt beyond Payne County and into the mainstream.

The Great Divide started in 1992 and self-produced two albums – “Goin’ for Broke” and “Break in the Storm” – that sold well at all their shows, according to The Oklahoman Archives.

Their albums were so popular with their fans that Rick Blackburn of Atlantic Records in Nashville, Tenn., stumbled onto the fact that The Great Divide’s records were outselling much bigger acts and signed the band without even seeing them live.

The group inked a contract with Atlantic Records and released a repackaged “Break in the Storm,” and experienced moderate success with their Caribbean-flavored single “Pour Me a Vacation.” The band started Stillwater’s College Days to showcase their red dirt brethren like Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland & the Stragglers and Stoney LaRue.

After the release of their follow-up album “Revolutions,” the band’s momentum stalled, even after a stage show at 1998′s Fan Fair (precursor of the CMA Music Festival) in Nashville, and Atlantic dropped them.

In 2000, the group signed with Broken Bow Records, — the indie label now best known as the home of hitmaker Jason Aldean – which released the appreciated “Afterglow: The Will Rogers Sessions.” But their next album, “Dirt and Spirit,” didn’t sell as they hoped, so the group left that label in 2001 and went back to marketing their own music. The quartet independently released the CD “Remain” the following year.

McClure left The Great Divide in 2003 to start a solo career and formed The Mike McClure Band, which has continued to tour vigorously. He has released eight albums and produced CDs for Ragweed, the Turnpike Troubadours and the Damn Quails.

Micah Aills joined The Great Divide as the band’s new lead singer, and the group released the 2005 album “Under Your Own Sun” before eventually calling it quits.

Over the years, the band members have fielded various proposals to reunite. In 2011, the new ownership at the Tumbleweed contacted McClure offering to let the group take back College Days. He sent an email to his former bandmates and, on impulse, followed up with phone calls.

“I didn’t know if they’d tell me to get bent or whatever ‘cause we hadn’t talked. It was kind of an ugly breakup — like most bands go through — back in the day. So, I just sent ‘em and email and told them, you know, there’s an offer on the table and I was into it if they were,” McClure told me in an interview last summer.

J.J. Lester said he was surprised to hear from McClure. All four musicians are long married and raising children. For the sake of themselves and their families, they wanted to reconcile, so the former bandmates met for coffee.

“Honestly, I certainly wasn’t expecting it,” J.J. Lester told me in a separate interview. “He indicated he was at a place in his life where he had made some changes about how he was approaching things and his extracurricular activities and was thinking a little bit differently these days and … wanted to reconcile, if nothing more than just to be friends.”

Getting back into the music was a bit more challenging. Except for McClure, the others had pursued careers outside music. J.J. Lester is college pastor at Countryside Church in Stillwater. His brother has an independent welding business and builds houses, while Green works for Stillwater Steel.

“I was a little nervous ‘cause … J.J.’s been playing some, but the other guys haven’t really been in several years. And hell, I hadn’t really played those songs, so I was pretty rusty-crusty, too,” McClure said. “So the first few practices were wobbly, but you know, it was still there. And the last few, I’ve been really confident. After a couple of practices, hell, I was ready to go hit a stage.”

While they have enjoyed the memories and music, J.J. Lester said the reunited Great Divide is focused on putting on a great show for their excited fans. A live CD and DVD will be recorded and a documentary filmed at the reunion concert, which is one of only two currently planned.

Now that they are no longer a band divided, the quartet has even talked about making new music together, especially since McClure’s Ada home features a recording studio.

The band has launched a new website at www.tgdreunion.com.

-BAM

Carrie Underwood donates $350,000 to her hometown Checotah schools

Carrie Underwood made wishes come true this holiday season for the schools in her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma with donations amounting to $350,000 through her C.A.T.S. Foundation – Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation.

Each of the four schools – Marshall Elementary, Checotah Intermediate School, Checotah Middle School, and Checotah High School – learned just in time for Christmas that they would receive the necessary funds from C.A.T.S. to fulfill various school needs.

The donations will go towards items such as new computer labs for each school, plus playground equipment, physical fitness equipment, as well as new band uniforms, furniture, storage, instruments for their music programs, among other items, according to an announcement through her publicist.

