Local Music Scene - OKC and Norman, Oklahoma
I sure don't claim to be all up on the scene or to like what everyone else likes. There's a lot going on here! Just mentioning a few things....
The Deli (309 White Street - Campus Corner)
For many years (like decades) The Deli has featured live music not
just every Friday and Saturday but 7 nights a week. They book touring bands
as well as local bands. No they don't serve sandwiches. They are "Norman's
only Five-Star Dive". A bit smoky (though many shows are now smoke-free).
Home base for Hosty.
Website: thedeli.us
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Deli/112865642083516
The Opolis (113 N. Crawford)
Mainly "alternative rock" shows, but all kinds of stuff happens at the Opolis,
run by Andy and Marian (of AMP, formerly of Starlight Mints).
Website: opolis.org
The Blue Bonnet Bar (321 E. Main Street)
Kind of small but they have been
doing music for a while (Americana/Folk/Country/RockNRoll,etc):
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bluebonnetbar
The Dope Chapel (115 S. Crawford):
Website: www.dopechapel.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dop3chapel
Red Brick Bar (311 E. Main Street):
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Brick-Bar/416655671758921
The Red Room (114 W. Main Street - right next to The Brewhouse):
Website: www.redparty.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/red.room.18
Used to be Route 66 or something. I went to a Bluefish party there a long time
ago, and someone threw up all over the floor right before 40 Minutes of Hell
went on. It was hot and crowded and yes, it was 40 minutes of hell (the band
was great of course). At that time, the place had a low ceiling and seemed
very small and dirty. Since then it has been gutted and is now a big open
space with a big stage, a good place for shows. It can be rented out for
whoever wants to do something there.
Weekly listing of music events in Norman:
NormanMusicScene.com
Live Events Page here:
www.normanmusicscene.com/events.htm
VZD's
In OKC, VZD's at 42nd and N. Western has local and touring bands playing
several nights a week. This has been the top music club in OKC for a couple
of decades. (Their weekly ad in the Gazette might have the most
accurate music info).
Website: www.vzds.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VZDsOK
The Conservatory
Website: www.conservatoryokc.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/the-Conservatory-OKC/140918109612
Took over the spot on N. Western where the Green Door used
to be. TONS of cool shows are there. (mainly punk/alternative)
The Blue Note
N. Robinson at 23rd St, has been through many
owners over the years. Lots of cool shows there
Official Site: www.thebluenotelounge.com
The HiLo Club (1221 NW 50th)
Very small but they have some cool shows.
Website: www.hilookc.com
The Blue Door (2805 N McKinley Ave)
The Blue Door has some cool shows, usually more singer-songwriter, folk-type
stuff. No bar, but you can bring your own stuff. I saw John Hammond there
(performing solo). And also Bill Kirchen with his band Too Much Fun
(it was awesome, he is the master of the Telecaster).
Website:BlueDoorOKC.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlueDoorOKC
The 51st Street Speakeasy
Had live music in the past, maybe again someday?
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/51st-street-Speakeasy/158764349884
Diamond Ballroom (8001 S. Eastern Ave)
Huge warehouse-sized venue in southeast OKC
I've seen a lot of cool bigger shows there. (Cramps, Motorhead, Hank III).
Website: www.diamondballroom.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/diamondballroom
UCO Jazz Lab (Edmond)
Website: www.ucojazzlab.com
OKC's Gazette and Norman's Pop have weekly listings of whats at all the clubs.
OklahomaRock.com
Includes Excellent show calendar here:
www.oklahomarock.com/shows.htm
Since the Fortune Tellers stopped playing long
ago, The Reverb Brothers were my top favorite band here, Until
Basile left us. This was ACTUAL ROCK and ROLL Music.
Read more at my Reverb Brothers page.
I don't expect to hear anyone like them ever again.
Hosty Duo
The Copperheads
Psychotic Reaction
Ike Lamb and the Creepers
Broncho Band
Poolboy
Loveland's band. Hopefully he will resurrect in 2015.
Rainbows Are Free
The Electric Primadonnas
Taddy Porter
I first caught Taddy Porter at the first Norman Music Festival in 2008.
Trent Bell recommended I catch them, and he knew I would like them.
4 young guys from Stillwater playing blues-rock.
