Can OKC become the "next great music town?"

[southernskye]

The Blue Door=The best small venue in OK.

It's not all about big names, fancy equipment, beer sales and cupholders. It's about music.

Is that the place off 23rd ?

[bluedogok]

No offense intended to any of our fine DJs, but our music scene has too damn many wannabe DJs and too damn many cover bands. I think that's mostly a result of demand though.

Step one will be to somehow influence (improve) the city's taste in music as a whole. Does that start with new independent radio stations? Can that be profitable? Does it start with brilliant marketing? I'm just a guy who sees problems here... solutions are very evasive.

I remember going to see bands every weekend at The Bricktown Brewery, it was a nice sized venue for most acts that played there like Wakeland, Molly's Yes, Caroline's Spine and The Nixons when they were all "coming up" and playing original music but most places want a human juke box. One of the main reasons is cover bands are usually cheaper and many crowds just aren't interested in original music form an "unknown" artist.

It starts with supporting what music venues we have here in OKC and expanding on that. Austin has an independent radio station that supports local music.

A station that actually plays and promotes local music and live original music would help. KGSR is the only local station that I listen to, I listen to Sirius most of the time. I quit listening to radio in OKC long before I moved because the poor state of the business there and it seemed like all the DJ's all wanted to be the next Howard Stern. I missed the old 96X and KATT radio of the 80's before the suits took over.

As someone else pointed out, the monopoly that large radio has on the market is ridiculous. One of the worst things that ever happened was the allowing of the consolidation of media outlets. It has ruined terrestrial radio in most cities. The thing about KGSR is that it is owned by a media conglomerate (Emmis Communications of Indianapolis) but they have the sense to program one outside of the regular canned crap that the others have.

It's not just mid-range venues, it's all sizes that OKC is lacking in. Go to Austin and look around, almost every bar in the city has live music in it more than one night a week.

Well, Austin has built that over a long period of time, really it was something that started in the 70's and has taken time to nurture and build. Most club owners are in the business to make money and get out, pretty much every club owner that I knew in OKC had that mentality and to develop something takes a commitment of both time and money....and patience, which most investor types do not have. We have clubs open/close all the time because of it but there are established veterans who have the patience to ride the ups and downs.

OKC needs a decent mid-sized venue, I always wanted to convert The Continental into a live music venue. I remember going to shows at whatever they were calling Quicksilvers at the time in the mid 90's, it wasn't big enough for some of the acts they brought in but the price for the acts was great.

Go down to Austin and check out some of the local talent. Chances are many of those bands know each other very well. In a real music scene, musicians feed off of each other and work towards improving the climate for bands in general. They associate themselves with venues and establish relationships with other influential locals.

Yes, many of them show up at each others shows so you never know what you are going to get on any given night. But one thing about Austin, it is a very insular music scene, it is a horrible touring town for national acts. Part of that is proximity to San Antonio and the fact the only large venue is The Erwin Center but much of it is the "Austin" mindset of just being "Austin music" which is a country/rock hybrid much like Cross Canadian Ragweed. There are a few venues which specialize in other genres of music but the majority have the same players cycling through them but it does keep their fanbases happy. It can keep a working musician going though, I know a few players down here and they keep busy..the funny thing is a few of them are from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has a lot of talent in all forms of music, it could develop into a viable music scene. I don't think it could ever turn into a scene the size of Austin or Nashville but definitely something to be proud of.

[LovableGoober]

OKC needs a decent mid-sized venue, I always wanted to convert The Continental into a live music venue.

I saw Nick Lowe at The Continental many years ago.......it would have been a good venue for consistent live music.

There have been many venues over the years for smaller touring bands and local bands. I used to spend a lot of time at the Bowery and saw lots of great shows there. There was also a place in Norman called The Grey Fox that was a good place for live music. And there are venues around town where bands can play if people actually would get out to the shows and support local live music. Unfortunately, the "known" acts get all of the support and the local bands just trying to get heard play to crowds of 23.

[Chicken In The Rough]

Is that the place off 23rd ?

You may be thinking of the Blue Note off 23rd and Robinson. The Blue Door is a little place near 28th & McKinley. It's in the middle of a residential area near OCU. I don't know if it is still there with all the expansion at OCU.

[edcrunk]

OKC can be known for producing popular musical acts, but it will never become a "great music town."

i disagree wholeheartedly, but as long as people limit themselves with opinions like that... you may be right.

As for a scene in OKC: It's not going to happen, and never will, because of the chasm between Norman and OKC and the fact that we are far from a 24-hour city. Go to Bricktown on a Tuesday night (non NBA night) sometime and you'll find a ghost town.

perhaps that is due to the fact that bricktown is lame and dying.