“Late last year each of the schools created a list of their needs and I am so thrilled that the C.A.T.S. Foundation was able to fund it all,” said Underwood in the announcement. “It gives me great joy knowing we are helping my hometown schools to offer an even better education to the students. They deserve it.”

“We are so proud of Carrie and her accomplishments and we appreciate everything she has done for our students.  Every student in our school will benefit from the C.A.T.S. Foundation’s generous donation,” shared Toni Brown, Assistant Superintendent of Checotah Public Schools in the announcement.

In October, Underwood’s C.A.T.S. Foundation partnered with national non-profit organization KaBOOM!, and with the help of more than 200 local volunteers built a playground in one day at Marshall Elementary School designed by the school’s students.

I’ll have more on this story coming soon.

About C.A.T.S. Foundation – Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation

Established in 2009 by country superstar Carrie Underwood, the C.A.T.S. Foundation was created to help with general causes, needs, and services in the area of Checotah, OK, to directly impact her hometown community.  In August of 2009, C.A.T.S. Foundation partnered with ACM Lifting Lives to donate over $117,000 in new instruments for Checotah’s school music programs.  In 2010, C.A.T.S. helped in the rebuilding of Checotah’s animal shelter, Happy Paws. For more information on C.A.T.S. Foundation, or to make a donation, go to www.thecatsfoundation.com.

-BAM

 

What to do in Oklahoma on Jan. 5, 2012: Check out the Acoustic Oklahoma showcase tonight at VZD’s

Today’s featured event:

Hear Denver Duncan, Rocky Kanaga and The Sons of Beatrice at 7 tonight during the Acoustic Oklahoma showcase at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. For more information, go to www.vzds.com.

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

-BAM

Photo gallery: Flaming Lips’ New Year’s Eve Freakout #5 in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City-based psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips performed their fifth annual New Year’s Eve Freakout last weekend at the Coca Cola Bricktown Events Center. The two-night extravaganza – which included NYE and New Year’s Day shows – featured Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.

Check out these great photos taken for The Oklahoman by Garrett Fisbeck.

Highlights of the show included covers of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the famed holiday anthem Ono wrote and recorded with her late husband, John Lennon. Plus, Lips manager Scott Booker presented Ono with a proclamation from Mayor Mick Cornett declaring NYE “”Yokolahoma City Day” in Oklahoma City.

To see a few fans videos from the show, click here.

Check out The Oklahoman’s review of the NYE show by special correspondent Joshua Boydston by clicking here.

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday Video Spotlight: Highlights of The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout #5 featuring Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon

Oklahoma City-based psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips performed their fifth annual New Year’s Eve Freakout last weekend at the Coca Cola Bricktown Events Center. The two-night extravaganza – which included NYE and New Year’s Day shows – featured Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.

Highlights of the show included covers of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields” and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the famed holiday anthem Ono wrote and recorded with her late husband, John Lennon. Some fans who attended the show have kindly posted videos from the show for our viewing enjoyment.

Check out The Oklahoman’s review of the NYE show by special correspondent Joshua Boydston by clicking here.

-BAM

Wednesday Video Spotlight: Broncho’s “Try Me Out Sometime” makes NPR’s, Jivewired’s end-of-year lists

The raucous punk anthem “Try Me Out Sometime” from Tulsa/Norman indie rockers Broncho is included on NPR’s list of five garage rock favorites from 2011.

Broncho, the side project for Starlight Mints keyboardist Ryan Lindsey, released its debut album “Can’t Get Past the Lips” earlier this year.

Here’s what NPR had to say about “Try Me Out Sometime”:

It’s not a complex song, by any means, and the simplicity is fantastic because the execution is so strong. Three chords are plenty enough backdrop for Lindsey to yelp out the hooks. Watch the excellent music video, in which the band barges into unsuspecting, unlikely venues — stores, major intersections, a college classroom — and performs increasingly disastrous versions of the song before darting out. BRONCHO has never played a show outside a narrow corridor from Austin to Chicago, so coast-dwellers will have to cross their fingers for that to change soon.

In addition, Broncho’s “Try Me Out Sometime” and “Record Store” made Jivewired’s list of favorite songs of the past year, under the heading “Despite what you think, music still had balls in 2011.”