Brian Parton
The Oh Johnny Girls
Bloody Ol Mule / Shiloh / Devil Christ
Bloody Ol' Mule - facebook.com/bloodyolmulemusic
Scott Keeton / Scott Keeton Band / Deviants
Scott is a super-hot blues-rock guitar player who has
been playing around here a long time, with or without a band.
The Deviants was Scott Keeton's band (probably through the 90's and a bit
beyond). For awhile it was a three-piece with Scott on vocals and guitar
along with drums and bass.
Ike Lamb was later added on guitar. Later (August, 2000) it was back to
a 3-piece, with Scott, Streetman and the return of Mike Newberry on drums.
There have been many lineups in the past. Drummers
have included Lex Kiem, James Wyrick, and Danny Cofer. Bass players
have included Dickie Ray, Ryan Teisa, Steven Streetman, currently Mike Myers.
Scott has put out I think about 9 records as of 2011, at least three of
those as The Deviants. He is very blues oriented and plays plenty of
rock and roll including covers and originals.
Currently Scott performs under his name with a band, but he might
do some solo shows.
Some upcoming Norman/OKC Rock and Roll shows:
More Local Bands:
OKC's top-class cover band.
I had seen them mentioned a lot but did not know anything about them. One
night some people talked me into going to see them at Liberty D's. I knew
Wayman from a few years back and I knew he played drums but had no idea
this was his band. He is the lead singer as well as the drummer and
probably the leader of the band. He sets his kit up in the front of
the stage with the rest of the band around and behind him. I had
never seen that before. And when I saw they had Chris Royse on bass,
I knew they were serious. (He was in the Wickers and various other
bands around here). They have eleven people on the stage:
2 girl singers, 4 horns, 2 guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums.
It is quite an accomplishment to get this many people to sound good
together and these guys don't just sound good, they're so tight they
sound like one instrument. They play positive-energy dance music. Mainly
classic-pop/rock covers. In fact most of the songs they play are the kind of
songs that make me change the station when I hear them on the radio, but
they made me appreciate these songs anew. I was humming Rosanna
(Toto - yikes!) for a week after I saw them ("me too far away...").
One of my friends showed up when they were playing Dancing Queen by
Abba and had to leave immediately. Or how about Lido (Boz Scaggs) or
Brandy ("you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would make)"? But it all
sounded great and the dance floor stayed full all night. And man, when
those horns come in! It's cool to have a horn, with two you can have harmony,
with three you can have a real chord, but four horns - now that's horns.
For a fun time, ignore your classic-pop-a-phobia and check them out.
Here is their website: www.bananaseat.com.
They have 4 horns!
Zombie vs. Shark - www.myspace.com/zombievshark
Turnpike Troubadours - turnpiketroubadours.com
Travis Linville - burtschi.com
Chainsaw Kittens (my page)
Tyson Meade - tysonmeade.com
The Separation - theseparation.net
Billy Joe Winghead Intense band. Interesting website.
Thomas Anderson - www.AngryYoungGradStudent.com
Tae Meyulks (from Tulsa)
NormanMusicScene.com
OklahomaRock.com
Norman Music Festival - www.normanmusicfestival.com
Groovefest - www.groovefest.org
Okie Twist-Off okietwistoff.com
OKC Zoo Amphitheater - zooamp.com
Inner State Studio - Casey Friedman - innerstatestudio.com
Trent Bell - Bell Labs - myspace.com/trentbell
Oklahoma Blues Society - okblues.org
Carl Amburn - Mousetrap Recording Studio
Website: www.hosty.com.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Hosty-Duo/84344745282
Mike Hosty's Twitter page: twitter.com/mikehosty
So that puts the Hosty Duo in the top spot.
You can always count on them to deliver. "Twisted Roots" is one description.
They rock and they groove. Hosty does have some silly songs and he might
play some kazoo and people might be singing along, but I can assure you,
The Hosty Duo puts on a serious rock and roll show. Please read more at my
Hosty Duo page.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/COPPERHEADSOKC
Bandcamp: copperheads.bandcamp.com
ReverbNation: www.reverbnation.com/thecopperheads
New favorites, discovered in 2014. They play punk rock and rock and roll.
