Check out featured performances by ACM@UCO students! Today, Leotie, aka ACM@UCO student Caleb Starr, invites us into his acoustic dreamscape as he performs the song “Ghost – A.”
PLUS! Hear two more Leotie singles on Spotify!
Tag: live music
Free Drum Clinic with Rich Redmond Happens Feb. 28 at ACM@UCO
The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma presents a drum clinic led by Rich Redmond, the drummer for Jason Aldean, at noon Feb. 28 at the ACM Live Room, 25 S. Oklahoma Ave., in Bricktown.
Admission is free and open to the public!
Redmond is a world-class drummer who has toured with country music star Jason Aldean for over 20 years. He’s also an award-wining producer, songwriter, speaker, author, actor and recording drummer who has worked with artists such as Ludacris, Kelly Clarkson, Bryan Adams, Bob Seger, Joe Perry, Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, Jewel and Chris Cornell, to name a few.
Redmond is a four-time winner of Modern Drummer magazine’s “Country Drummer of the Year” honor, and his resume includes more than two-dozen No. 1 singles.
ACM@UCO presents Metro Music Series performances, masterclasses, clinics and workshops by ACM-affiliated music acts, as well as regional, national and international industry luminaries.
Metro Music Series is sponsored by Downtown OKC Partnership, Bricktown, Painted Door Gift Boutique, Oklahoma Film + Music Office, Hal Smith Restaurants, The Wedge Pizzeria and Exchange Music.
Check Out More Than 3 Dozen UCO and ACM-Tied Acts This Weekend at Norman Music Festival
During this weekend’s Norman Music Festival in Norman, more than three dozen music acts will feature students, alumni, faculty and staff from the University of Central Oklahoma and the Academy of Contemporary Music at UCO.
NMF runs April 25-27 along Main Street in downtown Norman. Admission is free and open to the public. Event headliners include Beach Fossils, Soccer Mommy, Black Milk with band Nat Turner, The Garden, Omar Apollo, Night Beats, Skating Polly, Mega Ran and more over three days on multiple indoor and outdoor stages.
Learn more and see the full festival lineup at normanmusicfestival.com.
ACM@UCO alum and singer-songwriter Leotie, aka Caleb Starr (pictured), will perform 7 p.m. Thursday at Norman Music Festival.
The Lunar Laugh performs 10 p.m. Thursday at Norman Music Festival.
Young Weather performs 10 p.m. Thursday at NMF.
THURSDAY
• 6 p.m. at Bison Witches (front): The Sweet Talkers
• 6:45 p.m. at Brewhouse: Druce Wayne
• 7 p.m. at Resonator: Leotie
• 8:30 p.m. at Red Brick Bar: Useless Randy
• 10 p.m. at Brewhouse: Young Weather
• 10 p.m. at Bison Witches (front): The Lunar Laugh
• 10:30 p.m. at Opolis (indoor): Mt. Terror
• 11 p.m. at Bluebonnet Bar: Cutter Elliott
• Midnight at Opolis (indoor): Applied Music Program
• Midnight at Brewhouse: Chase Kerby & The Villains
• 1 a.m. at Main Street Event Center: Don’t Tell Dena
• 1 a.m. at Bluebonnet Bar: Justin Logan
Colourmusic performs 9:30 p.m. Friday at Norman Music Festival.
Jabee performs 11:15 p.m. Friday at Norman Music Festival.
Bowlsey performs 8 p.m. Friday at Norman Music Festival.
FRIDAY
• 6 p.m. at Main Street Event Center: Layers of Pink
• 7 p.m. at Gray Street Stage: Sophia Massad
• 7 p.m. at Bison Witches (front): Stone Tide
• 7 p.m. at Opolis (indoor): Swim Fan
• 8 p.m. at Sooner Theatre: Stephen Salewon
• 8 p.m. at Resonator: Tom Boil
• 8 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Bowlsey
• 9 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Original Flow & The Fervent Route
• 9:20 p.m. at Brewhouse: Jacobi Ryan
• 9:30 p.m. at Opolis Outdoor Stage (The Garden): Colourmusic
• 11:15 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Jabee
• 1 a.m. at Bison Witches (front): S. Reidy
Rozlyn Zora performs 2 p.m. Saturday at Norman Music Festival.
