I was sitting at a coffee bar when my friend Cayla asked me a good question.
“Have you seen the new Curbside Chronicle wrapping paper designs?” she said.
I’m a big fan of the Curbside Chronicle. The street paper goes to great lengths employing Oklahoma City’s homeless population. It’s awesome. But back to the wrapping paper. Cayla showed me all the Oklahoma artists who contributed designs. One name stuck out to me.
Brent Cobb at the Chesapeake Energy Arena [Photos by Nathan Poppe]
Jan. 10 // Jerrod Beck // 925 S. Lahoma Ave. (Norman)
Jan. 10 // Evan Stephens Hall // 925 S. Lahoma Ave. (Norman)
Jan. 14 // Original Flow with Fervent Route // Fassler Hall (OKC)
Jan. 19 // Dylan LeBlanc // Power House Bar
Jan. 23 // Carter Sampson // Saints Pub
Jan. 26 // Dead Shakes // Opolis (Norman)
A lot’s changed since the first time I interviewed John Moreland back in 2011.
He’s found his stride after years of pouring his heart out and has caught a swell of national attention. His latest record “Big Bad Luv” found the Tulsa singer-songwriter in a proper studio (mostly) and triggered his busiest year of touring ever. I aimed to figure out how he’s balancing life on the road and how much (or little) his life has changed before a pair of homecoming concert dates.
Keeping a cool head when things go wrong is important.
We were having van troubles and the dang thing wouldn’t start. I hated to disappoint Erin and her bandmates, especially when they traveled to play for VDub Sessions. Ferris and I ended up pushing the van into the fading evening sunlight, and the ladies made the magic happen.
It ended up being great even though it was stationary. Be flexible. Be nice. Everything will still work out.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
It was getting late on a Sunday night.
I was exhausted, but I can only imagine how Ty Taylor was feeling. The Vintage Trouble frontman caressed fans in the front row, pole vaulted with his microphone stand and danced in the crowd. That was just during the first song as his LA-based rocker and soul act headlined the grand opening of Tower Theatre.
It ended up being a really special night and a perfect fit for the room. Check out more photos here.
A weekend in the Wet Mountains of southern Colorado left me with countless stories and tons of footage. Oklahoma City’s Andy Adams didn’t give me a lot of direction but he offered unlimited access to his family of friends, poets and fellow songwriters for an annual gathering.
I captured everything I could during the road trip. Every hike, campfire and game of horseshoes. The results are an unfussy portrait of a weekend that moved at a mountainous pace. I was not used to the elevation and it took me a long time to get acclimated. All those beers didn’t help. Or did they?
Little by little, I found moments that would’ve been lost in my memory without the help of a camera. I hope you enjoy this loving ode to Michael Adams, a poet and Andy’s uncle. I’m happy with how this video turned out, and I’m glad I survived the trip.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
“If you touch some girl in the crowd and you don’t know her, I’ll punch you in the fucking face.”
When Killer Mike wants to make a point he doesn’t waste time. The rapper joined his paler half El-P for a damn good show at Diamond Ballroom. What I like about seeing Run The Jewels is how I didn’t feel shorted by the delivery. Killer Mike and El-P energetically swap their festival-ready verses like clockwork. They don’t rely on a ton of other rappers in their album cuts and that means they’re doing all the heavy lifting in concert. That’s nice because too many guest spots can render a hip-hop track toothless in a live setting.
Check out more about the show here.
Click on photos here.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
I love when a little band makes a big noise. The xx only features three members but you can sure lose count once the stage’s mirrors started spinning and the dizzying light show lit up The Criterion. I was surprised at how much energy the British trio poured into a set of songs known best for their sensitivity.
Check out more photos of The xx and Perfume Genius from the show here.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
Sheer Mag’s lead singer Tina Halladay had stage fright when she was a kid.
“Mostly girls experience this: where your family makes you take dance classes and you take the corny picture in a sequin outfit with a baton. I was tap dancing, my shoe flew off, hit this guy in the head and everyone started laughing,” she told me. “I ran off the stage crying.”
Well, that nervousness has evolved into a sturdy onstage swagger. Halladay along with the rest of Sheer Mag (three guitarists strong right now) brought their hard rocking Philadelphia-based road show back to Oklahoma City. The crowd wasn’t massive but made sense for a Monday night.
It made it a little easier to maneuver through patrons to grab shots like these.
You can also read my interview with Halladay here.
Photo by Alasdair McLellan
I played phone tag with The xx for almost two weeks. It’s hard to be mad. These Brits are notoriously busy and were in the midst of European festival sets and some down time. I ended up having to wake up at 6 a.m. to do an early morning phone interview with bassist and singer Oliver Sim.
I was a little nervous going into it because I understand the band members to be somewhat shy, but Sim was very warm and easy to talk to.
Photo by Steve Sisney
Don’t judge a music venue by its size.
Because it doesn’t get much more micro than the Opolis in Norman. During a quiet weeknight concert, my husky frame could shimmy through the venue in five seconds flat. That wouldn’t be the case if 200 people were packed next to the oversized feline photographs hanging on the walls.
Either way, two familiar faces are almost always in attendance. Marian and Andy Nunez are the owners and, more importantly, operators of the longtime concert spot celebrating its fifteenth birthday this month.
Read the rest of my heartfelt ode to the Opolis here.
Pretty bitchin’ new song if you ask me.
Heads up: These dudes are going places.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
This is one my favorite features this year.
I talked to Tony LeSure about slabs, getting pulled over and Green Apple Gatorade.
Read the story here.
Photo by Nathan Poppe
I rarely see a crowd so happy to get sad.
Melancholy comes easy for the Mountain Goats but a packed ACM@UCO Performance Lab happily fed the quartet with eager singalongs and undivided attention. There wasn’t a face in the front row that wasn’t thrilled to hear frontman John Darnielle explain the backstory to a song about Mexican wrestlers pulling off opponents’ masks or to throw out a song request when the shoeless singer excused his band and asked for suggestions.
Read more about the show here and click on more photos here.
Here’s a lot of nifty background information on this lovely tune.
