By Angela Hail, Refrain Oklahoma Correspondent

 I had the fantastic luck of being able to catch a local performance of dUg Pinnick fronting Razr 13 here in Tulsa on February 20. I say luck because if I hadn’t happened to catch a mention of the show on one of the few radio ads that aired the week before, I never would have known they were even going to be here. The name Razr 13 meant nothing to me, but when the radio spot mentioned dUg Pinnick, that’s when my ears perked up. My husband is a HUGE King’s X fan, the band Pinnick is most known for. And the chance of getting to see the man perform live is something I knew he wouldn’t want to miss. Unfortunately, the radio ad was halfway over by the time I clued into what it was. I caught “dUg Pinnick” and “Saturday,” but that was all. No worries, though. There’s always the internet.

The internet proved, as usual, to be my salvation. But it took some digging. There was no mention of the show in the Urban Tulsa, typically my go-to source for live music in the area. Likewise, there was no mention of it on the website of the station that had aired the radio spot (Z104.5 The Edge). Frustrated, and beginning to wonder if I’d been having some kind of aural hallucination when I’d heard the blurb in the first place, I hit my favorite search engine. After several web sites and a brief trip down the halls of Myspace, I found what I was looking for – a list of tour dates. (Unfortunately for you, my Northern friends, it appears that Razr 13 is only hitting Texas and Oklahoma this time around.)  I then managed to confirm the venue, time and cover charge. My plans were set.

A few days later my husband and I found ourselves at a joint called The Backyard Bar. We arrived early, not wanting to take the chance that, despite the lack of marketing, the place would be packed. It was a small, home town bar; just what you’d expect from a place called The Backyard Bar. The bar itself was bedecked in strings of Christmas lights and purple and gold foil fringe. Black lights shown from the ceiling, and there were several neon beer signs illuminating the pool tables and the bar’s Jager Wall of Fame, which depicted patrons of days gone by in various stages of happy drunkenness. The stage area, which was tucked back to the left of the bar, was surprisingly nice, with a proper raised stage and a roped off standing area for the audience.

The opening act was local hero, Chuk Coolie and The Demon Hammers, who recently won Tulsa’s Battle of the Bands. I had never heard them before, but quickly found their reputation is well deserved. The vocals, provided by Chuk Coolie himself, are reminiscent of the lead singer from 7 Mary 3, and the band’s style ranges from classic rock to metal. The guitars and bass are all amplified acoustics, which provide a surprisingly big sound. Some interesting twists to this solid, reliable act were a belly dancer that joined them on stage for their third song, and the occasional addition of flute played by bassist Sondra C. They’re a fun band, sometimes melodic and almost uplifting, sometimes with a heavy bang-your-head drinking vibe. I can see why they are held in such high esteem within our local scene. These guys are definitely pro.

Finally, the act we were all there to see. The crowd was small, (especially considering that my husband knew of several King’s X fans that, if they had known about the show, surely would have been there) but the anticipation was palpable. The setting was so intimate that for the entirety of the opening act’s gig, dUg Pinnick sat at the bar, talking to a friend and being approached only occasionally by very low key and respectful fans. During this time, my husband asked him to sign some CDs, including the Razr 13 disc we picked up at the merch table. Pinnick was gracious and appreciative, the very picture of a modern rock gentleman. So by the time the show started, everyone was itching for an experience. The band, as they’d been all night, was still close enough to touch. And the moment they turned to greet us from the stage, we found ourselves spellbound.

Razr 13 is an animal all its own. This band has a depth of sound that gets into your core and rocks you from the inside out. dUg Pinnick’s vocals were impeccable, as always, ranging from a richness and density you could almost eat, like a dark English pudding, to that signature piercing scream that drills into your head, makes you feel the injustice, cries out for your abandon, and insists that you scream too. dUg and recent addition, rhythm guitarist Al Shire, kept the crowd connected and pumped throughout the entire show. Big Bald Mike (who is indeed very big and very bald) on guitar, Ryan 13 on bass, and Chris “JRAB” Thomas on drums completed the ensemble. The five members have unmistakable chemistry when they take the stage.

The sound of the band, collectively, has the grit of Alice in Chains with a melodic, resonant flow reminiscent of The Def Tones. They performed songs from their self-titled debut album, and I can tell you now, friends, that their live performance is every bit as energetic and honed as their studio recordings. The songs explore the dark side of the human psyche with lyrics like “My life is over now, contemplating suicide, as I stand here all alone, with my laces left untied” from the song, “Reflections,” but they also skim the edge of hope and the strength of the human spirit in songs like “Alive”: “I am alive, after four years in the rain, I will survive, never to feel pain.” There is a bluesy swamp song called “Quicksand” with a back porch acoustic sound that moves you like an old Robert Johnson tune. And then there’s the death metal scream of “Comatose” just begging for a mosh pit.