Saint Loretto performs 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Norman Music Festival.
Chloe-Beth performs 11 p.m. Saturday at NMF.
SATURDAY
• 2 p.m. at Bluebonnet Bar: Rozlyn Zora
• 2:30 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Naturalist
• 3:30 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Saint Loretto
• 4 p.m. at Opolis Outdoor Stage (The Garden): Spinster
• 4 p.m. at Bluebonnet bar: Keathley
• 4 p.m. at Fowler Automotive Main Stage: LCG & The X
• 4 p.m. at Brewhouse: Santiago Romones
• 4:30 p.m. at The Winston West Stage: Johnny Manchild & The Poor Bästards
• 4:30 p.m. at Gray Street Stage: Jason Scott
• 7:00 p.m. at Bison Witches (front): Rousey
• 8 p.m. at Bison Witches (front): Part-Time Savants
• 9 p.m. at Main Street Event Center: Lauryn Hardiman
• 11 p.m. at Bluebonnet Bar: Chloe-Beth
• Midnight at Opolis (indoor): Beau Jennings & The Tigers
CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT: Parker Millsap Headlines May 1 Show at ACM Performance Lab in Bricktown
Oklahoma native Parker Millsap has quickly made a name for himself with his captivating live performances, soulful sound and character-driven songwriting. He performs 7 p.m. May 1 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Oklahoma City.
The event is part of the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma’s (ACM@UCO) continuing Metro Music Series celebrating the school’s 10th anniversary.
Tickets are $10, and go on sale to the public 10 a.m. CT Friday, Jan. 18 at acm-uco.eventbrite.com.
Millsap has had a string of highlights in recent years: A network television debut on “Conan,” a performance with Elton John at Apple Music Festival in London, an Austin City Limits taping and an Album of the Year nomination from the Americana Music Association. He has also received praise from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, LA Times, The Austin Chronicle and Rolling Stone to name a few.
He first picked up an acoustic guitar at age 9, then plugged in and went electric after getting into Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Millsap eventually started a cover band with classmate Michael Rose, who still plays bass with him today. Over the years, he recruited musicians Daniel Foulks (fiddle) and Andrew Bones (drums) to join his band.
Parker’s first three full-length releases — 2012’s “Palisade,” 2014’s self-titled LP and 2016’s “The Very Last Day” — showcased a primal mastery of acoustic folk rock, with their flourish for revelation and fiery dynamics all recorded with extreme precision, purpose and efficiency.
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.
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.
Photos: Mac DeMarco and Leotie at ACM@UCO Performance Lab
Indie musician Mac DeMarco performed Nov. 1, 2018, to a sold-out audience at ACM@UCO Performance Lab in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ACM@UCO-tied act Leotie, aka singer-songwriter Caleb Starr, opened the ACM@UCO Metro Music Series event.
Photos by Tanner Laws | University of Central Oklahoma
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.
Check out upcoming ACM@UCO Metro Music Series shows at acm-uco.eventbrite.com!
ACM@UCO’s Metro Music Series is sponsored by Oklahoma Gazette, Exchange Music, KOSU Radio, ArtWorks, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Council.
For more information about the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, visit acm.uco.edu.
Photos: Maps & Atlases and Magic Munchbox at ACM@UCO Performance Lab
Maps & Atlases performed Nov. 1, 2018 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ACM@UCO-tied band Magic Munchbox opened the ACM@UCO Metro Music Series event.