Other songs by Oklahoma musical talents listed on Jivewired’s list include “Instant Insanity” by Dr. Pants, “Traitor” by OK Sweetheart, “Spinning In Circles Is A Gateway Drug” by Red City Radio and “Dum Dum Dah Dah” by The Nghiems.

In related news – hint, hint – I’m working on my list of top 10 albums of 2011, and this year, everyone on it has Oklahoma ties. There were just too many great albums from talented Okies in the year just past for me to do anything else.

Look for the list in the coming days.

-BAM

Wednesday Video Spotlight: The Ngheims’ and Kyle Roberts’ “Dum Dum Dah Dah” makes Jivewired’s top 10 videos of 2011

Up-and-coming filmmaker Kyle Roberts, owner of the Oklahoma City-based film company Reckless Abandonment Pictures and a videographer for NewsOK, and Norman indie rockers The Ngheims have been getting some end-of-year attention for their stop-motion, animated retro video game-themed music video to their catchy song “Dum Dum Dah Dah.” More than 8,000 photos were used in the making of this mini-movie.

For instance, the video was ranked No. 1 on Jivewired top videos of 2011 list. Here’s part of what the site had to say about the video:

The retro arcade graphics kick a**, the stop motion technology is first rate and the song leaves an indelible imprint on your brain. 

I couldn’t agree more.

The video shares an epic tale of an indie rock trio’s venture inside a fictional arcade game, where they must use their musical powers to battle bullies, knights and dragons to save a fair princess. Or was it all just a dream?

The song also appears on Jivedwire’s favorite songs of 2011.

Back in the fall, Kyle and lead singer David Nghiem sat down with NewsOK video host Angi Bruss to talk about the making of the video, and David capped it off by performing the song in our NewsOK studios:

-BAM

Wednesday Video Spotlight: Russian “Avengers” trailer features Tony Stark-Loki faceoff

Hey, that’s not fair.

The Russian trailer for “The Avengers” recently debuted online, and how come they get a clip (however brief) of the Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) face-to-face encounter? That wasn’t in the English-language preview we got a few months ago.

But you can see it here, and if you happen to speak Russian, so much the better!

Directed by Joss Whedon, “The Avengers” stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

It opens in theaters May 4 and is considered one of the most anticipated films of this New Year.

-BAM

Wednesday Video Spotlight: Kickstarter.com campaign raises $22,000+ for HD restoration of “Manos: The Hands of Fate”

The story I’m about to tell you is true. I promise. No matter how unbelievable it seems, this is happening:

A cinephile by the name of Benjamin Solovey is working on a high-definition restoration of the cult horror anti-classic “Manos: The Hands of Fate” for a future Blu-ray release.

Solovey has come by the original Ektachrome camera master of “Manos,” a low-budget horror film produced in 1966 by a small cast and crew in El Paso, Texas, and he wants to give film fans a chance to view a clearer, cleaner version of the movie than the blurry public domain VHS transfer ported to DVD now available.

Rumored to have been made on a bet, “Manos” is about a vacationing family who encounters a demon-worshiping cult led by the fearsome Master (Tom Neyman) and his freaky servant Torgo (John Reynolds). The movie had slipped into obscurity until “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ mocked it mercilessly in a 1993 episode that has become one of the most popular in the late, great TV series’ history. (It was actually re-released on DVD last year.)

Solovey started a Kickstarter.com campaign to help fund the HD restoration, with a goal of $10,000. The campaign has raised more than $22,000 and is continuing through Feb. 4. More than 300 people have backed the project.

Along with restoring the film’s visuals to their original, um, clarity – I couldn’t type greatness; my hands would not do it – Solovey plans on digitizing and restoring the soundtrack by an audio professional on a high-end mixing station. Yes, the haunting Torgo theme music will be new, improved and with us forever.

So, if the project goes as planned – and it seems to be going great guns right now – you will be able to buy on Blu-ray a copy of “Manos,” which MST3K’s Joel Hodgson described as “Every frame of this movie looks like someone’s last known photo.”

Wow.

-BAM

Paseo Arts District shows its stuff this weekend with “Paseo Showcase” during monthly Gallery Walk

During the first of its popular monthly Gallery Walks of 2012, the Paseo Arts Association is showcasing the myriad galleries, restaurants and other businesses in the historic neighborhood.