The crowd was intimately, riotously engaged, and the walls were nearly shaken down. This is a concert I will never forget. I’m sorry you couldn’t be there. But please, do buy their album. It is angst. It is moody. It is grinding, moving, and soul searching. It is worthy.

You can find out more about them here:  http://www.myspace.com/razr13 

Rock Army Records: http://rockarmyrecords.com/razr13

You can stream some of their songs here:  http://www.reverbnation.com/razr13

 I will be adding to this feature over the next week. But here are a few to whet your appetites for new music. Enjoy!

 TUUNG

 Those London-based twisted pop wonders, Tunng, will release their fourth album, …And Then We Saw Land, this April 2010 on Thrill Jockey Records, and it promises to be their best yet.

The band recently did a ten-day voyage of discovery with Malian desert bluesmen,  Tinariwen, a unique collaboration that aimed to fuse the sounds of the two bands together.  An experience that helped shape Tunng’s approach to the new album, “We learned that you don’t always need structure!  As long as there is presence, emotion and groove. It taught us that everything is open and adaptable…”

In the spirit of all that travel and experimentation, they’ve decided to call their new album …And Then We Saw Land – and it’s full of adventurous spirit.  The first Tunng album to take more than a year to write and produce, it’s packed with big choruses and joyful tunes. Three songs contain what the band describe as The Mega Chorus – a 15-strong group of collaborators and drinking buddies who lent their voices to the album one rainy night in an abandoned school hall in Old Street.  The same blend of rustic acoustic based folk, kitchen sink experimentalism, delicate electronics, and pop melodies that don’t let go still pervade and remain the core of Tunng’s rich sonic tapestry.  

Download their new song: “Don’t Look Down Or Back” here:

http://thrilljockey.com/assets/freedownload/Tuung-Dont_Look_Down_Or_Back.mp3

And check out the video for the track, “Bullets,” that appeared on the album Good Arrows (Thrill Jockey 2007) right here:

http://www.thrilljockey.com/vault/index.html?media_id=44

photo by Pearson

DIRTFOOT

“Dirtfoot … is a spectacle, a movable party with instruments.” — Janie Franz, Skopemag.com

“Imagine Nick Cave on a bed of rusty nails, the cover of “Gin and Juice” by the Gourds, some old-timey “Dem Bones,” Old Crow Medicine show culture-clash, and that subtle fecal stench of Mr. Bungle skronk sax craziness: let them stew in an oaken barrel for years and out comes Dirtfoot.” — Spencer, Synthesis.net

“From laid back odes to liquor and lovers, to foot-stomping sing-a-longs their sound manages to be effortlessly their own. With the abundance of musical acts these days, they are certainly a refreshing alternative. Not to mention, it is almost impossible not to at least… jump up and dance along.” — Rachel, www.scenestars.net

Check out their music here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/artist_23941

THE DISCO BISCUITS

New Album, Planet Anthem, Has New Release Date: March 16th (Diamond Riggs Records)

The Video for “You and I” won the MTVu’s Freshman Five and is in Rotation on MTV2’s Subterranean!  See it here:

And the MP3 for “On Time” can be found here: ttp://www.girlieaction.com/music/the_disco_biscuits/downloads/On%20Time.mp3

GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals just debuted their new video for “White Rabbit” (off the Almost Alice Soundtrack). You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vy1OoBAL-E

Also, it’s official – their third album, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, will be released June 8th on Hollywood Records.

Atlantic recording artist, Halestorm,  a hard-driving metal band, is touring in support of their self-titled debut album, which made a top 5 debut on SoundScan’s “Hard Music” chart upon its release. Produced by Howard Benson, the album is a volatile collection of infectious hard rock anthems.  Current single “It’s Not You” is doing well at Active Rock radio, and the companion video recently premiered on AOL’s Noisecreep.

Halestorm has been garnering intensive press attention in recent months, with frontwoman Lzzy Hale on the cover of Revolver’s recent “Hottest Chicks in Metal” issue.  Artist Direct recently noted, “There is nothing more invigorating or inspiring than watching a band on the rise that has it.  It is the inexplicable quality that all legends possess.  It is swagger, sex appeal, soul and, of course, songs.  It’s that ability to make a crowd go absolutely crazy…Halestorm has it.”