“Now a trio, Maps & Atlases connect the roller-coaster guitar fretting and weighted timbres of their earlier albums with frenetic synth touches,” Pitchfork reviewer Amanda Wicks said of the album “Lightnessness is Nothing New,” released July 1. “The polished result is their most accessible album to date, touching on Peter Gabriel’s fizzy pop proclivities and reaching for TV on the Radio’s early grandness.”
In the brooding-yet-playful vein of Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel, Maps embraces the paradox of what it is to be human — constantly searching and, forever unsatiated, returning with everlasting hope to the ever-darkening fray. The deceptively upbeat “Lightlessness is Nothing New” unveils a gorgeous, complex, slightly skewed take on pop music.
Photos by Tanner Laws | University of Central Oklahoma
Magic Munchbox
Oklahoma City experimental funk-rock quartet Magic Munchbox opens for national touring act Maps & Atlases Nov. 1, 2018 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab in Oklahoma City. The ACM@UCO-tied band includes a student and alumnus in its lineup: Gilson Machtolff on guitar, skeeter on guitar, Michael Vaughan on bass and Robby Andersen on drums.
Photos by Tanner Laws | University of Central Oklahoma
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.
Check out upcoming ACM@UCO Metro Music Series shows at acm-uco.eventbrite.com!
ACM@UCO’s Metro Music Series is sponsored by Oklahoma Gazette, Exchange Music, KOSU Radio, ArtWorks, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Council.
For more information about the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, visit acm.uco.edu.
Now Hear This: JD McPherson Performs Friday at Tower Theatre in OKC
In October, musician and singer-songwriter JD McPherson led an ACM@UCO masterclass at the school’s Bricktown campus with Scott Booker, ACM executive director, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Film + Music Office as part of the ACM@UCO Metro Music Series.
He takes his critically acclaimed new holiday album, Socks, on tour and performs Dec. 14 at Tower Theatre in Oklahoma City.
JD McPHERSON
w/JP Harris
Doors 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14
Tower Theatre
425 NW 23rd St.
Oklahoma City
Tickets: $17-$20 at ticketfly.com
From NPR’s Fresh Air: A Roots And Rockabilly Holiday Concert With JD McPherson And His Band
JD McPherson never thought he’d make a Christmas album. Then, he says, “I got a bug in my ear.” He and his band perform live in studio from Socks, and McPherson talks about growing up on a cattle farm.
Read more and hear the full interview and studio performance on NPR.
From the Los Angeles Times: This year’s essential Christmas albums ranked, from ‘Shatner Claus’ to the irresistible JD McPherson
Rating: Four stars (classic)
The roots-rocking singer-songwriter from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, has put together the kind of holiday album that Louis Prima or Roy Brown would have if they’d ever gotten around to it, and thank Santa for that. It’s an utter joy, a vintage jump-blues/R&B/rockabilly workout devoid of treacly sentiment, but brimming over with child-like spirit — and just enough grown-up skepticism (“Bad Kid,” the title track) to keep things anchored in reality.
He’s written or co-written 11 originals that bring welcome fresh blood into the holiday music canon. Producing the album themselves, he and the band also zero in on a perfectly period musical and sonic vibe for this outing.
Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
From Oklahoma Gazette: ‘Socks’ rocks
McPherson said recording a Christmas album inspired him to return to the ’50s style that characterized his debut album, Signs & Signifiers.
“The language or the vocabulary of early rock ’n’ roll lends itself to that type of material,” McPherson said. “It just works better. We could’ve done a psych-rock Christmas album, but I don’t really think I would’ve wanted to listen to it afterwards.”
Read more from Oklahoma Gazette.
From Rolling Stone: How JD McPherson Blew Up Christmas Album Cliches on New ‘Socks’
Throughout Socks, McPherson’s impressive garage-rock guitarwork channels classic R&B, rock, blues and rockabilly with snappy, growling riffs (“Bad Kid”), slinky, reverb-drenched passages (“Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy”) and smooth, jazzy shuffles (“Ugly Sweater Blues”).
Along the way, he’s pitch-perfectly backed by his four-piece band of Jimmy Sutton on bass, Raynier Jacob Jacildo on keys, Jason Smay on drums, and Doug Corcoran on saxophone, steel guitar and glockenspiel.
Noname: ‘One of the Best Rappers Alive,’ Says Rolling Stone of Metro Music Series Headliner
Chicago-raised artist Noname, aka Fatimah Warner, blurs the lines of poetry and hip-hop through the music she’ll perform during her headlining tour stop March 3, 2019 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Oklahoma City.
Check out her first-ever video, “Blaxploitation,” from her recent release “Room 25” and the related article in Rolling Stone.
Says Rolling Stone of the video: On Tuesday, the Chicago rapper dropped the “film” for “Blaxploitation,” a quick, frenetic cut from this year’s excellent Room 25. In it, she’s nowhere to be seen. Instead, a giant child frolics through Chicago; they’re as large as a skyscraper and play, nap and destroy their way through the city streets. “Chicago Under Siege,” the television chyrons read, “Monster Baby Must Be Stopped.”
The March 3 concert is part of the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma’s (ACM@UCO) continuing Metro Music Series celebrating the school’s 10th anniversary.
Tickets are $25 at acm-uco.eventbrite.com. Original Flow and The Fervent route will open.
In 2016, her debut album, the “Telefone” mixtape, found the artist introducing herself to a worldwide audience. Describing the project as “an introductory conversation with someone you’re interested in,” she quickly earned everyone’s attention.
In September 2018, her full-length studio album “Room 25” was again received with universal acclaim.
A Rolling Stone headline declared, “Noname is one of the best rappers alive.”
Pitchfork decreed, “The Chicago rapper’s second album is a transcendent coming-of-age tale built around cosmic jazz and neo-soul, delivered by a woman deeply invested in her interiority and that of the world around her.”
Consequence of Sound raved, “Noname turns every head in the house on the compelling ‘Room 25.’ … She doesn’t just make keen observations; she sends those syllables skipping down the tongue.”
Spin said the performer: “A complete one-of-one act who continues to grow in real time outside of the limelight, Noname makes a subtle yet strong statement for women providing alternatives to one-dimensional rap archetypes.”
She grew up in Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s southside that has famously attracted accomplished black artists and intellectuals of all types. After releasing “Telefone,” she relocated to Los Angeles, where she’s said she prefers live comedy to high-dollar indulgence.
In fact, NME said of her most recent album, “Much of ‘Room 25’ is not only smartly constructed — it’s laugh-out-loud funny. … It’s flawless.”
ACM@UCO’s Metro Music Series is sponsored by Oklahoma Gazette, Exchange Music, KOSU Radio, ArtWorks, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Council.
FRIDAY! Special Guest John Fullbright Joins Paul Benjaman, Jacob Tovar at ACM Performance Lab in Bricktown
In a showcase sure to move country, rock, Americana and Southern rock fans alike, Paul Benjaman and Jacob Tovar co-headline a concert 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., in Bricktown.
Friday’s show also features special guest and acclaimed keyboardist, pianist and singer-songwriter John Fullbright playing keys with Benjaman and Tovar during their sets. The Grammy-nominated Americana musician joins the Horton Records music showcase in between tour dates.
Paul Benjaman’s distinctive, groove-based songs meld both the American swagger and the lyrical songwriting prowess of artists like Leon Russell, JJ Cale, Wilco, Warren Zevon and Little Feat. Similarly, Horton Records labelmate Jacob Tovar evokes the wry wit of Buck Owens or C.W. McCall and a Southern-rock tinged amalgam of both Hank Williams Sr. and Jr.
The concert is part of the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma’s (ACM@UCO) continuing Metro Music Series celebrating the school’s 10th anniversary. Tickets are $10, available at eventbrite.com.
Recent Comments