That's the way it's always been, and the way it will always be. Collectively, we are not sophisticated or diverse enough to galvanize and build a "scene." Every time that an audience can be built for a "scene," they end up having kids and starting families, and they stop going out. Then, it takes another few years, and the cycle repeats itself.

and this happens in every other city as well. as our city becomes larger and more metropolitan... things that once held us back will no longer be insurmountable.

btw, i've heard quite a few good things about okc in general from cats in nashville. now as far as the current "electro" / "edm" / "dancerock" scene goes... bands and dj's are clamoring to come play here! don't forget that the grammy nominated "SHINY TOY GUNS" have a house here and are co-laborers with us as we develop and push the dance scene.

[jbrown84]

As for a scene in OKC: It's not going to happen, and never will, because of the chasm between Norman and OKC and the fact that we are far from a 24-hour city. Go to Bricktown on a Tuesday night (non NBA night) sometime and you'll find a ghost town.

Actually I had dinner in Bricktown last night (a non-NBA, cold Tuesday night) and there was a 45 minute wait for a party of 2.

Now Mondays can be pretty dead but only because none of the clubs are open.

[AAC2005]

OKC can be known for producing popular musical acts, but it will never become a "great music town."

I would have to agree, but not because I'm against OKC having its own musical identity. Most major/mid-market cities do have some kind of local flavor that they can call their own, but unless OKC gets lucky - hello Minneapolis in the 80's - Philadelphia in the 70's - calling out to Motown - I'm afraid we're only gonna be the home of Gill, Underwood, Reba, Flaming Lips and the long list of folks who went before them...oh yeah, that big lunk from Moore, too.

Not a sermon, just a thought...

P.S. None of those three towns are currently popular for their music on a national level, IMHO, but they will always be legendary.

[dismayed]

btw, i've heard quite a few good things about okc in general from cats in nashville. now as far as the current "electro" / "edm" / "dancerock" scene goes... bands and dj's are clamoring to come play here! don't forget that the grammy nominated "SHINY TOY GUNS" have a house here and are co-laborers with us as we develop and push the dance scene.

What venues are these DJ's playing at locally?

[Tex]

What venues are these DJ's playing at locally?

Electro Lounge has a lot of great DJ talent.

[LordGerald]

Actually I had dinner in Bricktown last night (a non-NBA, cold Tuesday night) and there was a 45 minute wait for a party of 2.

Now Mondays can be pretty dead but only because none of the clubs are open.

IHOP my friend! Colorado omelette, sans green peppers.

[mcgrawsdad]

No offense intended to any of our fine DJs, but our music scene has too damn many wannabe DJs and too damn many cover bands. I think that's mostly a result of demand though.

Step one will be to somehow influence (improve) the city's taste in music as a whole. Does that start with new independent radio stations? Can that be profitable? Does it start with brilliant marketing? I'm just a guy who sees problems here... solutions are very evasive.

Midtowner...the first thing we MUST do to improve our music scene and keep our local talent local is to have more venues. We MUST have more live music venues. Oklahoma produces the finest musical talent of any state with a population its size, yet very few of our talents stay in-state due to the lack of venues. The key to making money in the music business today is not record sales, it is road gigs and tours.

The whole red dirt/texas country scene is full of oklahoma talent. Just to name a few Travis Linville, Mike Hosty, Stoney Larue, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Brandon Jenkins, Johnny Cooper. Many of these musicians grew up right here in and around the OKC metro. We also have had several very talented bands in other genre's that have flown the coop due to lack of support and/or no place to play. You can't really compare anything to Austin's music scene because it is an anomoly (sp?). We need more mid size venues (places like diamond ballroom, wormy-dog, toby keiths), we need more small venues (LOTS MORE), more vzd's, blue door, blue note. We need less Karaoke and more live music. We have some of the best performing arts high schools and universities in the country. You would think we would have a better music scene.

We have such a fantastic musical history. For instance, the first person to ever record drums on a country music album was from Oklahoma (William E. (smokey) Dacus). The artist who has the most record sales in U.S. history grew up in Yukon (garth).

[native]

I have to agree with mcgrawsdad on this one. I originally grew up in the Tulsa area, moved to Chicago for 5 years and recently returned to our state residing here in OKC. I have spent a fair deal of my time on the weekends looking for local venues to hear original music by local bands. OKC is littered with cover bands, dance dj's & karaoke bars.
Tulsa is way ahead of OKC in becoming the 'next great music town'. They have more street parties and events that are centered around music. At most of these events there are multiple stages with music playing by different genres at the same time. Even the bar scene in Tulsa offers a large mix of original music that can't be found in OKC. MORE bars and local venues need to start promoting local talent. Until then the music scene in OKC will remain stagnant. VZDs, The Blue Note, Wormy Dog & Speakeasy do a great job but they can't do it alone.