These guys (and lady) swagger and moan and belt out 21st century rock while looking like something on the cover of a fantasy novel. They are garnering a wide following from tweens to Moms (seriously!), as well as die-hard metal fans.

www.myspace.com/halestorm / www.halestormrocks.com

Live  Event Alert: February 20, 7:30 pm, February 21, 2 pm
Tickets are $15 (Adults)/$12 (Students/Seniors/Military)/$10 (Children 12 and under). Available by calling (701) 777-4090 or at the door!

By Christopher P. Jacobs

Shows featuring kids and dogs are sure crowd-pleasers, so much that actors often dread having to share the spotlight with them. But the strong adult actors in the key roles of “Annie” hold their own against a talented cast of little girls in the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre’s latest production.  “Annie” opened February 11 at the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks, and continued at 7:30 nightly through Saturday, plus a 2:00 matinee on Sunday, both that weekend and Feb. 18 -21.

The optimistic story of a poor but plucky orphan girl and her dog who become adopted by a billionaire was a popular comic strip for decades after it first appeared in 1924, became a hit Broadway musical in 1977 and movie in 1982 (directed by John Huston, of all people). The stage show set its plot during the Great Depression of the 1930s and while it tried to poke fun at the original strip’s conservative ideology and celebrate FDR’s New Deal, “Annie’s” underlying political implications regain an uneasy timeliness in today’s economic climate.

The show’s basic message, apart from any left-wing or right-wing philosophies that might be construed, is really one of self-reliance, perseverance, and optimism – “the sun will come out, tomorrow.” And of course, it’s the singing and dancing that put over “Annie” as entertainment. Although the musical accompaniment is pre-recorded, all the singing is done live and with great energy, and the large cast (over 60 people) does an impressive amount of dancing, choreographed by Jenny Morris.

Little Ali Nicolai has a great personality and can belt out the timeless tunes like a veteran of musical theatre, with both fine pitch and interpretation. Michelle McCauley was excellent as Annie’s nemesis Miss Hannigan, her powerful singing voice complemented by perfect comic timing. Jon Jackson made an effective Daddy Warbucks, with a pleasant singing voice and an amiable portrayal of the character. Amanda Hill showed a lovely voice in the role of Warbucks’ assistant Grace Farrell, and was also a vocal coach for the show.

Chris Berg and Marjorie Morris had a lot of fun as the greedy co-conspirators with Miss Hannigan, although Berg is obviously better at comedy than at singing. Numerous others got the chance to take center stage at various times, most notably Doug Chavis as a singing radio announcer.

Two different dogs shared the role of “Sandy” on alternate nights, with one appearing in the background as the other performs with great discipline as Annie’s best friend. Two “teams” of orphans also split the half-dozen main orphan girls on alternate evenings.

Naturally the little girls (especially a couple of natural-born actors) sometimes threatened to upstage the adult actors when they’re on stage, but director Mary Lizakowski kept things moving and kept audience attention focused where it needed to be. An innovation of this production was the rental of several impressive New York City backdrops to simplify and enhance the set changes on the large Empire stage.

Overall, the GGFCT presentation of “Annie” was a highly entertaining night at the theatre and one more proof of how good home-grown talent can be.

At Refrain Magazine, we are always striving to bring you news of live events in the region.  We try to keep you up to date with our calendar and festival listings. (Be sure to look for an new annotated festival guide coming next month!) We offer you band profiles and interviews, CD and entertainment book reviews, concert reviews, and, our latest offering:  free muisc and video downloads and streaming links to new music.

In an effort to give you more, we at Refrain are expanding our entertainment coverage. A new feature will go up next month that deals with touring news, gleanings from press releases that come across the Refrain Editor’s desk.

We also will be offering more CD reviews from a new music journalist, Angela Hail, based in Oklahoma, who will give you musical meat to chew on. 

Also, we are very proud to welcome filmmaker and critic Christopher P. Jacobs who will be reviewing all manner of live theater and even some music concerts. As some of you know, Chris has been a faithful contributor to the High Plains Reader since it began, never missing a single issue, not even during the Flood of  ‘97.  His insights will be a great addition to our coverage.

We are hoping that this expanded coverage will enhance your live event experience in the region. And, as always, if you know of live events or festivals in the region that you think our readers should know about, please email the editor at editor@refrainmagazine.com

Chris O'Brien

Enchanted Ape is making another sweep through North Dakota, playing at the Aquarium in Fargo on Friday February 19 and at the Crosstown Saturday, February 20.   Come on over for a night of original music played with heart and spirit by one of the most talented bands in the region.

