Local artists and entertainers gather to display their talents at the grand opening of a downtown arts gallery on Friday night, March 11.

            The gallery, Downtown Sound on 115 S. Crawford, was first established as a place for local musicians to practice.            

            “We created it mainly as a practice space for bands that need to rehearse,” Robert Scafe, founder of the gallery, said. “We wanted to do that in the downtown area where all of the art galleries are so that we could exhibit music in some way and also art as well.”

            Downtown Sound’s open house included a wide variety of art forms.

            “There was poetry, there was music, there was art on the walls,” Scafe said. “It’s to create connections between different art forms. We want it to be a place where musicians and artists can come and network.

            “We want to promote the arts but we have an emphasis on music. Since there’s a lot of galleries down there, we feel like it would be good for there to be community space for music that’s not run for profit like a record store or something else.”

            Local musician Jayare Connaughton, Father Phil, performed at the open house and appreciates what Downtown Sound has to offer local artists.  

            “They’ve given us a venue to not only perform at but come together and practice. Downtown Sound is a good place to connect with other artists and musicians, wheter like-minded or not.

            “It was a really nice show.”

Tulsa Original Music Showcase continues success for fourth year

TULSA – An Oklahoma rock band performs their first show for Tulsa’s Z-104.5 The Edge on March 4.

Ashlee McManus and Drew McKenna of Z-104.5 organized and presented the fourth annual Tulsa Original Music Showcase at Cain's Ballroom, 423 N. Main St on Friday night. The event included performances by Eric and the Adams, The Del Toros, Fiawna Forté, and Taddy Porter.

For Taddy Porter, it was their first opportunity to play a show for The Edge.

Taddy Porter Interview

“We hadn’t really got a chance to play for this station yet,” lead singer, Andy Brewer said. “We try to play in Tulsa as often as we can. We weren’t really sure how it was going to be situated because there are so many great bands in Oklahoma.”

            McManus introduced the idea of an Oklahoma music showcase to The Edge because she wanted to expose the potential of various local bands.

“There’s so much talent in Tulsa,” McManus said.

            “Why can’t we all just get together and help each other out and get all of these different bands and play a show together? So I took it to the station and made this happen. We pretty much just want to show people how much talent there is and how much diversity.”

            McManus was pleased with the outcome of the show.

“I think it went awesome,” McManus said. “This is probably one of the best lineups we’ve had. A lot of people have said Fiawna Forté stole the show but I’m a big fan of all of the bands that were on the showcase this year.

            “We noticed this year that we had more presale tickets than walkup. I guess people are hearing about the Tulsa Original Music Showcase and wanting to go every year. It’s an event that people look forward to.”

Oklahoma's own, Mike Hosty

With a combination of upbeat drums, bluesy guitar rifts and satire relating to current events, Mike Hosty’s one-man band performances have entertained crowds on Campus Corner for years.

            Hosty received his first guitar when he was 9 years old and has played since.

“I got a Takeharu Special Acoustic nylon string guitar from Larson Music in OKC," Hosty said. "I got it to look just like Willie Nelson.” 

            Hosty embraced the college-town atmosphere of Norman and ran with it.

“I sort of fell into it,” Hosty said. “I was playing in pick up bands and playing frat parties. The frat and sorority shows really help give a nice paycheck to musicians in college towns.

Mike Hosty entertains a small crowd on Sunday night at
The Deli, 309 White Street, Norman. Fans sway to
the music as Hosty performs "Country Boy."

“I didn’t know a whole lot of covers, so I started writing my own and telling the folks in the audience it was from someone else.”

Melissa Smith, a five year fan of Hosty, enjoys his ability to incorporate the audience when he performs.

“I’d have to say my favorite part about his shows is how involved the crowd gets.”

            Kim Cory, fan, is moved by Hosty’s lyrics and energy.

“I like the lyrics that he gives us,” Cory said. "He reminds me of Bob Dylan. I think it’s amazing how one person can move so many people. The energy is just - it’s almost unbelievable.”           

   

Norman band introduces new music in anticipation of their second self-produced album.

The Samurai Conquistadors, a six-piece band from Norman, performed several of their newly engineered songs in front of an intimate crowd at 9 pm, February 11. The show took place at the Opolis, 113 N. Crawford in Norman.

            “Friday night, I think we played five songs off of the new album, four or five,” drummer Zach Nedbalek said. “We’ve got a little more than that tracked right now though. We’ve just kind of been adding more and more new songs every show we play,” Nedbalek said.

            The band has come to find, through recording and playing live shows, that their new music has a relatively wider appeal with their audience. “We really have been trying to not get obscure with our music,” Nedbalek said. “We’re not trying to alienate people, we’re trying to make them groove.

“A lot of our music has gotten more centered, less sporadic I guess. We didn’t plan it like that, it’s just what we started doing for ourselves first and then we realized it’s very similar to our old stuff, just a little easier for people to get into, I think.”

 The crowd gazed and moved in unison with the tempo of the music. “They reminded me a lot of Neva Dinova and Modest mouse, with their horn section,” newly acquired fan Jay Shropshire said of the band’s sound.

“They had a kind of slow core kind of rock. It was pretty cool.

            “I checked out their songs on Facebook, but before Friday, that’s all I knew. I’m definitely going to check them out again.”

            The Samurai Conquistadors anticipate the release of their new album to be within the next several months. “We’re hoping and we’re going to try really hard for it to come out in the summer,” Nedbalek said. “We’ve got a little more than half of it recorded right now, so I’m pretty optimistic.”