Tonight! Osage and O.U. at Sooner Legends [Archive]

okcnative

12-04-2006, 09:54 AM

"Middle aged hacks?" From the looks of it (read on), they are anything but hacks. In fact, they seen to have achieved a great deal in their personal lives, while never losing their musical talent.

Osage seems to be gaining a following of not only lots of folks who remember them from out college days, but from college students who enjoy dancing to rock classics.

Here's a press release from September of this year from the www:

Most anyone who attended O.U. or spent weekends dancing in area clubs during the late 1970's and into the 1980's, was familiar with the band OSAGE. Known for excellent musicianship, exceptional vocal harmonies, and an outstanding list of 70's and 80's songs, OSAGE was the tightest band around. OSAGE kept an audience on their dancing toes with hits by the Aerosmith, The Beatles, The Eagles and other popular bands. They could also give the dancing audience a much-needed break by performing songs such as Yes's "Seen All Good People" or "Us and Them" --- songs requiring such perfect harmonies and precise musicianship that no other bands in Oklahoma City would play them. Whether playing between the dormitories on O.U.'s campus for the first week of the school year, at a fraternity or sorority dance, or in a club, Osage stayed busy.

In late June of this year, OSAGE reunited at Brothers Eatery and Pub on Campus Corner in Norman. Family and friends --- including the children of band members --- gathered at the outdoor patio with measured anticipation. (Would the band still be as good as they were in the 70's and 80's? Did they all still have their hair? Could "dad" really rock 'n' roll?) Younger friends attending with some audience members figured this would be another group of "old guys who once had a garage band" trying to recapture their youth.

Within the first songs of the first set, including Yes's "Seen All Good People," everyone realized OSAGE not only had the talent, but they had perfected it with age. College students from throughout the Campus Corner area heard the music on the streets and began flooding in from other venues to Brothers outdoor patio to listen and dance. Soon, it was standing room only with very little room to navigate to and from the dance floor. Several college students sought out Brothers owner, Keith Allen, and asked that he have the band back. At the end of the evening, Allen said it had been "a really long time" since he had seen an audience refuse to leave after the band finished and demand an encore. OSAGE obliged.

With all the band members now living in various states, working in their chosen professions and taking care of families, getting together for a gig isn't as easy as it was in their youth. Then again, playing OSAGE gigs constantly was their profession 25 or 30 years ago. The money came in handy for the college students. Now it's about the love of the music.

OSAGE consists of Mark Camp on bass guitar, Ric Dwinnell on keyboards, Brett Walker and Stanley Walker on guitar, and Steven Walker on drums with all the band members on vocals. They all began playing music when they were young, some of the band members began playing in OSAGE WHILE still in high school and all of them played in OSAGE during their college years. As the 80's progressed, so did the lives of the band members and in the 80's, OSAGE BROKE up and the members went their separate ways to pursue their professional and family lives. But their love for music never left. Over a year ago, all five of OSAGE's musicians began practicing together, traveling to one another's homes in various states and using digital computers at home to practice in order to perfect their music again.

Their song list today includes all the favorites from their old song list such as “Walk This Way” (Aerosmith), “Dancin’ Days” (Led Zeppelin), “Straight On” (Heart), “Song for America” (Kansas) and “Long Time/Foreplay” (Boston). “La Grange” (ZZ Top) “We Can Work It Out” and “Back in the USSR,” (The Beatles), “Us and Them,” (Pink Floyd), and “Seen All Good People” and “Round About” (Yes). They added new copy tunes, as well as a couple of original songs by Brett Walker.

So what directions have their lives taken since Osage broke up in the ‘80’s?

Mark Camp is a physician and is the Medical Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Norman Regional Hospital. He is also Board Certified in Critical Care, Pulmonary Disease, and Internal Medicine. He completed his medical school training, residency and fellowship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and he started private practice in 1992.

Ric Dwinnell is now the Director of Academic Services for Arts and Sciences at the University of North Texas.

Brett Walker, now living in Colorado, is a hit songwriter and producer. Having had Top-10 international success as a songwriter and producer, Brett's studio and writing experience led him to compose featured music for such TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bay Watch and other network series. In 2000 Brett created Private Wavs as a company to feature many styles of music. Among his many clients are: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Touchstone, Discovery and VH-1.

Stanley Walker now lives in Dallas and is the Chief Digital Engineer for Peavey Electronics Corporation, a renowned company that produces guitars, amplifiers, microphones and other musical and electronic equipment.

Steven Walker (Stanley's identical twin brother) owns Walker Creative, Inc., an award-winning design studio that specializes in commercial design and advertising in Oklahoma City. He is also the art director for Oklahoma Today magazine.