I’ve been enjoying Brad James’s work as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter for many years, so I was happy to see that Horton Records was bringing out a new disc — in both CD and vinyl — that brings him into the spotlight with his band. For my latest OKLAHOMA Magazine column, I spoke to… Read More »Going Solo in the Red Dirt
As many of you know, I was honored and privileged to work with the great New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry on his as-told-to autobiography, RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE (available on amazon.com in a variety of formats). This month in OKLAHOMA Magazine, I get to tell the story of one of his boyhood friends from Chelsea, Oklahoma, Gerome Riley,… Read More »A Racial Separation of Paths/Neighborhood Influences
Drummer, composer, and bandleader Jared Johnson’s affinity for John Steinbeck’s work isn’t just a fan thing. He’s actually created a full-blown jazz concert inspired by Steinbeck’s GRAPES OF WRATH. To find out more about Jared and his GRAPES OF WRATH PROJECT, check out my newest OKLAHOMA Magazine column, HERE.
Maybe you’ve asked yourself why, of all the great music acts to come out of Oklahoma, Leon Russell seems to be the one who still inspires the most intense emotion. When I asked myself that question, I came up with my latest OKLAHOMA Magazine column, which you can find HERE.
It was somewhere around 15 years ago that my longtime chum Robert A. Brown started sending me letters, usually a page or so long, written with a manual typewriter on authentic 1930s air-mail stationery — and sent with real old air-mail stamps. Something like this might have been surprising coming from anyone else in my… Read More »THE CLEANSING: BOOK I
The first time I interviewed bassist Dean DeMerritt, following his return to Tulsa from Atlanta four years ago, he told me he’d read and enjoyed GHOST BAND, my spook novel set in the world of touring musicians. Of course, that made me happy, but I guess it was kind of logical, since Dean spent a… Read More »Coming Full Circle
The first of the Red Dirt acts to crack the national charts, Stillwater’s Great Divide has persevered for a quarter of a century. Read their story in my latest OKLAHOMA Magazine column, HERE.
Tulsa’s Caravan Swing Band may have been the best unrecorded band in the history of western-swing music, with ex-Texas Playboys like Glenn “Blub” Rhees. Tommy Perkins, and the incomparable Eldon Shamblin on its roster. In fact, however, it was informally recorded at least once, in 1981, on reel-to-reel tapes during a live show. Now, producers… Read More »More Than the Wills Boys
Like Dr. Frankenstein, Claremore’s Craig Lamb has dug up old parts and stitched them together into something very creepy. Instead of a monster, however, he’s created a new monster Movie. You can read about Craig and his film, Dracula’s Ghost, in my latest Oklahoma Magazine column, found HERE.
For decades, the late Bill Davis symbolized Tulsa’s rock ’n’ roll music scene as few others have ever done. I’ve devoted my September OKLAHOMA Magazine column to Bill. You can find it HERE.