The historic Fargo Theatre in downtown Fargo, ND, will once more host the 13th annual Celebration of Women and Their Music on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at 6:30 PM. Founder, blues singer and caterer Deb Jenkins, has drawn twelve class acts from the region to showcase their talents. These musical artists will be performing in a range of musical genres. Those selected for this year’s event are:

Ann Reed, Chastity Brown, Chasity Brown, Deb Jenkins, Emily Holt, Haley Rydell, Kris Kitko, Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, Naphtalia (Sommer Robels), Sarah Morrau, Nita Velo, and Rosemary Sauvageau.

This is a non-profit event. None of the artists involved get paid, but they bring their talents and support to a young female artist who will receive a scholarship award in conjunction with the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation. Sometimes the Celebration of Women and Their Music offers more than one scholarship to a young woman in high school. The award recipient will also perform during the show.

There are also a number of events leading up to and preceding the Celebration of Women and Their Music concert.

PRE-SHOW

Wednesday Feb 17th – Nita Velo & Guest

5:30 – 7:00 PM

Plains Art Museum

$5

Thursday Feb 18th – Haley E and the Rydell’s

8:30 – 11:30 PM

HoDo

*Free

Friday, Feb 19th – Rosemary Sauvageau

4:30 – 6:00 PM

Atomic Coffee

*Free

Friday Feb 19th – Ann Reed

7:30 PM

Spirit Room

$8 General/$5 Student

Friday Feb 19th – MJ Kroll (coming in from Minneapolis for this event)

8:30-11:00 PM

HoDo

21 and over

No cover

BIG SHOW

Saturday, Feb 20th -Celebration of Women and Their Music Festival

6:30 PM

Fargo Theater

$10 Student – $15 General Admission

http://www.myspace.com/celebrationofwomen

POST-SHOW

Saturday, Feb 20th -Chastity Brown

10:00 – 11:30 PM

Silvermoon Supper Club

309 Roberts St.

(701) 309-9097

*Free

Saturday, Feb 20th – Lucy Mitchell and the Velvet Lapelles

10:30 PM – Close

The AQUARIUM

*Free

This feature was first printed in the December 2009 issue of my column, Music Up Close with Janie at skopemag.com
We are reprinting it here because Haiti is still evermost on our minds, and because the Allegro Media Group and NAIL Distribution in partnership with Harte Recordings and the Alan Lomax Estate have banded together to do their part in assisting the disaster relief in Haiti. They are pledging $15 from each purchase of the Alan Lomax in Haiti Box set to the Red Cross International Response Fund to aid in the disaster relief via http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalog.asp?sku_tag=HRT3103

You can also make direct donations to aid efforts via

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main

The world is a much better place because of the efforts of folklorists Alan Lomax and his father John A. Lomax who traipsed up the mountains of Appalachia, the bayous of Louisiana, the cotton fields of the Mississippi delta, and the stalked the halls of prisons in Texas to record roots musicians and singers. We know more about ourselves and about our rich heritage because of their efforts. Alan Lomax, in particular, was not only an observer but also a guitar player and singer. He often won his way into musician’s homes by sitting and playing music with them, singing the old songs with them, and asking in great detail where they had learned their particular versions of certain songs. Like an musical anthropologist, he was concerned with the song and its origins, as well as the singer in his or her environment.

I respect that keenly, coming from the foothills of Appalachia myself. My life has been made all the richer for knowing more about the old songs my family sang and for a decent respect that music was given by archivists like Lomax.

Several years ago, I had an assignment to write about another folk music archivist, and, frankly, the longer the interview went, the angrier I got. Only when I was struggling to write my article did I realize what was pushing my buttons. Unlike Alan Lomax, this archivist didn’t stop at merely recording to preserve the music of my people or even putting the music of these hill musicians in record stores so that these folks would get the exposure they deserved. This archivist started recording with these musicians, then recording their songs himself, then giving concerts about their songs, making his own changes as he attempted to recreate this music, saying it was all done in the traditional, old way.

What I finally realized that made me so angry was a certain smugness, an air of authority about something this city-bred, East Coast archivist really didn’t have a clue about. Mountain culture is far more complex than just music with its British and African roots. It has to do with isolation, grueling poverty, and a deep sense of pride and dignity—the context. Though I was born in a small town in East Tennessee, I don’t know if I would even be welcome on some of the picking porches far into the mountains, even if I could recite the line of my people who’d lived in those same hills.

I didn’t want to tell this folk icon that one of his “discoveries,” sounded just like my mother when she’d break out into song when cleaning other people’s houses. Though my mother was long dead, I was afraid that he would want to ferret her out and any of the few remaining singers in my family. I was afraid I’d hear Mama’s version of “Rose Connolley,” the one I’d heard all my life and the one she’d taught me to sing, on his next CD!

But Alan Lomax was never of that ilk. As Assistant in Charge of the Archive of Folk Song of the Library of Congress from 1937 to 1942, Lomax was bent on preserving this music. It was as if he knew that change would come far too quickly. He spent his younger years collecting music from the US, the UK, Spain, Italy, and the Caribbean, contributing a majority of more than 10,000 field recordings to the Library of Congress.

But that isn’t to say that Lomax didn’t produce folk music albums, concerts, and radio shows. He did in the 40s and 50s. But it was to showcase the musicians and the music he had found, to bring it to a wider audience. His recordings and concerts brought world music to Main Street, offering the music of Django Reinhardt, vaudeville Klezmer music, Finnish brass bands, jazzy pop tunes, bluegrass and mountain music, budding rock and roll music, and much, much more. Lomax was so devoted to this multicultural, multi-ethnic musical idea, he consulted with Carl Sagan in 1977 in the selection of music for the Golden Record that was sent into space with the Voyager spacecraft. Lomax included jazz, blues, rock and roll, classical music, indigenous music from the US and Peru, vocal music from the Mbuti Pygmies of Zaire, songs from Bulgaria, Sicily, and many other parts of the world.

His ideas on this music of the earth concept were extended in 2001 by UNESCO’s Universal Declaration of Cultural Diversity. This edict safeguarded languages and culture (including music, art, dance, and practices) equal to the protection of individual human rights. This was considered essential to human survival.

So, this November, one of Alan Lomax’s untouched projects, a five-month archival project conducted in Haiti in 1936-1937, has been respectfully restored and offered to the world. Alan Lomax in Haiti is an incredible box set, containing 10 CDs of music and documentary footage and two hardcover books. One book is an extensive set of liner notes and essays written by Gage Averill, an expert in Haitian culture, with lots of photographs that Lomax had taken during his fieldwork. The other book is Alan Lomax’s Haitian journal that was carefully transcribed and annotated by Ellen Harold. The journal contains photographs and drawings that Lomax made about the instruments and people he observed.

Though most of Lomax’s other field recordings had made their way into the phonographs of the public long ago, this particular work was left untouched. When Lomax considered bringing this work out of storage in the 1970s, there was so much high level sound distortion and surface noise it was impossible to work with them to put them into a popular format. So, back into storage they went.

It wasn’t until new digital technology had surfaced that the Alan Lomax Estate, the Library of Congress, and the Association for Cultural Equity decided that perhaps now this work could be salvaged and presented in a form that world music enthusiasts and cultural scholars could easily access.

Sound restoration specialist Steve Rosenthall, who owns the Grammy award winning team at the Magic Shop in New York, cleaned up the recordings and brought a crispness to them. Gage Averill conducted painstaking musical, cultural, and linguistic archaeology in order to produce accurate transcriptions and translations of the lyrics and precise cultural contexts for phrasing, lifeway descriptions exposed in the songs, and use of the songs. Still, it took ten years to complete the project.

Finally, Alan Lomax’s personal mission to see that this great cultural work was returned to the people of Haiti. Fifty hours of restored, digitally cataloged, and pre-mastered recordings and film are being given to the Haitian Ministry of Culture and the Fondation Connaissance et Liberté. This is truly a national treasure for the Haitian people. And, a wondrous gift to the rest of the world.

Alan Lomax in Haiti

Harte Recordings

Released November 2009

Retails for $129.99

The Great Outdoors will be experimenting once again with LIVE Streaming video/audio during performances at The Diamond Lounge in Grand Forks, ND.  You have to see these guys! Their broadcasts will be from multiple sites.

You can see the broadcast from their website (http://thegreatoutdoorsband.com), their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Great-Outdoors/7989632325?ref=ts),  or on Stickam.    If you follow the band on Twitter, you will get updates for each show when the guys start playing. You can join Stickam and participate in any chats going on from viewers everywhere. Hey, you can even send the band a song request from chat.  So if you can’t make it to Grand Forks, you can still enjoy the show.

Here is a clip from the Saturday afternoon jam session at The Rockin’ Horse in Minot, ND. More clips from that week are on the band’s YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/thegreatoutdoorsband

Despite the 2010 postponement, organizers intend to move toward continuing ROTHBURY in 2011. According to Stein, “This event is something very special, and we are unwilling to potentially tarnish what ROTHBURY is, and can become, by working under conditions that will produce anything less than a magical experience. Our efforts are certainly not coming to an end.”