2 guitars, bass, drums, keyboards. Non-stop wall-of-sound. This band (as well
as Psychotic Reaction) has restored my faith in the local scene and given me
hope that we can have rock and roll here again (we have hundreds and hundreds
of bands and solo acts of every genre - but I have long complained about the
relative lack of "rock and roll").
Facebook: www.facebook.com/psychoticreactionband
Bandcamp: psychoticreaction.bandcamp.com
ReverbNation: www.reverbnation.com/psychoticreaction
My other big new favorite discovered in 2014 (at the BlueBonnetBar).
2 guitars and drums. Yes - we will have rock and roll once again!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/IkeLambandTheCreepers
Solid bluesrock - Ike has been playing around here for a long time.
Website: bronchoband.com
Started to get big in 2014. Then they added the girls - Hillary and Mandy
(who have thier own band, the Low Litas). They put about a new record in
2014 (Just Enough Hip to be a Woman) and have been touring in Europe.
Intense.
Yeah - loud, wild, sludgey, stoner metal (guitar shredding included).
Website: www.rainbowsarefree.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RainbowsAreFree
Website: theelectricprimadonnas.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theelectricprimadonnas
I saw these guys in November of 2008 at the Red Room in Norman. I was totally
blown away. They weren't what I was expecting (all the better) but they
were awesome. My friends had to leave early, but I had to stay to the end.
The guitar player (Chris Anderson) is phenomenal. I look forward to seeing
them again.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/brian.parton.75
I got to see Brian Parton and the Nashville Rebels a bunch before they broke
up. They were a rockabilly band from Tulsa. A three-piece with bass, drums
and guitar, these guys were a treat to see. They played authentic
rockabilly, early rock and roll and country, playing lots of classic
covers as well as their own songs. They played very interesting arrangements
of Rain (Beatles), 2000 Light Years From Home (Rolling Stones) and Lips Like
Sugar (Echo and the Bunnymen). Also songs by Ray Price (Crazy Arms), Charlie
Rich, Johnny Burnette & the Rock and Roll Trio, and Carl Perkins.
They made a cool CD called Exploitation Natural.
Brian is a very seasoned performer who lived in Nashville for awhile.
In the years since the band broke up, Brian has been doing solo performances
off and on all around. I got to see him at Pepe's one night with just
about 12 of us there. He was awesome. See him if you can. With a microphone
and a guitar, he will rock the house all by himself. He put out a solo CD in
2007 called Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Blues - super cool.
As of 2014 - looks like he lives in Denver now.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theohjohnnygirls
Rockabilly with 2 girl singer/guitar players. Very fun to see.
Bloody Ol' Mule - myspace.com/bloodyolmule
This is Shiloh, who owned The Beat Bookshop, doing a one-man band thing. He's
gotten good at it and made a stack of records. He got so into this that he
closed the bookstore to make music full time. I think he still has the books
stashed away. For a while he was teamed up with a drummer for another project
called Devil Christ.
Official Site: www.scottkeeton.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thescottkeetonband
.
Reverb Nation: www.reverbnation.com/thescottkeetonband
(I don't make much effort here, just occasionally listing some special shows.
Check the Gazette, Nonzine, Pop, etc. for more info)
Some Local Music Links:
Watermelon Slim - www.watermelonslim.com
Was the singer/leader/founder of the Chainsaw Kittens. (and still is - they
played the first Norman Music festival in 2009)
Also was in Defenestration before that (another cool Norman band from the past). Has done some solo records as well.
His blog: shanghaiedtyson.blogspot.com
myspace.com/theseparation
A friend of mine who used to live here. After he moved to Austin, he
made a record (his 3rd or 4th) called Norman, Oklahoma. Oddly, I don't think
anyone in Norman has ever heard it or even heard of it.
Live Events Page here:
www.normanmusicscene.com/events.htm
Includes Excellent show calendar here:
www.oklahomarock.com/shows.htm
Myspace - Norman Music Festival
Spring and Fall outdoor music festival in Norman for over 25 years.
Annual event, started in 2007.
Big shows, outside.
BellLabsRecordingStudio.com
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This page revised 01/14/15
(I let this page lapse for years until 2009)
(and then I let it get way out of date again. cleaned it up a bit in JAN2014,
but still updating and cleaning out old myspace links!)