[gen70]

I think the artist who stay in an area make their " Scene" happen. Tulsa was begining to become a great music city in the 70's before Leo Russell "hyper spaced". When the great artists stay in a given location it just happens,like Austin, Nashville, LA and Seattle although not so much anymore in Seattle. We have many great musical artists in OKlahoma it just seems they don't promote their own state. And yeah! OKC could become a great music city.

[TaoMaas]

I think the artist who stay in an area make their " Scene" happen. Tulsa was begining to become a great music city in the 70's before Leo Russell "hyper spaced". When the great artists stay in a given location it just happens,like Austin, Nashville, LA and Seattle although not so much anymore in Seattle. We have many great musical artists in OKlahoma it just seems they don't promote their own state. And yeah! OKC could become a great music city.

I think your post ties into Mcgrawsdad's post right above yours. Artists (whether they be musical or visual) need to be able to support themselves via their art. We need to decide if we can make that happen locally or if we're going to force folks to go out on the road.

[mcgrawsdad]

BTW...for all of you music lovers out there, especially with the country genre. Pick up a copy of Willis Alan Ramsey's self titled debut album. It was released in 1972 under the Leon Russell's shelter label and is now being re-released under the Koch label. I promise you, if you are a country music/americana/folk fan, you will absolutely love this album. It is pure genius! You might have to give it more than one listen to before it grows on you, but if you are a fan of music this is a must have in any collection. Willis Alan was 20 or 21 when he recorded this album. He basically had his choice of signing with Russell or the Allman brothers label and chose Shelter. Leon Russell basically dumped him to record and produce the album on his own, and he got it done. It wasn't a critical hit selling a modest 250K copies. The most famous song is a song called MUSKRAT CANDLELIGHT that was later sampled (heavily) by captain and tenille and called muskrat love. Every song on the album is delightful, especially Boy From Oklahoma about woody guthrie, and The Ballad of Spider John. Many people credit Willis Alan Ramsey for starting the whole Austin Texas music scene.

[OKCMallen]

The whole red dirt/texas country scene is full of oklahoma talent. Just to name a few Travis Linville, Mike Hosty, Stoney Larue, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Brandon Jenkins, Johnny Cooper.

Hosty is NOT, NOT, NOT Red Dirt/Texas country.

[OKCMallen]

Some homegrown major talent is the Uglysuit. They've toured internationally and call OKC home. Check them out if you want to hear quality from our city.

[mcgrawsdad]

I agree, but let's not argue over symantics. My wife is so tired of me singing fraidy hole that every time I grab my guitar she says...no fraidy hole.

Hosty did write one of the biggest red dirt/texas country songs of the year last year. Oklahoma Breakdown that Stoney Larue recorded. I remember when I was attending college at NSU in Tahlequah, there was a little bar called Granny's Attic. Occasionally (about two times a semester) Mike would come to town with his band (then a trio) and myself and my brothers would go check out the show. It was fantastic! Typically a different crowd than what we would normally hang out with as all of the "artsy" kids would hang out at grannies. We loved it...in fact, we started to call it "casual *** night at grannies." The last time I was at granny's attic was my senior year when Hosty was playing. One of my fraternity brothers we called stumpy had way too much to drink (which was his usual norm) and some girl dared him to strip naked and run around the bar. Without a hesitation he did it, stripped butt naked and started running around the bar, and then he ran right out the front door of the bar where there just happened to be two Tahlequah police officers standing on the sidewalk taking a smoke break. When he saw them, he simply stopped running, went over to the curb, and placed his hands behind his back...not a single word was spoken. It truly was a hilarious thing to watch. Stumpy ended up getting arrested for indecent exposure and public intox. The indecent exposure was reduced. That semester, I believe nearly 40% of my fraternity members were arrested for some offense or another. All involving alcohol. What can I say we were the beer drinking fraternity...we've all gone on to a much higher level of maturity and success since then. LOL! Thanks for bringing up the debate about Hosty, that brought back some fantastic memories.

[OKCMallen]

Hosty is the best, one of my favorites, I've seen him probably 30+ times at least. He didn't write Oklahoma Breakdown for Stoney; it was his own and not Red Dirt at the time. But we're basically saying the same thing: HOSTY RULES!