The exhibit “Paseo Showcase,” featuring one or more artworks from each of the district’s 20 galleries, will open Friday night in the association’s Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo.

“We’re always promoting individual artists, but we rarely have Paseo artists in here because most of them have their own galleries,” said Jo Wise, the association’s executive director.

“It’s just a nice way for people to come and see everything at a glance and get an idea of what’s here.”

The opening reception for the “Paseo Showcase” is set from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday during the Paseo’s First Friday Gallery Walk. Eateries in the district will provide food for the event, and information about other businesses and organizations in the neighborhood will be on display along with art.

As usual, most Paseo galleries will stay open late, show new artwork and serve up refreshments during the Gallery Walk, which will continue from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

But the “Paseo Showcase” will provide another way for visitors to see what the Paseo has to offer. The two-block-long district, named one of the “Top Ten Greatest Neighborhoods in the United States” by the American Planning Association in 2010, includes 20 galleries with more than 70 artists, three restaurants, a gift store, clothing boutiques, and more.

“Most Paseo artists are in a gallery down here, so they’ll have their shows in their individual galleries. But this is a way to direct people to those galleries,” Wise said. “We have our gallery guides that we give to everyone … so they can take a gallery guide and circle the areas they want to go to.”

The showcase should be particularly beneficial for Paseo artists like Nathan White, who opened his custom metal fabricating studio at NW 30 and Walker in July. The master welder is new to the district, and his Aces Fabrication & Design is situated about half a block off Paseo Drive, the neighborhood’s main street.

“It’s gonna open up an opportunity for everyone to come down and see in one spot what everybody does. Then, you can decide to go to the different spaces because it’s a little hard to make ‘em all during the Friday art walk,” said White. who crafts sculptures, chandeliers, furniture and more out of steel.

“I’m off the beaten path a little bit, too, so it kind of gives me a little more exposure down here in the heart of it. … I love it down here, and everybody’s been real helpful. All the other venues have been great.”

With all the galleries participating, the showcase will include an array of sculptures, paintings, photographs, ceramics, jewelry and fabric art.

“It’s going to be a nice variety,” Wise said. “It should cover the gamut … of the art world.”

Glenn Fillmore, owner/director of the Visions in the Paseo, is another relative newcomer to the district looking forward to the showcase. Dedicated solely to photography, his gallery opened in November 2010.

Even frequent visitors to the Paseo can have trouble keeping up with the new artists in the area, he said. His Visions is among three galleries near Paseo Creek that have opened in the past 14 months.

Fillmore submitted for the showcase the stunning desert landscape “Sahara Dunes” by acclaimed National Geographic photographer Greg Davis, whom his gallery represents.

“I wanted something that would really jump out and show off the quality of the work we have down here,” Fillmore said. “I personally think it’ll be great. A lot of people come through the PAA Art Space down there, a lot of people that don’t know we’re down here at the other end of the block.”

For the “Paseo Showcase,” Wise limited each gallery to 40 inches square of wall space — sculptors and potters just had to make sure their pieces could fit in the door — and many of the gallery owners chose to submit one striking piece.

“Some of the galleries that have a number of artists are making small paintings that can be hung together within that 40-inch parameter. They are creative down here,” Wise said. “I thought it was great because I didn’t know how they would pick.”

Cynthia Wolf, owner of Adelante! Gallery, chose three small pieces, including one of her cattle drive photographs, that represent her gallery’s focus on Western and Southwestern fine

art.

“This is the first time they’ve had a show like this that I can remember,” said Wolf, who has owned her Paseo gallery for nine years. “I think it’ll be a benefit to me and my gallery. I think it’s a great idea.”

GOING ON

Paseo Gallery Walk

When: 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Paseo Arts District, between NW 28 and Walker and NW 30 and Dewey.

Special event: The Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo, will feature a “Paseo Showcase” that includes one or more artwork from each of the neighbor’s 20 galleries during the Gallery Walk.

Information: 525-2688 or www.thepaseo.com.

-BAM

Powered by Wordpress | WP Premium theme by WP Remix
Copyright 2007. BAM's Blog. All rights reserved

• Home
• RSS Feed
• About the Author
• Contacting BAM’s Blog
• Newsok | A&E