Day: January 9, 2019

ACM@UCO Presents Literati Variety Show in February, Featuring Local Musicians, Writers, Poets

In a multi-act event promoting storytelling and its various forms, the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO) presents Literati Variety Show, 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Oklahoma City. Admission is free.

Charles Martin, founder and creative director of Literati Press Comics & Novels, based in Oklahoma City, calls Literati Variety Show a “five-act variety talk program.”

“This is a celebration of storytelling as entertainment as well as a force to give meaning to life,” Martin said. “We are uniting artists from all mediums — music, poetry, comedy, anyone with a good story and the wherewithal to tell it well.”

The Feb. 9 event is presented by ACM@UCO as part of its Metro Music Series celebrating the school’s 10th anniversary.

Martin hosts the show, where he’ll introduce a music and literary pairing by hip-hop act Original Flow and The Fervent Route; a conversation with George Lang, editor-in-chief of Oklahoma Gazette; Heath Huffman, Public Access comedian of note; authors Holly Sampson Hall and Jeremy Hall with a performance reading of “The Most Wonderful Wonder”; and Molly O’Connor, founder of OKC StorySlam.

The show is co-organized by longtime local artist, Oklahoma City Arts Commissioner and Istvan Art owner and manager Stephen Kovash. Speaking recently to Oklahoma Gazette, Kovash said one of his goals with this show is to establish a new artistic family in the metro.

“Things are starting to coalesce in terms of Oklahoma writers,” he told the Gazette. “And so I think what Charles is doing here is perfect timing. … There’s hunger for ideas, and there’s pent-up demand, but there’s also a supply that’s pent-up. So maybe if we can get those people together, it’s going to explode.”

ACM@UCO’s Metro Music Series is sponsored by Oklahoma Gazette, Exchange Music, KOSU Radio, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, and the Oklahoma Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Oklahoma and the National Endowment for the Arts’ Art Works initiative.

About the Performers

Molly O’Connor:
O’Connor is an Oklahoma City-based multi-disciplinary artist and cultural worker. Her creative and artistic practices include visual art, creative writing, original solo performance work and storytelling. In 2005, O’Connor founded OKC StorySlam, a monthly, competitive open-mic storytelling event influenced by “The Moth Radio Hour” and podcast.

Holly Sampson Hall and Jeremy Hall:
Holly Samson Hall and Jeremy Hall write and perform dark folk music as Welcome Little Stranger. Creators of “The Most Wonderful Wonder” podcast, the Halls explore tragedy, folklore and strange, true tales from the back pages of American history.

Heath Huffman:
Huffman is a stand-up comic born and raised in Oklahoma City. He tells jokes that highlight the absurdity of working out, the quirkiness of his religious upbringing and the peculiar world of cheap Italian food. He also hosts two podcasts — Christian music review show “The Praisedown” with Heath and Alex, and comic book narration show “Paneled,” both of which some people (not him) think are very good.

George Lang:
Lang is a journalist who has worked for Oklahoma Gazette multiple times since 1994. He returned as its editor-in-chief in 2017. In the interim, he also wrote for The Oklahoman. While there, he became its assistant entertainment editor, interviewing about 95 percent of film industry’s A-listers and hosting an award-winning video series about local musicians, “Static.” He hosts “Spy 101” radio show 8 p.m. Saturdays on The Spy (KOSU) and he teaches at ACM@UCO.

Original Flow and The Fervent Route:
Oklahoma City-based music act Original Flow & The Fervent Route mixes high-octane lyrical content with live instrumentation and old-school hip-hop delivery. It also includes ACM@UCO alumni.

About ACM@UCO Metro Music Series

The 2018-2019 school year marks ACM@UCO’s tenth anniversary. To celebrate, it expanded its long-running Metro Music Festival into a yearlong event. The revamped Metro Music Series includes the High Noon Showcase, presenting free shows by ACM@UCO-tied music acts and tastemakers; its ACM@UCO Performance Lab series by regional and national touring acts; and a growing roster of masterclasses, clinics and workshops with industry leaders, many of which are open to students and the public.

Find more info about Metro Music Series events at acm-uco.eventbrite.com.

For more information about ACM@UCO, visit acm.uco.edu.

NewsOK: Late musician’s friends honor Connor Hicks with ‘Legacy’ album

Oklahoma artists recently paid tribute to Connor Hicks, a local musician who died Dec. 18, 2017 in a car crash. Late last month, his friends — led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jacob Mann — and family released “Legacy.”

The album includes previously unrecorded songs by Hicks, who had studied at the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO).

In addition to his solo work, Hicks had performed with numerous Oklahoma-based acts, including Matt Stansberry, Shane Henry, Chase Kerby and Mallory Eagle.

The Oklahoman published a Dec. 28 feature about the album:

Hearing the completed album was a little overwhelming, said Hicks’ father, Ronnie Hicks.

“… It was probably the thing in my life that gave me the most joy, was seeing him perform and helping him share it,” he said. “So, it was important to me for as many people to have the opportunity to hear it as possible.”

Journalist Brandy McDonnell wrote of the 2017 wreck:

Connor Hicks, 20, and Jeremy Wallace, 42, died at the scene of an early morning crash Dec. 18, 2017, four miles south of Bowlegs on U.S. 377. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s report, which described foggy conditions, concluded the accident took place shortly after midnight, when Hicks’ vehicle, traveling southbound, crossed left of center and hit Wallace’s vehicle head-on.

Both drivers were Ada-based musicians and members of the Chickasaw Nation.

McDonnell added:

As Hicks’ family has been working with the UCO Foundation to establish a scholarship in his honor, Mann worked with about 20 engineers, producers and musicians to create the “Legacy” album.

“After the wreck, I got with all of our engineers and guys that he had recorded demos with,” Mann said. “His laptop was actually in the car with him, so that was kind of an ordeal getting the files off of that. … Once we were able to get those together, we were able to find six songs that we felt really excited about.”

Stream the album on Spotify: