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Miss Blues shouts her roots from the cotton fields into the history books. By Ben Luschen p.31
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inside COVER
AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH
P.31 Gazette’s annual music focus issue covers the music, musicians, venues and events that Oklahoma City and the greater metro area has to offer. On the cover: Meet Miss Blues, aka Dorothy Ellis, who shouts her roots from rural cotton fields into Oklahoma history books.
By Ben Luschen. Photo Garett Fisbeck.
NEWS 4 8
State victims’ rights legislation City Wheeler District update
10 Education school
consolidation plans
12 Chicken-Fried News
EAT & DRINK 15 Feature Bowlsey musicians
create hit Mexican fare
16 Review Guernsey Park
28 Feature Meet the Brewer:
(405) Brewing Co.
20 Briefs
22 Gazedibles eat to the beat
ARTS & CULTURE 25 Film Brothers Jake and Conor Allyn
collaborate on Overexposed 26 Film OKCMOA Film Society 27 Active Open Streets OKC happens Sunday 28 Theater Native American
New Play Festival
29 Community CASA’s Evening
to Remember
30 Calendar
MUSIC
APRIL 8 Tickets Starting at $50
49 Event The Nixons’ electric reunion 51 Event Ronnie Milsap’s peripatetic
path to fame
52 Live music
FUN 41 Puzzles sudoku | crossword 42 Astrology
OKG Classifieds 42
GRANDBOXOFFICE.COM Gazette Weekly Winner! Hien Nguyen To claim your tickets, call 528-6000
I-40 EXIT 178 | SHAWNEE, OK | 405-964-7263
or come by our offices by 4/5/17!
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NEWS
S tat e
Tina Jones is a survivor of 25 years of domestic abuse. | Photo Laura Eastes
Victims’ rights
Crime victims, domestic violence groups and others advocate for Marsy’s Law. By Laura Eastes
From the beginning of her marriage, Tina Jones was exposed to verbal aggression as her husband did everything in his power — yelling, name-calling, blaming and threatening — to control her. The abuse often escalated from threats and intimidation to verbal to physical violence. After an all-night fight that ended with her husband squeezing her throat, Jones left. She recounted the years of terror to her parents and brothers and, later, to an attorney and counselor. Only then did Jones begin to realize that the 25 years of abuse he inflicted was against the law. Divorce papers didn’t end the violence. Jones would peek through the windows of her Rush Springs rental home and watch as his vehicle slowly passed by. She would answer her phone only to hear him spew sinister comments at her. One August evening in 2003, two months after a finalized divorce, Jones answered her phone and heard her exhusband’s voice. This time, he threatened her life. Jones called the police, like she had done many times before, and reported the threat. After an officer left her home, Jones, along with her daughter, daughter-in4
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Marsy’s Law is critical for letting women know they can come forward and they will not be victimized again by the people who are supposed to be helping them. Tina Jones
law and two grandchildren, heard what they thought was a light bulb exploding, only the lights were still on. A bullet raced through her kitchen window and struck the refrigerator next to her. It all happened so quickly. Jones watched the front door knob jiggle just before her ex-husband broke through it, firing into the house as she and her family raced for cover. Jones tripped, and looked up to see the barrel of his gun. She pleaded for her life. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. As she scrambled to her feet, three more rounds exploded. One
grazed her head and another struck her hip. His gun emptied, he left. Once again, she survived. Jones embarked on a journey through the court system, which she believed would protect her and ultimately bring justice to her and her family. During a three-hour preliminary hearing, Jones was ridiculed by her exhusband’s criminal defense attorney. She gave an equally traumatizing deposition with the same attorney. She also was sequestered from the trial except to give her testimony. Jones — and many victims’ right advocates — believe the court system had allowed her to be victimized again. “We, as victims, should not have to go into a courtroom and be victimized again and again,” Jones told Oklahoma Gazette. “That’s what is going on. If this is not the answer, we need to find an answer. I believe Marsy’s Law is a step in the direction. … Marsy’s Law is critical for letting women know they can come forward and they will not be victimized again by the people who are supposed to be helping them.”
An answer
Jones’ voice joins a chorus of Oklahomans, many of whom are survivors of violent crimes, calling for state lawmakers to approve a ballot measure to amend the Oklahoma Constitution. Senate Joint Resolution 46, passed on a 43-2 vote in the state Senate last week, would allow voters to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to embed certain rights for crime victims, who “shall be protected by law in a matter no less vigorous than the rights afforded to the accused.”
If approved by both House and Senate, the measure would then go to a vote of the people in November 2018. If passed by Oklahoma voters, supporters say victims would be notified of their rights during their first contact with law enforcement and provided the opportunity to have a voice in every major step of the criminal justice process. A similar measure, House Joint Resolution 1002, moved through the Oklahoma House this session. Chickasha Republican Rep. Scott Biggs, the leading state lawmaker for Marsy’s Law, sees the measure as an effort to strengthen victim rights. The law is named for Marsalee Nicholas, who was killed by her boyfriend in 1983. A week after her murder, her mother was confronted by the accused, who was released on bail, at a grocery store. The family was unaware that the defendant had been released. Marsy’s Law legislation has been enacted in other states. If approved, it would allow lawmakers to move forward with plans to produce Marsy’s Law cards, which law enforcement officers would give to victims and their families at crime scenes. The card informs victims of their rights. While the legislation has earned relatively few “no” votes, critics of Marsy’s Law generally oppose amending the constitution. In other states, criminal defense lawyers have argued victim notification processes might delay cases and create an inappropriate role for victims and families in prosecutions.
Next step
More than 30 years ago, violence victims had few legal rights within the criminal justice system. Former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Turpen, a vocal victim right’s advocate in the 1980s, recalls those days well. As the legal advisor to Muskogee Police Department in the late ’70s, Turpen remembers seeing police step over bodies to serve suspects Miranda warnings. “From that moment on, I thought we could do better,” Turpen said as he recalled the days before the 1981 Oklahoma Crime Victim Bill of Rights. “Back then, we never went over to the man who had just been robbed, the woman who had just been raped or the couple who had their farm burglarized,” he said. “We never went over to those Oklahomans and read them their rights as victims of crimes because they had no rights.” Turpen observed rape victims paying for their own rape examinations, burglary and robbery victims encountering law enforcement barriers when getting their stolen property returned and violent crime victims seated very near defendants in courthouse waiting rooms. Oklahoma Victim Bill of Rights continued on page 6
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changed that by adding laws to address victim compensation, restitution, criminal sentencing impact statements, protection against intimidation, prompt property return and separate victim waiting areas in the courthouse. Perhaps most important, a witness rights advocate position was created at district attorney’s offices statewide to ensure victims had a voice in the court process. More than three decades later, Turpen advocates once again for crime victims. “The ultimate victory over victimization is to have victim rights inscribed in the constitution,” Turpen said.
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Former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Turpen has long advocated for strengthening the rights of violent crime victims. | Photo Gazette / file
He believes Marsy’s Law is in “no way shape or form” an attempt to strip defendants of their rights. “It is about balancing the scales of justice. [Defendants] have their constitutional rights,” Turpen said. “Why can’t the victims have theirs as well?”
Increased awareness
RD A O B E T A K S | E IK B | WA L K
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In any TV crime show, officers “read the rights” — the Miranda warning — to suspects. What’s often missing from those scenes and storylines are the victims’ experiences as they enter the criminal justice system, said Janet Peery, YWCA Oklahoma City CEO. “The public, for the most part, doesn’t understand that victims have rights as well, or that they even should have rights,” Peery said. The image of the criminal justice system that Peery sees in her day-today YWCA work is very different from the one depicted on television, especially for domestic violence victims. Through a variety of tactics, batterers and their attorneys can manipulate justice system processes.
The public, for the most part, doesn’t understand that victims have rights as well, or that they even should have rights. Janet Peery Since most criminal convictions result from plea bargains, a process of negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys, victims can feel left out when prosecutors don’t consult them. “Perpetrators have the right to address their accusers, but it can be dragged on and on,” Peery explained. “Victims can be taken to court over and over, sometimes over a period of years. The right to a speedy trial doesn’t happen for victims. … The process of the court just re-traumatizes victims.” At YWCA, staff work to empower domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims by increasing their knowledge of their rights in criminal justice and restorative justice processes. Peery has pondered the question: “Do other victims know their rights and exercise those rights?” She said Marsy’s Law is key to increasing public knowledge of victims’ rights and ensuring their voices are heard through the court process, she said. As Oklahoma wrestles with criminal justice reform measures, Peery sees opportunity. “We really have an opportunity to turn Oklahoma around and change the statistics that haunt us in so many ways,” Peery said.
Testimony for change
Oklahoma’s troubling domestic abuse and violence statistics, including the state ranking No. 6 nationally for women killed during intimate partner violence, bothers Jones. She responds to the crisis through reaching out to help other survivors through Celebrate Recovery, a Christian-based 12-step program for healing. Healing from the trauma of 25 years of abuse, along with the shooting and the emotions built up over the trial, has been a slow process. Sharing her testimony with others has helped. As has witnessing the votes in favor of Marsy’s Law in a House committee meeting. “The fear does something to you,” Jones explained. “You just don’t work right anymore. Your fighter fluid is gone and you are broken. We have to tell women there is an answer. There is a way.”
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NEWS
Rolling buzz
The creatives behind Wheeler District ready for phase one of its expansive development plans. By Laura Eastes
The saying, “If you build it, they will come,” seems to apply perfectly to the Wheeler District, an urban neighborhood development moving forward along the Oklahoma River in south Oklahoma City. Last July, the district debuted its signature attraction with the opening of the Wheeler Ferris wheel – the former Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel. On any given Saturday, Ashley Terry, who serves as Wheeler’s director of public life, would look around the outdoor space to see teenagers engaging in lawn games, three generations of family members posing for a photograph in front of local artist Hugh Meade’s OKC sculpture and a couple getting engaged when seated in a gondola on the Ferris wheel. During the five-month season, Wheeler drew 40,000 ticketed riders on the Ferris wheel and around 100,000 total visitors to district, which was opened Monday through Saturday. Success is no accident, said the Wheeler District team, which includes developer Blair Humphreys. While the image of a Ferris wheel rotating along the Oklahoma River is now ingrained into the vision of many local residents and visitors, not long ago the area was an abandoned airport. Taking a page from urban design experts, the Wheeler team sought to create a purposeful place for their mixed-use development, which called for transforming a 150-acre inner-city area. They wanted a place where people of all ages and incomes, families, friends and couples could spend quality time, said Sam Day, Wheeler’s director of urban design.
The Ferris wheel has been a really great introduction to the type of culture we want to cultivate at Wheeler. Ashley Terry “The hardest part in starting this is we are in the middle of nowhere,” Day said. “How do you get people to come? An attraction. If we just had the Ferris wheel, maybe people come, but they ride and then they are out of there. How do we get people to stay? … We had to create 8
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spaces that people wanted to dwell in and felt comfortable in.” The Wheeler Ferris Wheel showed Oklahoma City what’s to come, building an audience of backers for the development that calls for 2,000 housing units in addition to office, retail and other commercial space constructed over the next two decades.
minal building and hanger. In the first phase of the development, the 1947 terminal building stays and receives a much-needed rehab. It could reopen as a market and cafe. An array of housing and mixed-used structures will surround it. In its efforts to meet the housing needs of people of all ages and incomes, the plan calls for tiny homes on wheels, apartments, townhouses and singlefamily homes. At least 20 percent of the housing will be deemed affordable living. Such housing options creates a community where people can envision living their entire lives, Day said. The first wave of residents and businesses are expected to move in by late
Elementary School. It is estimated that the Wheeler project’s ad valorem tax increase will generate $11 million over the long term. The total private investment in the area is projected at $576 million, according to the city’s financial impact report, which also states the plan spurs a “catalytic effect” for surrounding Oklahoma City south neighborhoods.
Current approach
Saturday, when the Ferris wheel begins to spin for its second season, visitors will arrive to the district to find new amenities. First, a new entrance was built to connect visitors from Western Avenue, as opposed to the old airpark entrance.
Wheeler District director Ashley Terry and urban design director Sam Day | Photo Garett Fisbeck
“The Ferris wheel has been a really great introduction to the type of culture we want to cultivate at Wheeler,” Terry said. “We are family-friendly and its relaxed, chilled and a lot of fun.” Now, the first phase of construction, which includes rehabilitating the Art Deco former terminal building and constructing an array of housing options is set to begin within the next 60 days.
Unique approach
“Having a public planning process, people already feel ownership to the idea behind Wheeler,” Terry said. “We haven’t even built anything yet, but people are excited about it.” The Wheeler team took an uncommon approach to its comprehensive district plan by inviting the public to submit ideas for the new neighborhood in a process they called “community charrette” back in 2014. Overwhelmingly, people recommended the district retain its airport roots, suggesting the rehab of the ter-
2018 and development should continue through 2030.
TIF approach
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma City Council approved a plan to create a $120 million tax increment financing (TIF) district for the Wheeler development, which is part of a large proposal known as the Western Gateway Project Plan. Under state law, municipalities can access funds for economic development by forming a TIF district. In the district, property taxes within its boundaries are frozen at existing level. Future growth, over a period of years, goes to the TIF fund for projects within the district. For Wheeler, the TIF funds are earmarked for streets, water, sewage and drainage lines, parking, river bank improvements, landscaping, sidewalks and trails. Additionally, half of the funding will go towards public education with the construction of Western Gateway
A new plaza area was created around public act, increasing the opportunity for visitors to take a seat or enjoy any one of 12 hammocks. Food trucks operate near the Ferris wheel. While last season’s visitors often asked Terry what’s to come, this season it might be a little more obvious as construction begins south of the Ferris wheel. Already, responses can be summed up in the saying, “I like what I see.” “People here are generally excited about the direction the city is going,” Humphreys said. “From the beginning, all we’ve tried to be is a neighborhood that is part of the Oklahoma City story. When people celebrate Wheeler, they are really celebrating the city.”
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NEWS
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Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Aurora Lora addresses parents and community members about the district’s plan to consolidate schools during a public meeting last week at Andrew Johnson Elementary School in The Village. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
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It could end where it all began for David R. Lopez Community School at Edgemere Elementary. About three years ago, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education approved a pilot community school program for Edgemere. Nonprofit group Friends of Edgemere School advocated for the effort to address urban education challenges. Through established community partnerships, the community schools model works to combat barriers, often poverty-related, that Edgemere students carry into classrooms. With basic needs met, students are more motivated to learn. “The teachers are very positive and invested in the kids. It’s a happy learning environment,” said Elizabeth Risch, Friends of Edgemere president, the parent of two Edgemere students and weekly volunteer reading buddy. “There is a better relationship, more trust between the families and the school. … We are all collaborating to help the children succeed.” A day after Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) officials presented a preliminary plan before the school board that suggested shuttering Edgemere and other schools in an effort to save money, Risch fielded calls from parents, neighbors, community members and others asking what they could do to help. The community overwhelmingly responded against the school’s closure, created an online petition, suggested donation drives and encouraged attendance at a community meeting. As the district’s piloted five-year
community school program, many believed that if the program yielded successful outcomes, it would be replicated at other schools. “Even in a financial crisis, where there is a focus on damage control, we need to keep one eye on the future as to how we actually improve schools,” Risch said. “We don’t want to shut down an example of what could guide the future of public schools.”
Plan introduced
Oklahoma City is embarking upon a conversation that could potentially end with a drastic shake-up of its public schools. Earlier this month, district officials presented a preliminary plan to consolidate schools and grades, potentially impacting nearly half of the district’s 72 building sites. The initiative, introduced by OKCPS chief of staff Rebecca Kaye, calls for shrinking the district by five schools through consolidation — a move that is projected to save $1.2 million. The five schools are all viewed as small schools with enrollment fewer than 300 students. Further, the district is considering changes at the middle school level by adding upper elementary grades to Rogers Middle and Taft Middle schools and converting Northeast Academy for Health Sciences and Engineering Enterprise from a mid-high magnet school into a middle school. In a time of lagging state revenues, district officials like Kaye and OKCPS Superintendent Aurora Lora expounded t he Prelim ina r y School Consolidation Recommendations and
Community Engagement Plan as the first wave of cuts stemming from Oklahoma State Capitol decisions and state lawmakers wrestling with a third consecutive year of significant budget shortfalls. The state budget faces a nearly $900 million shortfall for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Last year, OKCPS leaders cut $30 million from the district budget by eliminating more than 200 teacher and staff jobs, ending some extra curricular activities, holding off on textbook purchases, reducing fine arts budgets, eliminating library book purchases and altering bus services. The $30 million figure represents cuts from the state and federal government. “We are looking at more systemic changes because we’ve run out of easy things to cut,” Lora said last week. “Now, we have to look at changes in grade configurations and school closures for small schools.” Lora said the district could lose as much as $16 million with state funding cuts and it’s unknown how the federal budget might affect the district. For the district’s 2016-17 general fund, state funding accounted for 53.6 percent followed by local funding at 27 percent and federal at 14 percent.
District questions
Lingering questions remain about the district’s plan, which Lora said could alter between now and the April 6 meeting when board members are expected to vote. Board member Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs questioned many issues revolving around the plan as she spoke to district officials at the March 20 board meeting, when the plan was formally unveiled. Her questions included the number of staff eliminated, impact on transportation and maintenance as well as the effects on students enrolled in individualized education programs (IEPs) or special education programs. Those questions have yet to be answered publicly. Andrew Johnson Elementary School parent Laci Perez had similar questions written on a notepad as she arrived to the first district-sponsored public meeting. The pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade school serves students living in The Village and accepts indistrict transfers for its special needs program. If it closes, it’s unclear where the school’s special needs students and their teachers would go. “We are concerned about the teachers. Each one of them means so much to my family. Where are they going to go? What will happen to them?” Perez asked. “We don’t want to lose anybody. … These kids don’t want to lose their schools.” By nature, school closures are deeply unpopular among students, parents and communities. The strength of a neighborhood is very often tied to its school, which can
be its hub of activity. A vacant building can lure vandalism and drive down property values. Across the nation, critics have agreed school closures tend to disproportionately affect low-income students and students of color. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma also has raised similar concerns. Under the proposal, all elementary schools, excluding Willow Brook, in District 5 would be reorganized and Green Pastures and FD Moon elementary schools closed. District 5 represents the northeast section of Oklahoma City and Spencer, where the city’s largest AfricanAmerican populations live. Northwest OKC’s Gatewood Elementary School is the fifth school listed for closure under the plan. District officials are asking the eight-member school board to vote on the consolidation plan 17 days after it was unveiled. Both Kaye and Lora emphasized the quick turnaround for upholding terms established in teacher and staff contracts. Should the board reject the plan, officials have time to prepare a second proposal. Lora warned that proposal would include massive layoffs and larger class sizes, examining district vendor contracts and dipping into the district’s fund balance.
We don’t want to shut down an example of what could guide the future of public schools.
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Elizabeth Risch “It will ultimately be a board decision,” Lora said. “We have to figure out how to make the budget balance, whether it is [the consolidation plan] or looking at increasing class sizes or cutting more materials, books and athletics.” Regardless, balancing the budget, either by slashing positions or closing schools, will impact schools and their students for generations. Parents and community members like Risch and Perez wish to stress to the board the importance of understanding how the school plays a role in students’ lives. “Our concerns are the same,” Perez said. “I am sure at all the schools the parents are saying the same thing. The fact is, this is a small school. The fact is, I have seen my child flourish. We have concerns about the special needs program and the inconvenience and displacement of children. … It’s disheartening to me.”
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chicken
friedNEWS
Baffling brainwashing
Parents have to worry about a lot of things when it comes to what their kids are being taught. One state senator believes kids are actually being brainwashed, but it isn’t coming from school or TV. In an interview with Poppy Harlow on CNN’s New Day, Sen. James Inhofe, a climate change skeptic who is also Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chairman, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is creating propaganda and brainwashing America’s youth. The U.S. Senator from Oklahoma believes budget cuts will excise that arm of the agency. (He also has said previously that he believes climate change is a “hoax.”) March 15, Bloomberg reported that President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan would slash the EPA budget by 29.6 percent, from $8.1 billion to $5.7 billion. “We are going to take all this stuff that comes out of the EPA that is brainwashing our kids, that is propaganda, things that aren’t true, allegations,” Inhofe told Harlow. When Harlow asked Inhofe to name specific examples of EPA propaganda or brainwashing tactics, he instead defended Scott Pruitt. Pruitt now heads the EPA (and also rejects the scientific consensus on climate change), and Inhofe argued that, as Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt sued oil and gas companies in addition to the EPA. Chicken-Fried News isn’t exactly sure what any of that has to do with propaganda or brainwashing. Anyway, in an interview on The Eric Metaxas Show last summer, Inhofe said he was one of the first to speak out against climate change — perhaps when he famously threw a snowball from the U.S. Senate floor and declared climate change a hoax. Then his granddaughter came home from school and refuted his claims. How dare a child be so petulant!
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Most diseased?
Don’t call it a comeback. Sexually transmitted diseases have been here for years, but Oklahoma cases are on the rise, according to BackgroundChecks.org’s The Most Sexually Diseased States in the U.S. list. Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state and county health agencies and social media surveys, the list ranks Oklahoma as the No. 8 most-diseased state with an estimated 392.8 diseases per 100,000 residents. This follows on the CDC’s 2016 report that said STDs are at an unprecedented high, possibly fueled by the growing availability of dating apps. “Now we have apps on smartphones that people use to ‘hook up’ or engage in risky behaviors with strangers,” Carter,
Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall and Stevens County Health Department administrator Mendy Spohn told The Daily Ardmoreite. “Many of the diseases we are seeing don’t have acute symptoms,” Spohn said. “It is important to get screened and treated for any transmittable infections, not only to stop the spread in the community, but to protect unborn children.” So what’s the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection in Oklahoma? If you won’t wager a guess, we’ll tell you: It’s chlamydia. In 2015, chlamydia cases were diagnosed at a rate of 537.5 per 100,000 residents, which is a 21.7 percent jump from 2012, according to Oklahoma State Department of Health. Next up is gonorrhea! Infections increased 22.3 percent since 2013. In 2015, Oklahoma had 167.3 cases per 100,000 residents. Oklahoma and Tulsa counties are in the top 10 counties in the state by rate and number for chlamydia, gonorrhea and newly diagnosed cases of HIV. But wait; there’s more: Oklahoma County is also in the top two for rate
and number of primary and secondary syphilis cases. Comebacks should be for silly stuff, like rolled-cuff mom jeans and men’s blazers with padded shoulders. Maybe it’s time for sex ed to make a comeback, too.
Free legal advice!
The deputy general counsel advises the governor on legal issues that arise in the day-to-day operation of the executive branch. We at Chicken-Fried News admit there is probably a bit more to the deputy general counsel position, but that’s the job in a nutshell. Of course, no government employee should use their position for personal gain or to benefit friends or family. When a family calls the governor’s office to petition for commuting a sentence, the deputy general counsel certainly shouldn’t suggest hiring her own hubby as a criminal defense attorney. After all, that would be an ethics violation. Right? That’s just what happened in Gov.
Mary Fallin’s office, according to an investigation by The Frontier online news organization. The Frontier learned that Jennifer Chance, while acting as the deputy general counsel, suggested in a 2016 phone call that relatives of former Reserve Deputy Robert Bates — who was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed suspect — hire her husband Derek Chance. In efforts to seek a commutation for Bates, the family hired Derek Chance. The commutation was denied in November. TheFrontier.com reported Fallin “was reportedly not aware that her general counsel had referred the Bates family to her husband.” Jennifer Chance, who was named Fallin’s general counsel in October, took a leave of absence before submitting her resignation on March 8. As The Frontier put it, “It’s unclear what, if anything, will occur as a result of Jennifer Chance referring legal business to her husband.”
Mall brawl
Want a good recipe for starting a fight? Throw together huge and busy parking lots, some high-priced but tempting luxury items, exuberant vendors, looking cool and maybe a crying toddler or two and you have a recipe for short fuses. The frustration boiled over into a March 10 confrontation at Penn Square Mall. Oklahoma City police said four people were arrested after a fight erupted in the upstairs food court. The cause is not clear, but mall staff did evacuate many guests from the area. News9.com reported that
no shots were fired, but police are investigating whether a Taser was deployed. Chicken-Fried News certainly does not condone public brawling. That said, who hasn’t watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop and not fantasized about taking out a bad guy or two out by Sunglass Hut? While the fight’s cause is unknown, it probably wouldn’t be surprising to anyone if we learned it stemmed from tensions within the Apple store. … Because on crowded days, Genius Bar guests almost always look like they’re stuck in unhappy hour. Hopefully no one was seriously hurt in the incident, because we think that maybe — just maybe — the incident inspired a good idea: food court mixed-martial arts battles! What could anyone want more after ordering a fresh hot Cinnabon treat than strolling over to a nearby octagon and watching two angstladen shoppers duke it out for dibs on a rare pair of Russell Westbrook sneakers? On second thought, maybe we should just leave the mall battles to our friend Paul Blart.
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EAT & DRINK People don’t always need creativity, but they do need food, every day, three times a day.
F eat u re
Taylor “Shraz” Mercier
Hot tamale
Bowlsey bandmates Cid and Shraz fund a music career with Mexican flavor. By Greg Elwell
If you want Cid’s tamales, you have to find her first. “Meet me, find me, call me, catch me at a show,” said Bowlsey band member Clarissa “Cid” Castillo. “Or go out and start drinking at bars more. You’re bound to find me.” In the kitchen with husband Taylor “Shraz” Mercier, another member of the band, Cid is hard at work on that tamale hustle with a giant grin on her face. Making tamales, burritos and salsa is still work, but it’s the best job Castillo has ever had because she’s working for herself. She noticed that no matter how many jobs she had or how many hours she worked, she was always falling behind. Working for others meant she did all the work and reaped few of the rewards. Making tamales to sell at shows was a nice sideline business, but it wasn’t until Mercier crunched the numbers that her business path became clear. “Quit working for other people,” he told her. “You’re losing money.”
Service culture
Being in a band means the pair spend a lot of time with bartenders and other friends who have the kind of jobs where taking a lunch break is not an option. Pizza delivery has been around for ages, and getting Chinese food delivered isn’t hard. But Mexican food is a different story. And even if places do deliver, they often close down before last call. So Cid and Shraz decided to start
feeding their friends who are up at odd hours. She has even taken to serving breakfast burritos all day, because “morning means different things to different people.” You can often find her with a picnic basket, selling burritos with salsa or a half-dozen tamales for $5. In a four-hour span, the pair will make several dozen tamales filled with beef, pork or chicken and even a vegan variety that caters to a growing clientele. “We might be able to make 13 dozen in four hours, but only with the power of teamwork!” she said, smiling at her husband. “Behind every great woman is a Shraz.”
Embracing heritage
Cid is half-Hispanic and half-Austrailian aboriginal, but she didn’t have much connection to the Mexican side of her roots until her grandfather took her on a trip to Monterrey, capital of northeastern Mexican state Nuevo León. There, she spent a week with a woman who lived without electricity in a house of mud and straw. “She was this ancient woman who was still working every day for a living,” Castillo said. “It was different than anything I’d ever experienced.” Cid considers herself a mix of city and farm girl. Growing up in Houston, she saw a part of many different worlds, but the primitive lifestyle in Monterrey was eye-opening.
Bowlsey musicians Taylor “Shraz” Mercier and Clarissa “Cid” Castillo are branching out with RastaMolly’s Mexican food. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
“She taught me to make cornmeal. She taught me how to roast pigs. It’s really important stuff, being able to harness the world around her and just create with her hands,” she said. “When people say ‘farm-to-table,’ that’s not the same thing as living completely off such a small property.” Her tamale-making lessons stuck with her, and her tamales are so good that when Shraz tasted them, he said, “You should go out and sell those.” So she did. And it worked. “We decided maybe we can spend a day doing this to raise extra money,” she said. Now, it has progressed to a full-time job. Shraz said one thing they’ve learned is that he should make himself scarce. While both of them are unfailingly friendly, people are a little intimidated by his presence. It’s easier to make sales when it’s only Cid. For her part, Castillo is trying to get into a revenue-sharing deal with other bands. She can sell tamales and other bands’ merchandise while they worry about playing a show. That said, she’s more confident that people will buy the food than anything else.
Band business
People only need so many T-shirts, Castillo said. When Bowlsey was looking to travel outside the state for shows, the band members were
struck by how expensive it was to play in new cities. “We needed to branch out, but those tolls are expensive,” she said. So they started telling fans that they could contribute by buying tamales, with a portion of the sales going to touring. People might not have a use for more band merchandise, but they still want to help, she said. Mercier said he considers himself an artist first and a musician second, but what are you supposed to do when no one wants to pay you for those things? “People don’t always need creativity, but they do need food,” he said. “Every day, three times a day.” The addition of burritos was recent, regrettably, Cid said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to do burritos first,” she said. “They’re so much easier to make.” Now they’re working on getting word out about their venture. They recently launched a Facebook page for the business called RastaMolly’s (facebook.com/ rastamollys) and they’re looking into buying a food truck. Not that they need more demand, Castillo said. As it is, they always run out before the night is through. And she has become just as known for being “tamale girl” as she is as Cid from Bowlsey. “It’s funny. Now that I’m doing this full-time, people keep offering me jobs,” she said. Mercier said it’s a largely untapped market and one that’s growing as Oklahoma City gets younger. “Houston stays open,” he said. “People stay up, so businesses stay up.” That’s why his plan is to eventually begin serving tamales until 3 or 4 a.m. “It’s still very underground, but we’ve been successful,” Cid said. “If you’re having a house party or a show and you want tamales, invite me.” Cid recommends anybody with a hunger for her fare to find her out late at night. She might even serve up one of her rare pecan sandie tamales. But the food goes to those willing to work at it. “You got to want it in order to get it,” she said.
Clarissa “Cid” Castillo’s fresh-made tamales | Photo Garett Fisbeck
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EAT & DRINK catalan chicken
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Flaming Tuna Sushi-Rito | Photo Garett Fisbeck
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Amusement Park Hold on tight, because Guernsey Park will take your taste buds for a wildly delicious ride. By Greg Elwell
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What needs work: The five-spice fried chicken was almost too tender to stay in one piece. Tip: Make plans for a designated driver if you order mimosas at brunch.
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There is nothing more disheartening for a food lover to hear from a server than, “Everything is good.” Well, “Nothing is good,” is probably worse, but not by much. Wait staff have multifaceted jobs that go well beyond just taking orders and bringing food to the table. They are guides through the dense menu jungle, cutting away disappointing dishes with their machete/ball-point click pen. When you ask a guide which way to go, you don’t want to hear, “Whichever way is fine. They’re all great.” That’s why I love the servers at Guernsey Park, 2418 N. Guernsey Ave. — they have actual opinions about the food because they eat it all the time. If the wait staff at a restaurant don’t eat at that restaurant, you shouldn’t either. At Guernsey, my guides directed me immediately to one of the restaurant’s best-loved appetizers, chicken lollipops (seven for $8). If you love hot wings but don’t love the heat, chicken lollipops will treat you right. The wings are cut and pushed up the bone, putting the meat at one end and the handle at the other. They are dipped and fried to create a light, airy crust that greedily sops up the balsamic chili gastrique. Another way the restaurant serves chicken is in five-spice fried chicken ($10), which is cooked once before being fried to create an exceedingly tender texture after diners crunch through the skin. The spice lingers on the tongue even as the chicken begins falling apart.
It’s as if the crispy coating is the only thing holding the meat on the bone. It’s served with sides of whipped mashed potatoes and cooked greens. It’s an Asian take on a traditional Sunday dinner classic, and I highly suggest you try it. Fried Brussels sprouts ($7) are becoming a fixture on many metro menus, but I’m quite fond of Guernsey’s rendition. Covered in a garlic caramel sauce that boosts the natural sweetness of the fried sprouts, the dish comes with a seared lemon that I heartily recommend squeezing over the top. The balance of the tart citrus and the sweet, tangy caramel creates a swirl of flavors that had me dizzily reaching for more. The restaurant has always had a nice sushi menu but recently added a fun, lunch-friendly twist on the Japanese delicacy with its Sushi-Ritos. The mashup of sushi and burrito is all about making raw fish and rice more portable and more filling. Rather than a tortilla, the Flaming Tuna Sushi-Rito ($12) is wrapped in seaweed. It is cut once, so instead of several slices of sushi roll, diners are left with two perfectly handheld portions. Along with spicy tuna, rice and pickled onions and jalapeños, the double-thick sushi roll includes a somewhat unconventional ingredient: Flaming Hot Cheetos. Executive Chef Paul Langer laughed about the chips’ inclusion, saying it’s odd, but it added the perfect flavor and texture to the dish. He’s not wrong. The chilled tuna has a luscious, fatty texture, and the pickled vegetables and Cheetos add a great crunch. The rice adds a nice heft, and the seaweed has just the right amount of tension to make each bite snap. There’s a spicy, creamy sauce on the side for dipping, but I prefer the classic mix of soy sauce and wasabi to bring a little added saltiness and heat to the dish.
Do you like ribs? If your answer is not yes, you haven’t had Guernsey’s awardwinning Park Ribs ($12), which took home the crown at Chocolate Decadence a few years ago. Langer’s saucy pork ribs possess a gorgeous, meaty texture that holds to the bone until the second you gently tug it away. The fat and collagen melt over the long cook time, giving the meat a sumptuous feel that matches the sweet, citrusy tang of the sauce. The restaurant is changing one excellent dish, its ssämjang burger ($10), but I’m confident the kitchen staff will hold onto what makes it so magical. Ssäm is a Korean dish of leafy vegetables, like lettuce, wrapped around some kind of filling. Ssämjang is the thick, spicy sauce that goes with those lettuce wraps. It’s sweet, salty and spicy — kind of barbecue sauce, but with an added kick of meaty umami flavor. That’s what makes the ssämjang burger such a wonder. The sauce infuses the beef patty with even more beefy flavor, which creates an irresistible taste for burger lovers. Langer said he’s switching it up a little bit, changing out the large beef patty for two thinner beef patties. But the ssämjang will stay, meaning you’ll still be getting a juicy burger, but with a little more surface area for flavor development. I loved it as is, but I’m excited to try the new version, too. This is another instance in which having an enthusiastic server makes a huge difference. I was waffling on getting the burger until the waiter told me, essentially, “Dude, this is one of the best burgers around.” Dude, he wasn’t lying. And that is one way a great server provides such great service. If he just said, “Everything is good,” I wouldn’t have gotten it. Needless to say, when that same server said, “You’ve really got to try our brunch,” I made reservations without hesitation. In addition to the wonderful selection of brunch mimosas, I discovered a few outstanding dishes. I love grits and I love shrimp and, goodness gracious, do I love Guernsey’s shrimp and grits ($12). The grits are made with broken rice, which soaks up the cooking liquid and creates a creamier product than unbroken rice. The shrimp, rice grits and a savory brown sauce come with a pair of poached eggs, making it a truly wonderful breakfast. I was also quite taken with the short rib Benedict ($12). The beef was lusciously tender, and the usual English muffin was replaced by a fried steamed bun. Yes, a steamed bun that was then fried. The texture was heavenly, with a gentle sweetness that was even better when enrobed in egg yolk. For the table, I recommend okonamiyaki ($9), which is a savory Japanese pancake filled with bacon and green onion and topped with red cabbage and a gorgeous fried egg. Spread the egg yolk around and let everyone slice up the pancake to share. Guernsey Park is a wonderful restaurant, though a bit hidden from view. That can be the only explanation I will accept for seeing an empty table in the dining room. The food is expertly done, and the wait staff is ready to guide you through the menu. Just ask.
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EAT & DRINK
(405) Brewing Co. co-owner Trae Carson mixes ingredients to start Last Friday Night,
F eat u re
a new IPA inspired by the Katy Perry song. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
Meet the Brewer
(405) Brewing Co. uses pop hit inspiration when crafting its popular beers. By Greg Elwell
Editor’s note: As part of our continuing coverage of Oklahoma craft beer, Oklahoma Gazette presents “Meet the brewer,” a monthly feature profiling beermakers. Trae Carson wants you to taste the music. Carson, who co-owns (405) Brewing Co. with Jonathan Stapleton, spent a late-March morning in the Norman brewery mixing ingredients for his newest beer. He said its origin story is only slightly embarrassing. “We’re getting ready to brew Last Friday Night,” he said. “It’s from a Katy Perry song. I’m 35 now, but I was thinking, ‘What does a 25-year-old want to drink?’ They all want a crushable craft beer.” (405) hasn’t created an IPA before this one, so Carson went about designing a “party-style” India pale ale. “We find inspiration from all different places,” he said. “We’re not really paying attention to what someone else brewing. We just follow our own lead.” Freedom to go their own way is a gift from the great local brewers who fought to make Oklahoma a beer-friendly state, Carson said. “Some great companies have come in here and really paved the way for us. COOP [Ale Works] has only been here for eight years, but it feels like it’s been around for 25. They educated the consumer and excited people about local beer,” he said. “Prairie [Artisan Ales] exposed the world to Oklahoma beer.”
Oklahoma identity
For years, Oklahoma didn’t have a beer the rest of the country knew about, Carson said. “Obviously, we’ve had some great beer here for a really, really long time with Choc,” he said. “But in the last eight 18
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years, Oklahoma has begun to define itself.” He ought to know. Travels with his family included looking for small-label beers that would inevitably find their way home. His house looked like that of a craft brew hoarder. “That always meant searching out new local beers we couldn’t get in Oklahoma. That was an aspect of the places you went, finding these rare, really cool beers. You got a real flair for that area of the country,” he said. “North Carolina beer is different than San Diego beer. And you learn about all these different varieties of beer and techniques.”
Obviously, we’ve had some great beer here for a really, really long time. ... But in the last eight years, Oklahoma has begun to define itself. Trae Carson Those family vacations and his 2007 bachelor party trip — in which he, Stapleton and two other friends spent nine days tracing a teardrop of breweries through St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and others in the northeast — helped define what (405) would become. And in some ways, Carson said, they’re still defining it. “Our philosophy is FDR: Fuck the Damn Rules,” he said. “We have no desire to brew to style or guidelines.” Their one aim is to make beer that
join us for
tastes good. Some of (405)’s flavors might be challenging, but Carson is confident that once people try it, they’ll accept nothing less. “Not everyone loves sushi, but before people first try it, they are skeptical,” he said. “Once they have it, though, they love it.” Labeling laws require the brewery to list a style with each beer, but Carson said he’s more interested in trying new flavor combinations than adhering to some age-old beer description.
DiM suM
Yeasty boys
One thing is true, though: If you’re looking for hops, you might want to look elsewhere. “Some of the best IPAs in the country are made by Roughtail [Brewing Co. in Midwest City]. They showcase hops. We like to showcase yeasts,” he said. (405) uses several yeast and bacteria strains throughout the year, including wine yeast, to draw unexpected flavors from its beers. “Yeast is the most dominant flavor in beer if you let it be,” Carson said. “Some yeast strains are very clean. A lager yeast strain fermented at a colder temperature takes longer to ferment but doesn’t leave a lot behind. But just like people, yeasts have so many different characteristics and properties. They’re going to create alcohol and CO2, but they might also add a funky component to the beer, or spice or fruit flavor, even without adding any fruit.” Playing with different yeasts allows the brewery to create fun flavors, including another pop-inspired beer, last year’s Cool for the Summer. “I’m a pop music junkie,” Carson said. “I was listening to the song [by Demi Lovato], and I thought, ‘What would pair with this song?’” Lovato is light, but a little edgy, so he chose a light grain with locally foraged spearmint and some lime, which gave the beer an acidic kick with cool undertones. “At the end of the day, the business is there to be a business and make money, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be fun and creative,” he said.
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Spring 2017 Fund Drive
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(405) Brewing Co. beers FDR and Grapefruit Sour | Photo Garett Fisbeck
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EAT & DRINK b rief s By Greg Elwell
Winning brew
Roughtail Brewing Co. head brewer Tony Tielli | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file
•Happy beer-iversary Roughtail Brewing Co. celebrates four years of making some of the best IPAs around with a party noon-9 p.m. Saturday at its Midwest City headquarters, 1279 N. Air Depot Blvd. Thanks to changes in the law made by Senate Bill 424 in 2016, the brewery can sell directly to customers, eliminating the need for tickets to the event. It is a 21-and-older party, however, and IDs will be checked at the gate. Murphy’s CookShack and Filipino Fusion food trucks will be on hand, and the brewery planned a full entertainment schedule, including karaoke 2-5 p.m. and a live show from Mojo Thief 5:30-8:30 p.m. But the biggest spectacle will likely be the drone can drop event at 1 p.m. Contestants will design apparatuses to protect cans of Roughtail beer that will be dropped from 10 meters and higher. Contestants are eliminated once cans start to leak. The winner takes home a giant RTIC cooler filled with their choice of Roughtail beer. Find more information, including rules for the drone can drop, at facebook.com/ roughtailbeer.
Enid natives Brian Phillips and Justin Blasier won Kansas City Bier Meisters’ 34th annual home brewing competition with their Extra Special Bitter (ESB). In addition to accolades, the pair will have their beer “scaled up” and brewed in a commercial facility. “Winning this scale up category is a dream come true. Normally you would just receive a medal and bragging rights, but this is an amazing opportunity to talk firsthand with professional brewers in the business,” Phillips said in a press release. Home brewers yield about 55 beers with their recipe, while a commercial system can produce over 3,000. Crane Brewing of Raytown, Missouri, will brew the beer with Phillips and Blasier overseeing the initial commercial production of their recipe. Blasier said their obsession with home brewing began with a simple beermaking kit that made just 10 beers. The pair worked in Blasier’s garage in Enid for three years before switching to Phillips’ “Grainfather” brewing system in Edmond. Phillips said it is their dream to move from home brewing to commercial brewing. “Now is the time in Oklahoma to get
into the craft beer scene,” he said. “Our laws are slowly becoming modernized, and it would be incredible to be part of the beer revolution in our state.”
Gardens party
Gardens re-emerge as winter’s chill fades away, including Delmar Gardens Food Truck Park, 1225 SW Second St. Located in the Farmers Market District, the park ramps up with food trucks serving a variety of menu items from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The Fourth Friday events are also returning, said Kerry Myers. Food trucks and local vendors come to the park 6-9 p.m. on the fourth Friday of each month through October. The next event is April 28. This year will also introduce the Delmar Sunday Market 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays starting May 7. The event is Oklahoma-grown certified, which allows vendors to accept SNAP benefits, said Andrea Koester. “We’re also doing a barbecue during the market that day with local chefs cooking local meat,” she said. “There will be activities like that throughout the year to help support the market.” Visit delmargardensokc.com.
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g a z e di b l e s
eat & DRINK
Eat to the beat
Do you really have anything new to say? Digital communication makes conversing with your significant other and friends so easy that when you see each other, there’s almost nothing left to talk about. Rather than clam up all day or sit in awkward silence at night, why not let live performers fill in those quiet moments with music? Metro restaurants are always bringing in local and regional acts to entertain guests while dining. By Greg Elwell Photos Garett Fisbeck
Bossa Nova Bar at Café do Brasil
440 NW 11th St., Suite 100 cafedobrazilokc.com | 405-525-9779
Upstairs at Café do Brasil, Bossa Nova Bar serves up some of the best caipirinhas around. The national cocktail of Brazil, caipirinhas are a blend of sugar, lime and cachaça — a liquor made from sugarcane. It’s a light, refreshing drink that only gets better when the mad scientists at Bossa Nova start mixing up variations. Live music Friday and Saturday nights makes the rooftop patio perfect.
Ingrid’s Kitchen
District House
German beer and European pastries are enough of a draw to keep Ingrid’s Kitchen regularly packed, but the restaurant and attached lounge love providing guests with entertainment, too. On Friday nights, Ingrid’s Lounge features light jazz from Denise Smith to go along with steins of Oktoberfest beer. And almost every Saturday for the last 25 years (minus a couple of weeks in the early 2000s) the restaurant welcomes The Silvertops and its repertoire of big band classics.
Coffee houses are wonderful places for acoustic acts to perform, and District House is no exception. Next door’s The Venue OKC hosts larger acts, but if you’re looking for a bite to eat, a nice cold brew to sip on and melodic tunes, District House is the place to be. It serves breakfast all day, including a dynamite sausage, egg and smoked Gouda sandwich and healthy and wholesome fruit and yogurt. Keep an eye on its Facebook page for upcoming events.
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1755 NW 16th St. districthouseokc.com | 405-633-1775
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Noir Bistro & Bar
701 W. Sheridan Ave. theparamountokc.com/eat-together 405-208-4233
She was a dame with a secret. Her widebrimmed hat covered a smile on her face that let me know she’d been hanging out at Noir Bistro & Bar again. Was it the latenight brunch Noir serves from midnight to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays? She needed help. That was for sure. But it didn’t take a cynical detective to figure out she was asking for a ride to see live acoustic guitar and jazz every weekend in Noir’s moodily lit dining room.
Oklahoma City Limits 4801 S. Eastern Ave. oclimits.com | 405-619-3939
It seems like there’s live music at Oklahoma City Limits almost every night. Whatever your taste in tunes, there’s sure to be something pleasing to your ears. One night, it’s alternative rock and funk; the next, it’s hip-hop and rap. Tuesday is karaoke, and Wednesday is an acoustic open jam. Limits also features some rockin’ food, including the Increasingly Famous Burger made with fresh ground beef, grilled onions and all the fixings.
Bricktown Brewery at Remington Park
Zorba’s Mediterranean Cuisine
Before taprooms started popping up across Oklahoma City like dandelions, Bricktown Brewery was combining freshly brewed local beer with freshly cooked local food. Now the restaurant has locations as far off as El Paso, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, but it’s still going strong here at home. The Remington Park location is great for getting a bite before enjoying live music, horse races and the nearby casino.
Some might remember the original home of Zorba’s before the restaurant built a temple to Mediterranean food that is as beautiful as the food is tasty. With a larger space came more opportunities to entertain the guests, which the restaurant does on Saturday nights with the help of Aalim Bellydance Academy. Diners can enjoy a glass of wine, tuck into a plate of ossobuco and watch the talented dancers move to the music.
1 Remington Place remingtonpark.com | 405-419-4449
6014 N. May Ave. zorbasokc.com | 405-947-7788
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ARTS & CULTURE from left Brothers Conor and Jake Allyn said they enjoyed the opportunity to work together on an Oklahoma-filmed project.
film
| Photo Melanie DuPont / provided
Small-town thrill
Oklahoma filmmaker returns to film a thriller about a sexting scandal. By Lisa K. Broad
Set and shot in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Overexposed tells the story of high school student Erin Prescott (Mary Katherine Duhon) who is drawn into a web of betrayal and violence after her relationship with local golden boy Taylor Cowls (Sam Chance) results in a community-wide sexting scandal. Written and directed by Conor Allyn with the support of the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, the independent film also stars Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer), David Maldonado and Taylor Murphy. While researching and developing the script, Allyn spoke to a number of high school and college students affected by sexting and was struck both by the nationwide ubiquity of the phenomenon and the serious harm that can result from what seems like innocent flirtation. Hoping to spark important conversations about safety and responsibility in the smartphone era, Allyn, who was born and raised in North Dallas, sought to produce a film that would feel as universal as the tech-centered reality it depicts. “One thing I liked about Oklahoma as a setting is that it’s very relatable to anyone in the country,” he said. “It feels like a place that anyone could come from. It identifies as a Great Plains state, it has a Midwest feel to it, it has a Southwest feel to it.”
Outside Hollywood
Having shot his previous feature, Forsaken — co-written with his younger brother Jake Allyn, who plays Jimmy Cowls in Overexposed — in Oklahoma,
Working with my older brother, who is also my best friend, is extremely easy and we have an extremely close relationship. Jake Allyn Conor was particularly taken with the charming, close-knit community of Guthrie and was inspired to use it as the setting for his small-town thriller. “It had a very cool feel for what we were doing in this movie: trying to talk about a subject that is very contemporary and technologically current and then setting the movie someplace that feels a little bit antiquated,” Allyn said. “Guthrie looks sort of like it was frozen in time in the ’30s or the ’40s, so I thought it would be interesting to have this quaint, beautiful small town where a scandal erupts.” Like the Oklahoma-based actors and crewmembers he worked with in Guthrie, Conor Allyn got his start outside Hollywood. After graduating from Georgetown, he was living in Indonesia with his father Rob Allyn, a producer on Overexposed, who was working as a political consultant. A conversation with one of Rob’s clients inspired Conor and his father to co-write a film called Red & White (2009) about the Indonesian War of Independence. The film’s success spawned two sequels, which Conor wrote and directed.
“I count myself very, very lucky,” Allyn said. “If I had just been another kid in Los Angeles who wanted to write and direct movies, I don’t know if I would have ever gotten the opportunity to get behind the camera. I was lucky not to be in Hollywood, to be over in Jakarta. I was a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Similarly, if you’re a really talented actor in Oklahoma or Dallas or Atlanta or something like that, you can get into some projects that you wouldn’t if you were one of a million in Los Angeles.”
Family business
Overexposed is something of a milestone for the Allyn family, in that it’s the first time Rob, Conor, and Jake have all worked together on the same film. “It was really cool because we’ve all been working on our own things for the past couple of years,” Jake Allyn said. An actor and screenwriter who enjoys balancing leading and character roles, Jake Allyn had recently wrapped the first season of BET’s popular drama The Quad, in which he portrays college foot-
ball star BoJohn Folsom, when he traveled to Guthrie to begin filming Overexposed. “It really turned out beautifully because working with my older brother, who is also my best friend, is extremely easy and we have an extremely close relationship,” Jake Allyn said. “He can direct me by just saying a scene from a movie that we both know really well. He can just say, ‘Remember that scene in Fargo? I need more of that.’ And I’d just say: ‘Got it.’ That’s amazing.” Both Jake and Conor were impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the local cast and crew they worked with on Overexposed and the welcoming attitude of the townspeople. “I’d be remiss not to point out how incredibly happy and excited the people were,” Conor Allyn said. “I lived in LA for a couple of years, and when a passersby would see a film shooting, they would honk their horns to mess up the sound. In Oklahoma, they were excited and hardworking, everything that makes me want to come back and do more movies there.” Jake Allyn has fond memories of time spent in Stacy’s Place, a Guthrie diner with distinctive Western-themed murals that provided catering for the production and also served as a filming location. “We did a lot of nights, and to be honest, it keeps your enthusiasm up when you are shooting at midnight for your third night in a row and the lady is keeping the stations open so they can make the crew milkshakes just because it’s fun that a movie has come to town,” Jake Allyn said. “It’s a great feeling. Some actors can lose the excitement once they’ve been on a few sets, and that’s something I don’t ever want to lose. Being in Guthrie really keeps that excitement going.” Overexposed tells the story of a small-town texting scandal and was filmed in Oklahoma. | Photo Conor Allyn / provided
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Film
ARTS & CULTURE
Southwestern Oklahoma State University Presents:
When: Wednesday, APril 5 at 7:30pm Where: Fine Arts Center 100 Campus Drive WeatherFord, Ok 73096 Tickets: Tickets are $10 in advance or $20 at the door buy tickets now on stubwire.com Info:
For more info, Call 580.774.3063 Southwestern Oklahoma State University
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Big picture
Oklahoma City Museum of Art offers film lovers new levels of access. By Ben Luschen
Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s film program has perhaps never been more popular, and now museum members have the option of engaging with screenings and special events on a new level. In early March, the museum introduced its OKCMOA Film Society, a new level of museum membership specifically geared toward cinephiles. The $40 membership upgrade gives participants exclusive access to filmmaker lectures, special events, curatorled discussions and giveaways. The first Film Society event was a March 28 screening of 2008 drama Wendy and Lucy, followed by a Q&A with director Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt’s film Certain Women also screened at the museum in late 2016. Future society screenings and events are limited to members only. Museum director of marketing and communications Becky Weintz said the idea for the society sprouted from member feedback. Many of the city’s film faithful wanted deeper cinematic experiences. “This is our effort to develop that community and give people more opportunities to talk and really engage with the films that we’re showing,” she said. The museum has been planning its Film Society program launch for the last six months following a fall membership survey. OKCMOA’s film program has seen a lot of success this year. Its annual screening series of Oscarnominated shorts and features remains popular. Presentations of I Am Not Your Negro, the documentary adaptation of an unfinished James Baldwin essay/ memoir, saw multiple sold-out screen-
OKCMOA Film Society membership includes exclusive access to special events and more. | Photo Gazette / file
ings, spurring OKCMOA to extend the film’s run throug March. Weintz said it can be hard to predict which films will be the most popular. “Word of mouth for a lot of those screenings — social media buzz and people telling other people and recommending it — that’s always indicative of whether we’ll have a sellout crowd,” she said. Specific Film Society events for 2017 are still being planned by curatorial staff. Weintz said they plan to host special events quarterly. Admission to the events is free for society members. Beyond access to these events and screenings, membership benefits will include two free film ticket vouchers, opportunities to give input in some Film Society programming, entry into movie poster giveaways and access to member-only drink specials. For now, Film Society membership is limited to museum members only. Individual museum memberships start at $50. Through Saturday, OKCMOA presents a special, open to the public film series featuring classic Japanese directors Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi. Thursday features a showing of 1954’s Seven Samurai, and Friday features 1950’s Rashomon and 1954’s Sansho the Bailiff. Throne of Blood (1957) and Ugetsu (1953) screen Saturday. The series ties in with the museum’s exhibition After the Floating World: The Enduring Art of Japanese Woodprints, open through May 14. Visit okcmoa.com.
Act i v e
Easy Streets
This spring’s Open Streets OKC event includes live music and family-friendly activities. By Christine Eddington
From noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Open Streets OKC occupies sections of Uptown 23rd and The Paseo Arts District with more than 65 wellness-oriented groups offering free activities, dozens of food trucks, musical performers, children’s activities and more. “Open Streets OKC began in the fall of 2013 when a group who had been researching open streets events felt that Oklahoma City was ready to try something like this,” said Carrie Blumert, manager of the Wellness Now coalition for Oklahoma City-County Health Department. At the time, organizers had hoped a couple thousand people would attend. “But more than 20,000 came,” she said, “so we knew Oklahoma City was ready.” Last spring’s event drew 35,000 people. Now there are two Open Streets OKC events each year. The spring event encompasses a section of NW 23rd Street, part of N. Walker Avenue and The Paseo Arts District. The fall event happens on S. Robinson Avenue, from the Oklahoma River to SW 29th Street. Blumert directs Open Streets and works with Prodigal, which co-manages the event and helps with operations. The Open Streets team focuses on making sure there is plenty of on-site signage, restrooms, parking and healthy offerings from the food trucks. Each truck must offer at least one healthy item in order to participate. “The event has two goals. One is to give people the opportunity to participate in physical activities that they may not otherwise try, and the second is to encourage active transportation like walking or biking,” Blumert said. Lisa Woodard, owner of This Land Yoga, 600 NW 23rd St., Suite 208, is participating Open Streets and plans a booth, demonstrations, free mini-classes and class pass giveaways. “I want people to know that yoga is
Open Streets OKC features activities, food trucks and live music along 23rd Street and the Paseo District. | Photo Open Streets OKC / provided
We want people to feel zero pressure or worry whatsoever and just come enjoy the day. Carrie Blumert for everyone,” she said. “Literally every person can do yoga and benefit from it.” A new feature this year is live music on Paseo Arts District stage at NW 27th Street and Walker Avenue. “We appreciate the relationships we have with Open Streets and Uptown 23rd and are excited about connecting the districts,” said Amanda Bleakley, Paseo Arts Association director. Many local organizations also provide free, fun activities. Oklahoma City Energy Football Club professional soccer team will bring inflatables and offer demos, Metro Technology Centers will lead Zumba classes, Oklahoma City University will hosts broom ball, Aalim Bellydance Academy will lead lessons and USA Softball will showcase an interactive display and activities. “We want people to feel zero pressure or worry whatsoever and just come enjoy the day,” Blumert said. Visit openstreetsokc.com.
Open Streets OKC noon-4 p.m. Sunday Uptown 23rd and The Paseo Arts District | NW 23rd Street between Robinson and Western avenues | Paseo Street between NW 30th Street and Walker Avenue openstreetsokc.com Free
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ARTS & CULTURE
Historic work
from left Cynthia Cunningham, Zack Morris, Dillon Griffitts, Summer Morgan and Dillon Pierce rehearse Blood Boundary. | Photo Oklahoma City Theatre Company / provided
New Play Festival endeavors to tell cultural stories and bring history to life. By Lea Terry
co m m u n i t y
Native American history as recorded in the history books sometimes differs dramatically from the stories passed down from generation to generation in the Native American community. Through Oklahoma’s Native American New Play Festival, April 8 and 15, writers of Native American descent can tell their stories from their perspective. Festival coordinator Maya Torralba said it also brings playwrights together. “It raises the bar for them,” Torralba said. “They learn about each other, and there is a community of Native American playwrights out there and they have a camaraderie.” This is the eighth year of the festival, which this year takes place at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd. The festival in-
Court crusaders
CASA raises awareness and funds to advocate for foster children. By Michael Kinney
Kadion Lilly knows it can be a hard sell. As the development director for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), she knows sometimes people are hesitant to get involved. It’s not because Oklahomans don’t want to help CASA as it protects children in the foster care system; it’s because the subject matter can be difficult to understand and digest. That’s why Lilly is so proud of CASA volunteers and the work they do helping youths across the state. “Child abuse and neglect is not a nice topic,” Lilly said. “It knows no boundaries, and it happens everywhere, unfortunately.” CASA was created in 1977 in Seattle, Washington. It soon expanded to Oklahoma. “We provide trained, court-appointed volunteers to advocate for the best interests for abused and neglected children in the juvenile court system,” Lilly explained. “We provide a caring, consistent adult to a child during one of the scariest times, which is their journey through foster care.” 28
cludes three staged readings and a full production of the play Blood Boundary. This year, the festival received more than 20 submissions from all over the country and they include historical and contemporary settings. Torralba said having a mix is ideal. “It’s a little bit more relatable for the audience if it’s a contemporary issue,” Torralba said. “However, with the historical part, I think if it’s not relatable to the audience, I think they at least kind of get a lesson on what wasn’t told in history.” A reading committee chooses which of the submissions are given staged readings during the festival. Plays must fit within the space available, and sub-
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The nonprofit’s primary job is to make sure children are placed in the right homes. Sometimes that means returning to their parents or progressing through the foster care system. CASA volunteers undergo background checks, several interviews and 40 hours of training before being sworn in by a judge. Training doesn’t end once they start working as advocates. “We have on average around 10,000 children in foster care in Oklahoma. Around 2,000 of those are in Oklahoma County,” Lilly said. “Our volunteers talk to everyone on the case. … Anybody that has information about the child, they gather that info then compile a report and submit it to the judge.” In 2016, CASA had 245 volunteers. They were advocated for 736 children, which is around a third of Oklahoma County children in foster care. But while those numbers are significant, Lilly knows CASA needs more help. “Our goal here at CASA is to increase our advocacy and be able to advocate for more children,” Lilly said. “We are
missions are limited to those from Native American, Alaska Native, Hawaiian, First Nations and indigenous Mexican artists. Organizers are particularly interested in plays that spotlight the 39 tribal nations in Oklahoma. This year’s staged readings include Round Dance by Arigon Starr, River of Blood by Ed Bourgeois and Pushing the Bear by Diane Glancy. “What they’re looking for is stories that involve telling a good story about Native American culture and also the changing of times, the generations and the change of tradition versus modern,” Torralba said. Each year, the organizers choose one staged readings for the main production
always trying to recruit volunteers and get the message about CASA out.” Going into its fourth year, CASA’s An Evening to Remember fundraiser is one of its biggest outreach endeavors. The event raises about $110,000 annually. Attractions this year include a wine pull, a raffle, photo booths, a DJ and donated food from caterers around Oklahoma. “Our Evening to Remember is a casual celebration; it highlights the power of change a volunteer can make,” Lilly said. “It celebrates our volunteers, and it’s a reminder that it sometimes just takes a stranger to intervene and help a family to heal or to find the truth and be the voice for these children.” An Evening to Remember is 6-8 p.m.
the following year. This year, they will also use audience questionnaires to help guide their decision. Last year’s main production, The Day We Were Born, was a contemporary piece that allowed the festival to use items already on hand. This year, however, the festival switches back to a historical theme with Blood Boundary set in the 1920s. Written by Tulsa-born Vicki Lynn Mooney, the play is the third installment of her Broken Heart Land trilogy, which centers on a Native American man raised in a white family. Set just before the 1921 Tulsa race riots, the play also focuses on his relationship with his Cherokee mixed-blood relatives. Torralba said there seems to be more awareness of Native American art here in the metro. She described the plays in this year’s festival as entertaining with a unique humor. She hopes the event will give people a new perspective on the Native American experience as well as cultural understanding. “I hope they can find a familiarity with their family and our families,” Torralba said. “We’re all the same; we just have a different view of telling the story.” Visit okctc.org or facebook.com/nativeplay.
May 4 at Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown–Bricktown, 209 N. Walnut Ave. Tickets are $50, and the event is open to the public. Visit okcountycasa.org.
An Evening to Remember 6-8 p.m. May 4 Aloft Oklahoma City Downtown-Bricktown 209 N. Walnut Ave. okcountycasa.org | 405-713-6456 $50 CASA’s An Evening to Remember includes a wine pull, a raffle, photo booths, a DJ and catered food. | Photo CASA / provided
calendar preparation and composting, irrigation and water conservation and much more, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 1. Will Rogers Garden Center, 3400 NW 36th St., 405-713-1125, oces.okstate.edu. SAT
are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
Medieval Fair, celebrate the Middle Ages with arts and crafts, food, games, jousting tournaments, costume contests and more, March 31-April 2. Reaves Park, 2501 S. Jenkins Ave., Norman, 405366-5472, visitnorman.com. FRI -SUN
BOOKS
FOOD
The Mark of a Horseman, during the Brown Bag Lunch Series, join Don Reeves, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture for a discussion about the temporary exhibition A Yard of Turkey Red: The Western Bandanna, 12-1 p.m. March 29. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum. org. WED The Civilized Jungle, join author Tommy Clarkson of Ola Brisa Gardens in Manzanillo, Mexico, as he explains tropical plants in a simple and fun way. Clarkson will reveal his favorite tropicals and discuss their needs and individual personalities, 10 a.m. April 1. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-297-3995, myriadgardens.com. SAT Lithium Jesus: A Memoir of Mania, Charles Kane signs his memoir that blends engaging charm with unflinching frankness, giving his testimony of mental illness, drug abuse, faith and love, 7-8:30 p.m. April 4. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE
Conversations with Poet Simon Armitage, Oxford University poet, playwright and author Simon Armitage will read some of his poems, talk about his writing process and answer questions, 10 a.m. April 5. Meinders School of Business, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5536, okcu.edu/ business. WED
FILM
Plaza Beer Walk, take to the streets in the vibrant historic district while joining in on the camaraderie, craft beer and fun. Includes glassware giveaways and plenty of local craft beer, 6 p.m. March 29. Plaza District, 1618 N. Gatewood Ave., 405-367-9403, plazadistrict.org.
WED
New Abstractions with Objective Realities Colorado-based artist Phillip Potter presents drawings and paintings from his Studies in Light Dynamics series in the two-day pop-up exhibition New Abstractions with Objective Realities. Porter’s work is based on the limitless expanse of creation and the fluidity of perceptions. See the exhibit 7-9:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30-8 p.m. Saturday at The Gallery at The 42, 223 NE Fourth St. Admission is free. Visit phillippotter. com or call 303-929-2825.
Uptown Uncorked 2017, enjoy food and beverage-tastings that feature Uptown restaurants and merchants. Proceeds raised from the event support the beautification of medians and public spaces along 23rd Street, Uptown 23rd events and programming efforts, 6-10 p.m. March 30. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org/ historycenter. THU VZD’s Restauraunt & Bar Anniversary Weekend Extravaganza, celebrate the 41st year with VZD alumni, bands and patrons that have been affiliated with the restaurant and club since 1976. Three days of live performances by Chase Kirby, The So Long’s, Mike Hosty and more, March 31-April 2. VZD’s Restaurant & Bar, 4200 N. Western Ave., 405-602-3006, vzds.com. FRI -SUN
Friday-Saturday Image Phillip Potter / provided
HAPPENINGS
Happy Hour, (Japan, 2015, Ryusake Hamaguchi) following four 30-something female friends: a nurse, an event planner and two homemakers as they navigate their busy professional and domestic lives in and around Japan, 1 p.m. April 2. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-2363100, okcmoa.com. SUN North by Northwest, (Japan, 1959, Alfred Hitchcock) an advertising executive finds himself in a lethal cross-country chase after being mistaken for a spy, April 2 and 5. Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., 405-424-0461, cinemark.com. SUN ,WED
The Oklahoma City Get Down, festival bringing together elements of hip-hop with rap, DJing, graffiti art, b-boy dancing and speech. Featuring performances by Chief Peace, Fresh, Puzzle People, Original Flow & The Fervent Route, Joey Sativa, Miillie Mesh and more, telling the story of hip-hop’s emergence in the city, 7 p.m. March 31. Russell’s Bar inside The Tower Hotel, 3233 NW Expressway, 405-8426633, towerhoteloklahomacity.com/dining. FRI Compost 101, learn to make plant food while minimizing your ecological footprint. Discuss what goes into making healthy compost, where the best locations are and the options for setting up a home composting area, 3-5 p.m. April 1. SixTwelve Venue, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. SAT The Pancakes and Booze Art Show, featuring over 70 emerging artists, body painting, live entertainment and a pancake bar, 8 p.m. April 1. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT Artist Town Hall: Let’s Fix This, collectively discuss the growing needs of artists living and working in the OKC metro with groups such as Let’s Fix This, Current Studio and Oklahomans for the Arts, 4-6 p.m. April 2. Current Studio, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-673-1218, currentstudio. org. SUN 2017 Creativity Ambassadors Gala, individuals selected for their creative accomplishments as representatives for the state of Oklahoma share their creative ideas and provide a voice for the movement in Oklahoma and beyond, 6-9 p.m. April 3. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. MON
Film Fair and Screenwriting Seminar deadCenter Film Festival and Oklahoma Film + Music Office present a free, public film fair and screenwriting seminar 9 a.m.-noon Saturday at Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S. May Ave. Oscar-winning producer Grey Frederickson hosts the fair, and OCCC digital cinema program director Greg Mellott hosts the simultaneous screenwriting seminar. Early online registration enters guests into door prize drawings, including deadCenter Film Festival passes. Visit deadcenterfilm.org or call 405-2469233. Saturday bigstockphoto.com
Grassroots and Cowboy Boots, fundraiser benefiting single mothers who bravely raise their children alone. This special fundraiser features guest speakers, live entertainment, a barbecue dinner, a live auction and more with proceeds used to encourage and educate single moms, 6-10 p.m. April 4. Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave., 405-359-7368, arise ministries. net. TUE Cards Against Humanity tournament, good wine and dirty minds come together for the ultimate Cards Against Humanity tournament. Only two of the most horrible minds will win gift cards, 8 p.m. April 5. The Pritchard Wine Bar, 1749 NW 16th St., 405-601-4067, pritchardokc.com. WED Kaleidoscope of Colors, a unique perspective on the colors of spring in a new orchid and spring flower show. See thousands of tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs, 9-5 p.m. through April 15. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-297-3995, myriadgardens.com.
Oklahoma City Cat Show If you’re feline frisky, the purr-fect weekend event is The Oklahoma City Cat Club’s 50th anniversary celebration and annual Oklahoma City Cat Show, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Caturday ... er, Saturday at Biltmore Hotel, 401 S. Meridian Ave. Forty-one breeds are eligible to be shown, so visitors are sure to see some well-known breeds and a few rarer types. Admission is free-$5. Visit cfa.org or call 918-360-6310. Saturday bigstockphoto.com
Grilled Cheese Showdown, kick off grilled cheese month with the event featuring cheesemakers and corporate chefs from BelGioioso, Emmi Roth USA, Henning’s Wisconsin cheese and Marieke Gouda, 3 p.m. April 1. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-509-2700, uptowngroceryco. com. SAT Argot Wine Dinner, April dinner event featuring five courses of selected sustainably farmed Argot wines from Sonoma, California, 6:30-9:30 p.m. April 5. Vast, 333 West Sheridan Ave., 405-7027262, vastokc.com. WED Boozy Bingo, this isn’t your grandma’s bingo. Experience the cash cannon, daring twist-offs and comedic entertainment, 8-10 p.m. April 5. Rockford Cocktail Den, 317 NW 23rd St., 405-6014248, facebook.com/rockfordokc. WED
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Home Gardening 101 Workshop, three-day gardening workshop providing hands-on experience giving knowledge and resources to start the growing season right. Discuss proper soil
go to okgazette.com for full listings!
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calendar Young, Kyle Bell and Sterlin Harjo, 3-6 p.m. April 1. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. SAT
c a l e n da r
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YOUTH
Oklahoma Pride: The Next 50 Years of Oklahoma, artists in the wake of WWII took a new look at creative expression and progressive politics; they focused on self-expression, self-discovery and concepts beyond arts ordinary function, through April 8. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com.
After-School Art Program, activities include visits to the museum’s galleries with related projects and guest speakers/ performers, 3-4:30 p.m. through March 31. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. WED - FRI
Spring Equinox, exhibition opening coinciding with OKCU’s annual powwow and highlighting Native American art making in Oklahoma, 7-9 p.m. March 31. Norick Art Center, NW 26th St., 405208-5000, okcu.edu/artsci. FRI
Super Hero Party, wear your favorite super hero costume and meet Superman, Spiderman, Batman and Captain America while enjoying pizza, punch and more, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 1. The Orr Family Farm, 14400 S. Western Ave., 405-799-3276, orrfamilyfarm.com. SAT Kids Fest, hands-on event featuring over 60 booths, a petting zoo, inflatables, costumed characters and more. The Education Expo offers resources for parents and the STEM Safari showcases a variety of robotic activities, 11 a.m.4:30 p.m. April 1. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter. com. SAT Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair, the 15th anniversary and milestone recognizing the hard work and dedication of students, teachers, second-language speakers and all those who have played a role in the fair over the course of the last 15 years with the theme My Words Have Spirit, 10 a.m-5 p.m. April 3-4. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. MON -TUE Read for Adventure, OKC Zoo and Metropolitan Library System have partnered to publish the children’s book Our Day at the Zoo creating the community Read for Adventure program enabling readers to check out the new book from any of the 19 Metro Library locations, through March 31, 2018. Metropolitan Library System, 300 Park Ave., 405231-8650, metrolibrary.org. WED - FRI
PERFORMING ARTS Neil Hamburger, comedian Gregg Turkington’s character has been seen in the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny and Comedy Central, 8-10 p.m. April 5. ACM Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-974-4700, acm.uco.edu.
WED
AutismOklahoma Dash Bash Level up your support for AutismOklahoma at the totally radical Dash Bash event 7 p.m. Saturday at Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, 420 E. Britton Road. The event features dinner by Ned’s Catering, a DJ spinning an all-vinyl ’80s playlist, auction items and a mobile game trailer filled with vintage video games. Guests are encouraged to dress in outrageous ’80s style. All proceeds benefit AutismOklahoma, a local nonprofit organization helping Oklahomans impacted by autism. Tickets are $50. Visit autismoklahoma.org or call 405-830-5948. Saturday bigstockphoto.com
Ralphie Roberts, having a dysfunctional view on life that he loves to share with his audience, Roberts discusses relationships, job status and parodies of popular songs, March 29.-April 1. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-2394242, loonybincomedy.com. WED -SAT Aladdin, experience interactive theater while playing drums on Aladdin’s front step, shout compliments at Mama, become flowers for the Sultan and help Aladdin defeat the evil magician, through April 4. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. WED -TUE Fiddler on the Roof, enjoy the talented students of the Santa Fe theater department in this performance of the Broadway classic, March 30-April 1. Edmond Santa Fe High School, 1901 W. 15th St., Edmond, 405-340-2230, santafe. edmondschools.net. THU -SAT
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The Whipping Man, a tale of loyalty, deceit and deliverance set after the Civil War. Follow a young Confederate officer who has returned home and now waits for his city to come back to life while wrestling with the past, March 31-April 22. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com.
SAT
VISUAL ARTS
Altered Barbie: Nobody’s Fool, an artist exhibit and fundraiser organized by and supporting, Women Lead Oklahoma, bringing together original works by over 30 female creatives offering their interpretations of Barbie, March 31-April 2. Kasum Contemporary Fine Arts, 1706 NW 16th St., 405-604-6602, kasumcontemporary.com. FRI -SUN
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, two con men, a beautiful woman and the elite of the French Riviera collide in this sexy and irreverent farce. Sophisticated and suave with a good dash of mischief, this hysterical comedy features a delightfully jazzy score and high jinks in the French Riviera, March 31-April 9. Sooner Theatre, 101 E. Main, Norman, 405-321-9600, soonertheatre.com.
Woodblock Relief Printmaking Workshop, join Eric Piper as he teaches the history of one of the oldest forms of printmaking, woodcutting, while learning fundamentals and creating a relief print from start to finish, 1-6 p.m. April 1. Resonator, 1010 N. University Blvd., Norman, resonator.space.
Men’s Basketball, OKC Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets, 2 p.m. April 2. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena. com. SUN
U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors, the official touring big band of the U.S. Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-member ensemble has received acclaim at home and abroad performing America’s original art form, jazz. The band’s diverse repertoire includes bebop, Latin, contemporary jazz, popular tunes, patriotic selections and more, 7:30 p.m. April 1. OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center, 7777 S. May Ave., 405-682-7579, occc.edu. SAT
She Kills Monsters, In this high-octane dramatic comedy, laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres and ‘90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all, March 31-April 9. Weitzenhoffer Theatre, 563 Elm St., Norman, 405325-7370, ou.edu/finearts.
The Works of Nicole Emmons-Willis and Jerry Allen Gilmore, Willis is a filmmaker and animation artist specializing in stop motion. Her films have screened at film festivals and on television shows as varied as Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and NBC’s Community. Gilmore creates works that are autobiographical, repurposed and retraced narratives, such as identity, sexuality, spirituality, beauty and mortality, through April 1. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery. org. WED -SAT
Men’s Basketball, OKC Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs, 8:30 p.m. March 31. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena. com. FRI
Abbreviated Portrait Series: Poteet Victory, Victory’s portraits employ common mental cues or triggers commonly associated with popular personalities, the titles of which are abbreviated in a manner akin to popular acronyms, through April 2. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED -SUN
James and the Giant Peach, inventive adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s tale following the adventures of an orphaned young British boy who is forced to live with his cruel aunts. James finds a way out of his bleak existence when he discovers an enchanted peach, March 30-April 9. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com.
Friday Photo Joan Marcus / provided
Believe 5K Run, raise awareness about oral cancer during the third annual awareness run in memory of Jill Thomas of Edmond, 9:30 a.m. April 1. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-3594630, edmondok.com/parks. SAT
The Tender Land, an opera following a girl living on a farm in Depression-era Oklahoma as she discovers what her future will be like after graduating from high school, March 31-April 2. UCO Mitchell Hall Theater, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 405-974-3375, uco.edu. FRI -SUN
I Am My Own Wife, an examination of the life of German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, born Lothar Berfelde, who killed her father when she was a young child and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin as a transvestite, Mar.29-April 9. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com.
John Lithgow Stories By Heart Veteran actor John Lithgow, star of TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun and the new Trial & Error, brings his one-man theatrical memoir Stories By Heart to Oklahoma City Community College 8 p.m. Friday at OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave. The Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner gives a funny and heartwarming performance about the ways storytelling connects all of us. Tickets are $35-$75. Visit tickets.occc. edu or call 405-682-7579.
ACTIVE
The Plus Size of Art, a live art exhibition by Volume Plus Size Boutique showcasing the beauty of fullfigure women and showcasing collections from local artists, 6 p.m. April 1. Credit Union House, 631 E. Hill St., 405-613-8620, shopvolumeplus. com. SAT
Cloudscapes, 16 oil-on-canvas works of art by Oklahoma artist Marc Barker, drawing inspiration equally from his backgrounds in science and art, through May 14. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-297-3995, myriadgardens.com. Exhibit C Ledger Art, four contemporary artists experienced in ledger art will have their distinctive artwork on display. Discover a captivating scene showcasing the creations by Paul Hacker, George Levi, Dylan Cavin and Lauren Good Day Giago, through June 30. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., 405767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. Expressionist paintings, American Expressionist Bert Seabourn makes each piece of art a unique fusion of design, color, form and composition, using a layering of texture with drips, smears, runs and splatters, through April 29. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-8485567, 50pennplacegallery.com. Graph I, an exhibition made from unfired clay, which will visually change and adjust to time and climate; Steve Hilton and Dale McDonald invite the public to contribute to the project with a hands-on influence, April 3-14. The Lightwell Gallery, 520 Parrington Oval, Norman, 405-325-2691, art. ou.edu. Kiowa Black Leggings: Through the Lens of Lester Harragarra, featuring photographs of the Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society as seen through the camera of the award-winning Yukon, Oklahoma, photographer, through March 31. Red Earth Museum, 6 Santa Fe Plaza, 405-427-5228, redearth.org. WED - FRI New Native Art, an afternoon of performance and film by Native American artists such as Jeffrey Gibson, Nathan
go to okgazette.com for full listings!
Taste of Philippines Nonprofit Philippine-American Civic Organization of Oklahoma, Inc. hosts Taste of Philippines, a fun and tasty fundraiser, 6:30-8 p.m. Saturday at Huey Long Community Center, 4505 SE 15th St., in Del City. Guests can sample famous Filipino dishes including tangy chicken adobo, pinakbet (pork and vegetables cooked in shrimp paste) and meaty lumpia fried spring rolls. Entertainment includes Miss PACO, Junior Miss PACO and Little Miss PACO contests. Call 405-525-2882 or 405-4146900. Thursday bigstockphoto.com
Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.
For okg live music
see page 40
MUSIC In 2018, Dorothy Ellis will celebrate 75 years as professional blues singer Miss Blues.
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| Photo Garett Fisbeck
‘Morning’ glory
Miss Blues, aka Dorothy Ellis, shouts her roots from rural Texas cotton fields into Oklahoma history. By Ben Luschen
Dorothy Ellis’ house has been mostly scrubbed of its historic treasures, or so she says. Around the northeast Oklahoma City home, there are hardly any photographs of her from more than 15 years ago, an odd omission considering the 81-yearold will celebrate 75 years as a professional musician in 2018. Ellis recently lent Oklahoma Historical Society many of the photos and memorabilia one might consider museum pieces for use in its collection. Still, less obvious relics remain scattered throughout the various corners of the house. Near the front door is an autographed poster from Blinddog Smokin’, the Grammy-nominated funk band that scored Ellis her first record deal. Her 2011 Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame induction plaque is prominently propped up on a chair in the living room. Near her computer is a photo of her smiling and holding up a setlist autographed by B.B. King after she opened for the global blues icon. A lot of people are not lucky enough to live 75 years in general, let alone enjoy a career in music that spans three-quarters of a century. However, not many, if any, people are quite like Dorothy Ellis. The state legend still performs regularly under the moniker Miss Blues, a name she has carried with her since the beginning of her professional music career in 1942. Music is still very much in the foreground of Ellis’ life. Miss Blues occasion-
ally performs on Saturday nights at Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe, 100 E. California Ave., and at festivals like the Mayor’s Blues Ball at Medicine Park and Dusk Til Dawn Music Festival in Rentiesville. She achieved some of her greatest prominence as a singer in the Rockin’ Aces, a 1950s and ’60s blues band that included her husband Johnny B on piano, future state Blues Hall of Famer Little Eddie Taylor on guitar and D.C. Minner, who was a bassist in Rockin’ Aces before he became a cherished blues guitarist playing with acts like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. “I knew D.C. when he couldn’t play crap,” Ellis said during a recent interview with Oklahoma Gazette. Even late in her career, Ellis is still known as a fireball of energy. She greets all guests with her same trademark cheekiness and frank wit.
Cotton fields
Those standing on the Red River’s north bank about 13 miles straight south of Boswell can peer over into Direct, Texas, Ellis’ tiny hometown. Just a few dozen people currently reside in the rural agricultural outpost. The nearest town of note is Paris, Texas, about a 30-minute drive
down Texas State Highway 79. One of the most distinct things about Direct is the legend of its namesake. As Ellis tells the tale, a fire-and-brimstone preacher from the 1800s arrived in the town and, in sanctimonious condemnation, declared everyone born there was headed direct to hell. “Now what do you think about that?” Ellis asked with a smirk. “You think I’m on my way?” In Ellis’ childhood, hell just seemed a few degrees removed from chopping cotton in the miserable summer sun or picking it in the stinging cold of fall and winter. She was born on the Texas sharecropping cotton plantation where her mother worked. As soon as Ellis was old enough — about 5 or 6 — she was outside working the fields, too. This was the type of environment from which blues music — an originally AfricanAmerican style often characterized by woebegone lyrics with gospel and field chant influences — first emerged. Similarly, these conditions are what emboldened the music in Ellis’ young mind. Her mother was always singing around the house. One of the first songs Ellis remembers hearing her sing was “Good Morning Blues,” a song made famous by
early 20th-century country blues performer Lead Belly. She earned the moniker Little Miss Blues out in the cotton fields from the other workers, who always heard Ellis mimick her mother’s soulful shouts. Ellis’ first paid performance was as a 6-year-old on Easter Sunday at a juke joint on nearby Goss Farm, another cotton plantation. Though it was a club for adults, Ellis said they did not care if children came in to hang out or perform. Ellis sang her trademark “Good Morning Blues” and earned $2.50, the collective change of those in the juke joint that night. The thrill of getting paid to perform was unlike anything she’d felt before. “Let me tell you, I was hooked,” she said. Many good blues singers have a melancholy bank of memories to draw from as inspiration, and for Ellis, the cotton fields yielded their fair share of tragedy. When Ellis was about 11 years old, her mother collapsed in the hot sun from a heat stroke. She was taken to a doctor, but there was nothing anyone could do for her. After her mother died, Ellis went to live with her grandmother in Wellington, Texas. Even as a child, it was apparent to Ellis that her grandmother was not fit for the responsibility. “She didn’t need any children,” she said. “She was too dang old.” Soon after, on New Year’s Day, Ellis ran away from her caretaker’s house to a shelter for homeless families in nearby Paris. It was a decent existence, but Ellis sought a life outside the shelter walls. One day, she decided to grab the little money she had and walk to the bus station, asking the bus driver how far her savings could take her. “He said, ‘That’ll take you to Oklahoma.’ So that’s how I ended up here,” she said.
Oklahoma sleek
Ellis settled in an OKC home for girls and, when she was old enough, went to work in its serving quarters. She dropped the “Little” part of her Miss Blues moniker, but she never gave up performing and gradually carved a musical niche for herself. Ellis sings Texas shout blues, a style she said was inspired by the whoops and hollers of emphatic Southern preachers. In the early ’50s, she formed Rockin’ Aces with her husband John. Not long after, John invited in Minner, a Korean War Army veteran he met while working at the city’s Veterans Administration center. At the time, Minner was a young and aspiring musician, but inexperienced. John and Taylor trained him on the bass. Ellis said he was an excellent student and his talent quickly shined through. “[Ellis and the band] were very good to him,” said Minner’s widow Selby. “They loaned him a car for four months. She’d
Dorothy Ellis as a child in Direct, Texas | Photo provided
continued on page 33
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MUSIC Dorothy Ellis, aka Miss Blues, looks through boxes of memorabilia in her northeast Oklahoma City home. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
‘Self-made woman’
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continued from page 31
feed him when he showed up.” Selby Minner owns and operates the D.C. Minner Museum and Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in Rentiesville, about 20 miles southwest of Muskogee. (Ellis was a Blues Hall of Fame inductee in 2004.) D.C. Minner eventually left the Rockin’ Aces, picked up the guitar and began touring across the West Coast with Selby, a bassist. Ellis took her Miss Blues brand through several band lineups over the decades. Jazz and blues music enjoyed OKC heydays between the ’50s and ’70s. The two scenes were tightly associated, Minner said. In other markets, jazz performers mostly stuck with college crowds while blues players dominated bar scenes. In Oklahoma, musicians often played together and floated freely between styles. But, as was the case elsewhere in the country, those genres eventually fell out of rotation. Many of the city’s popular clubs began to disappear. “Every generation has to change the music,” Minner said, “otherwise, your mom might come to the party.” While the blues has long been absent from popular radio, Minner said the genre is still alive and well in live performance formats. Blues players are everywhere, she said, because the music is so universal. “The genius of the blues is that it’s userfriendly music,” Minner said. “You can do a song for 30 minutes with one chord or
maybe two chords. The most standard format is three chords, and always the same three chords in the same order.” Oklahoma has a strong musical heritage, but Minner points out that many performers had to leave in order to make a name for themselves. Players from the region were known for smooth and polished styles, perhaps because of the level of dedication and craftsmanship it took for them to get noticed. Miles Davis, in his autobiography, reflected on the impression Oklahoma players like trumpeter Alonzo Pettiford left on him. “Man, could that motherfucker play fast — his fingers were a blur,” Davis wrote. “He played that real fast, hip, slick Oklahoma style.” Ellis, in all her success, never left Oklahoma. She didn’t even record her first album until 2008 because she thought it was too expensive. It wasn’t until members of Blinddog Smokin’ caught one of her live shows and offered to pay for her studio time that she produced her first CD. She has since recorded nearly a dozen studio albums. Many in the state’s jazz and blues scenes came up during the music’s golden era and are around Ellis’ age. “They’re about gone,” she said. “All these musicians have died. [From the original Rockin’ Aces,] I’m the last one standing.”
Nine years ago, Ellis discovered her husband John dead in his bed, seemingly resting in bliss. “He enjoyed himself, and when he died, I went in there and he was just peaceful,” she said. “He just went in there and died. He was not sick and didn’t have to suffer through anything. That’s the way to go, just go in there and go to sleep.” Ellis now lives alone in the same house she shared with John since 1955, though she has many visitors. She knew John and his twin brother Archie from her Texas days, when their mothers were friends. When Ellis moved to Oklahoma City, she wrote John and Archie and told them to join her. John is the inspiration behind many of Ellis’ original songs, but as is appropriate for the blues, rarely in a glowing or romantic way. Ellis even admits their relationship was more brother-sister than that of destined lovers. Ellis said she had to be revived from
Every generation has to change the music; otherwise, your mom might come to the party. Selby Minner
death three times in 2014 while hospitalbound with pneumonia. Her stay lasted months, and when she returned home, she discovered her house had been burglarized. Thieves stole jewelry, a drawer full of coins and even historic photos from Ellis’ performing career. She didn’t let the setback break her. Music, as always, helped push her forward. She played her first gig back just one week after her release from the hospital. She sang with an oxygen tube running into her nose. “Dorothy’s tough, and she’s a self-made woman,” Minner said. “She’s a great inspiration, I would say, to a lot of people.”
Her way
Carlton Dorsey is what a lot of people call a musician’s musician. Dorsey can play nearly any instrument one might need in the studio, including the violin, drums, flute, trumpet and more. A natural musical curiosity has fueled his prolific musicianship. Dorsey, a millennial who earned his doctorate in music at Oklahoma City University, wore a headwrap and twirled a pair of Chinese Baoding medicine balls in his hand as he spoke with the Gazette. Miss Blues performs with her band the
He recently sold all his possessions and embarked on an eight-month trek across the Appalachian Trail — a 2,200-mile course that stretches from Georgia to Maine. One might assume Dorsey would be an unlikely friend to Ellis, and there might be some differences between them in generational values. “I told [Dorsey] before he left that I never heard of a black man walking 2,000 miles or doing anything like that,” she said. Yet the two are more kindred spirits than many would realize. Dorsey met Ellis working as a fiddler in several of her live performances. Her presence left an immediate impression on him. “She was cold-blooded,” he said. “If you talk to her once, she doesn’t hold her tongue for anything. She’s extremely smart and quick and witty and will let you know if you’re out of line or anything.” Like Dorsey, Ellis has the mind of a scholar. She has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma. She has authored two books, For Blacks Only and Hoecakes and Collared Greens: Sage Concoctions and Doin’s. Together, the texts are packed with recipes, memories, wisdom and black history pulled from firsthand accounts. When Dorsey talks to Ellis, he said she gives off an energy that can transcend generations. “We sit down, and we can speak heartto-heart, soul-to-soul,” he said. “She’s really in-tune and very observant. She’s more observant than she will let you know, which can be a little startling.” Ellis, known for cooking for friends and fellow musicians, promised to throw Dorsey a party when he returned home from his Appalachian journey. Dorsey is a vegan, and Ellis didn’t quite understand the term before committing. She’s now perplexed about what food she can fix without using butter, milk, cheese or animal stock. Dorsey is still confident she’ll come up with something. “If she says she’s going to throw a party, she’s going to throw a party,” he said. “She will find me somewhere and drag me out of sleep to party; I have no doubt in my mind.” A passion to give back to the local community through music in a way that is true to one’s self also bonds the two souls. Ellis said that on more than one occasion, she was approached by major labels that came out to her shows on referral and offered large recording contracts. She never took any of their offers. They wanted her to leave the state, be sexier, sing more soulfully. None of it felt natural to her. If there are any underlying themes in Ellis’ great career, a keen awareness of self and a steadfast loyalty to the music that made her are among them. “I was like Frank Sinatra,” she said. “You know, he did it his way. I may never be famous famous, but at least I did it my way. And I don’t give a shit.”
Rockin’ Aces in the 1950s. | Photo Oklahoma Historical Society / provided
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MUSIC
Local notes
A district shaped by history, highways and development, Deep Deuce continues to form its identity. By Ian Jayne
Deep Deuce has deep roots. Over the course of the past century, the historic district has changed drastically from a pocket of black culture to a popular residential district adjacent to Bricktown. “Deep Deuce is one of our most historic districts downtown,” said Mallory O’Neill, Bricktown director at Downtown OKC, Inc. (DOCI), a nonprofit that manages the eight business improvement districts in the area. Originally segregated as an AfricanAmerican community, Deep Deuce produced vital and long-lasting black culture. Jazz music came to a crescendo in the 1920s and ’30s, when prominent musicians such as Jimmy Rushing and Charlie Christian called the district home. Deep Deuce’s cultural history remains tightly linked with its historical legacy. Two of the most significant African-American men of the 20th century, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Ellison, both passed through the district; the former spoke once at Calvary Baptist Church, and the latter lived in the area. Beginning in the 1960s with the introduction of Interstate 235, Deep Deuce lost many of the people and events that had shaped its earlier days, caught in the ebb and flow of migration and desertion. Now, after a resurgence of interest, the district is at a crossroads, looking back from a much different future. “There’s a lot to be told related to the music, the African-American community,” O’Neill said. “That’s really an important part of the story we like to tell today.” Along with O’Neill, one other member of DOCI’s 11-person staff works specifically with Deep Deuce stakeholders, business owners and retailers to further improve the district.
O’Neill, restaurant and business owners are invested in keeping Deep Deuce’s jazz scene alive by providing more musical opportunities. Slaughter’s Hall, WSKY Lounge and Urban Johnnie Bar & Grille all feature live music, frequently by jazz musicians, on Tuesday nights. “We try to keep it live,” O’Neill said. Native Roots Market has previously hired buskers to play outside and will continue to do so throughout the summer. Last June, DOCI introduced a recurring event aimed at recalling Deep Deuce’s musical past in a new way; Legends Nights provide an opportunity to hear live music in a modern bar or restaurant setting. “It’s been really successful,” O’Neill said. “It’s free, it’s open for everyone to attend.” Oklahoma-based musician Walter Taylor III, one of the voices that shaped Legends Night events, has seen Deep Deuce transform over the years. First performing in the district when he was 13 years old, Taylor later played music festivals there in the 1980s. He has performed with artists such as Miss Blues, Brother Num and Joe Nelson. Returning to Deep Deuce in April 2010, Taylor played at Sage Lounge, where Slaughter’s Hall is now located, as part of TaylorMadeJazz. “There hadn’t been any jazz in Deep Deuce for a long time,” Taylor said. “We started bringing in some of the hottest young performers.” With local interest in jazz renewed, Taylor worked with DOCI to bring Legends Night to life. He said the history and the music of Deep Deuce are equally important. “There was a lifestyle,” he said. “We want to make sure we uncover as much of it as possible.”
Taylor, who has also played blues and jazz at [Artspace] at Untitled, said he hopes the music scene in the district will continue to grow more diverse. “It is starting to pick up,” he said. “I’d like to hear a little more music. We can make it happen.” Deep Deuce’s emphasis on live music reflects the district’s larger focus: living. Although demolitions and the addition of Interstate 235 changed the district, O’Neill said it continues to be a place for community. “It’s really our primary residential district downtown,” O’Neill said. “It’s where we have the most condensed residential units compared to any other district.” With housing developments The Hill at Bricktown and The Maywood apartments and convenient access to locally owned restaurants, Deep Deuce is a growing community. Property owner Richard McKown and DOCI recently commissioned the Institute for Quality Communities at the University of Oklahoma (IQC) to conduct a districtwide retail audit. IQC will provide a report that details ways to better improve retail engagement with the community. “There are different ways that different stakeholders in the district are always trying to improve and better the neighborhood,” O’Neill said. Over the next few years, O’Neill said she thinks the area will continue to see residential and commercial growth. As for future goals, DOCI will continue to work on Deep Deuce’s connectivity with other districts.
Deep Deuce was once the center of blues and jazz music in the region. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
“We want to capture that connection between Bricktown and Deep Deuce, and I think that’s something that really is going to be a high priority for us as an organization,” O’Neill said. As the area continues to grow, recalling certain aspects of its past even as it travels in a different direction, the district’s identity remains unmarked in one fundamental way. Unlike Bricktown, which features a large sign on its main thoroughfare, Deep Deuce lacks a public signifier of its identity. Over the past year, DOCI, along with district property owners, fundraised for a sign. Crowd-sourced fundraising and DOCI fund-matching has helped make possible a district marker on the underpass on Second Street. O’Neill described Second Street, where Calvary Baptist Church is located, as Deep Deuce’s “main retail drag.” The street that inspired the district’s name would later be memorialized in Ralph Ellison’s poem “Deep Second.” While Deep Deuce currently lacks exterior historical markers and the existence of historical identifiers is specific to each building — such as Deep Deuce Grill’s interior tribute to musical history — O’Neill said the district is always looking for more identifiers. The sign on Second Street, which will likely come later this summer or early fall, will provide the district with a way to mark the storied, still-shifting area that is Deep Deuce.
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event
Open house
Performances from Guided By Voices and more highlight 2017’s Metro Music Fest. By Ben Luschen
The eighth annual Metro Music Fest gives music fans a chance to check out The Criterion, one of downtown’s newest music and performance venue, with a free concert featuring headliner Guided By Voices. The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave., has been open for more than a year, and many locals have caught shows in the 3,500-4,000-capacity music hall. But many others still aren’t used to the idea of going to shows in the downtown area. Now’s the time. Metro Music Fest happens April 8 on multiple stages and in multiple venues across downtown. Admission is free. Guided By Voices headlines the event April 9 with a free concert, said Scott Booker, Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO) CEO. Dozens of music acts — including Night Moves and SHEL and ACM@UCO-tied acts Lincka, Cutter Elliott, The Lunar Laugh and more — fill the two-day event roster. Booker said while planning this year’s Metro Music Fest, which is hosted by the music school, he immediately thought of adding The Criterion to its list of stages because of a great relationship ACM@ UCO has formed with Levelland Productions, the venue’s parent company. “In the back of my head, I’m also thinking, ‘OK, maybe this can get some of the people who haven’t seen The Criterion to go and check it out,’” Booker said. Guided By Voices, the prolific Ohio indie rock act is scheduled to release August by Cake — its 100th studio album — April 7, one day before the OKC show. The band performs 10:30 p.m. April 8. Levelland Production chief operating officer Scott Marsh said in an email statement to Oklahoma Gazette that it is an
honor to be involved with both ACM@ UCO and Metro Music Fest. “Scott Booker has been a bastion of the Oklahoma music scene, and the continued growth of the school and festival are a testament to all of his work,” he said. Nine indoor and outdoor music stages, mostly in Bricktown, welcome more than 60 national and local acts, including ACM@UCO student bands Space4Lease, Midas 13, Grant Adams, Original Flow & The Fervent Route and others. A stage at the ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., showcases electronic music and dance party promoter Subsonix. Dallas-based producer MUST DIE! headlines the showcase lineup. Additional indoor and outdoor stages are at ACM@UCO, Zio’s Italian Kitchen, Whiskey Chicks, TapWerks Ale House and Harkins Bricktown Cinemas 16. This year, Metro Music Fest moved from its traditional Friday format to Saturday in order to include an afternoon, family-focused session noon-4 p.m. at the Zio’s Italian Kitchen stage, 12 E. California Ave. Guests can enjoy kidfriendly music, activities, crafts and plenty of food trucks.
Students first
While Metro Music Fest is closely associated with the Bricktown area, Booker said he sees the event more as a citywide festival that just happens to be situated around downtown. Adding other, more distant venues could be a possibility in the future, but ACM recognizes the advantages of a centralized music hub. “We try to use all the nooks and crannies to where, if you’re going around, there’s no one stage that’s so far from another one,” Booker said. The festival began as a student show-
Guided By Voices | Photo provided
case format that best fit the properties of a contemporary music school. Booker said the event is still primarily focused on helping and providing experience to ACM@UCO students, from stage, sound and lighting management to performing on the event’s bill. Even the decision to include national acts is one the school made to help its students. National names draw larger crowds, and providing students with opportunities to say they performed in a festival with a respected and recognized brand is a good resume boost. ACM@UCO remains committed to its diverse program offerings and student base. Booker said his goal for Metro Music Fest is to reflect that diversity. “We programmed it so that if you’re just a middle-of-the-road music fan, there’s some stages you’ll walk by and be like, ‘Oh, this will be fun to check out,’” he said. “And there’s stages where you’re passionate about EDM or if you’re an indie rock person or a hip-hop person, you’re going to be very excited about something for that, too.” Visit acm.uco.edu.
Stages and venues
>> ACM@UCO stages, 25 S. Oklahoma Ave. >> ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave. >> The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave. >> Whiskey Chicks, 115 E. Reno Ave. >> Zio’s Italian Kitchen outdoor stage, 12 E. California Ave. >> TapWerks Ale House outdoor stage, 121 E. Sheridan Ave. >> Harkins Bricktown Cinemas 16 outdoor stages, 150 E. Reno Ave.
ACM@UCO Metro Music Fest noon-2 a.m. April 8 The Criterion, Bricktown and multiple downtown locations acm.uco.edu Free
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MUSIC Adam & Kizzie | Photo Ben Winters / provided
event
Special sound
Rolling melodies
Adam & Kizzie found musical liberation in loop pedals. By George Lang
Creativity is on a constant loop in Adam & Kizzie’s life and art. On the husbandand-wife duo’s debut album, The Book of EEDO Volume 1, Adam Ledbetter programmed all the beats and tones. When they geared up for 2014’s Volume 2, the Ledbetters took a left turn and brought all their friends into the studio for the sparklingly diverse collection featuring Sly Stone-d “Be Bright.” But Adam & Kizzie live without musical rules, so their upcoming Volume 3 utilizes a whole new methodology. It began when they embarked on a tour to support Volume 2, when they needed to make the sound of four people for the price of two. “What was amazing then is that we had a band at the time, but for economic reasons, we needed to find a way to perform just as a duo,” Adam Ledbetter said. “So I started researching like a madman and figured out that we might be able to pull it off with some loopers. So we got some loop pedals and started practicing, and from that, we developed our show. Now all our music has been transformed, and this is how we’ll record our albums.” At first, Kizzie Ledbetter said the pedals were a little intimidating, but executing perfect sound loops is like any other musical fluency — it takes practice. Once she mastered the loops, she felt a sense of liberation. “In the beginning, the pedals were a means to proceed,” Kizzie said. “But 36
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then, as we went along, we realized it was super-dope. By having to do it with the pedals, we had to discover different parts of our music that we never would have discovered without them.” Adam said that she is now something of a master at the fine art of looping vocal parts to achieve layered harmonics and countermelodies. That will come in handy this year when Adam & Kizzie go into the studio to record Volume 3. The album will be recorded live with loop pedals, allowing them to produce the record far more quickly. “She has this pocket and a precision that I don’t naturally have,” he said. “She can sing studio-grade vocals live night after night after night. And when you listen to her looping, everything is so pristine and precise. Our engineer on our last two albums, he would just marvel at her waveforms, how consistently uniform they would be take after take.” That freedom that Adam & Kizzie achieve through technology extends to their musical philosophy of EEDO. “It’s something we made up, but the best way we express it is it’s the center of ‘freedom,’” Kizzie said. “It’s freedom from adhering to one genre, which opens us up to being able to explore all the colors and languages and beauties there are in music. It can apply to anything in life. If it’s pure, if it’s genuine, if it’s truest in its nature, it’s EEDO.”
They shun attempts to categorize their sound. Elements of hip-hop, pop, jazz, classical and everything else drift through their music. Adam, a classically trained pianist, possesses the musical chops to take their sound anywhere, which can be challenging to audiences that sometimes feel more comfortable with genres that fit in a specific box. “For musicians, a lot of times, one of the biggest barriers they have with an audience is the audience’s expectations,” Adam said. “The way the music world and the industry is set up, everybody has a ton of expectations. If I get on stage and say, ‘I’m a rapper,’ people are like, ‘What version of rap that I’m familiar with is he going to fit into?’ And I’m probably not going to fit into any of them, because I also play the piano, and not only do I play piano, but I’m influenced by a little Duke Ellington here, a little Jelly Roll Morton here, a little Aretha Franklin here and a little Busta Rhymes here.” Fortunately, Adam & Kizzie record for a label that appreciates the free-flowing nature of their relationship with genres. Ropeadope Records actively seeks artists taking less-traveled roads, including performers like orchestral pop band The Sharp Things and former Fishbone singer Angelo Moore. On the other hand, the Ledbetters had to choose three genres for identification purposes when they distributed Volume 2 on iTunes. “The only time we had to deal with the boxes was with iTunes,” Kizzie said. “But it’s not an issue with us and it’s not an issue with the fans. I believe that’s because we’re just spewing out this music as we’re inspired.” For his part, Adam feels hopeful that people can break out of their boxes. “What we’ve discovered is that there’s a lot of people out there who think the way that we do,” he said. “They just want to hear good music. They want to hear where we’re at. They just want to have a conversation with you.” Soon, that conversation will be heard in technologically assisted, multipart harmony. Kizzie is in the process of purchasing a harmonizer, which will allow her to execute complex vocal harmonies using a keyboard. Then, when she runs those harmonies through a loop pedal, it will give her the flexibility of creating choirs of Kizzies live on stage. “Somebody will come up and say, ‘You have that pre-recorded?’” she said. “Then they say, ‘Aw, no; they’re doing this live.’ By the end of the song, they’ve figured it out, because it’s undeniable: We’re creating on the spot.”
Adam & Kizzie 7 p.m. Sunday The Depot | 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman pasnorman.org | 405-307-9320 $20
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Boisterous bash
Norman Music Festival has grown significantly since it began 10 years ago. By Ben Luschen
Some older or longtime Oklahoma fans might be asking themselves where the time has gone as they come to the realization that Norman Music Festival will celebrate its 10-year anniversary April 27-29 in downtown Norman. Younger or newer fans, on the other hand, might be shocked the festival that is now an annual institution in the local music scene has not always existed. Either way, 10 years is a significant milestone. Norman Music Festival 10 (NMFX) marks one decade by welcoming a pair of anticipated co-headliners, San Francisco garage rock band Thee Oh Sees and Washington, D.C., rapper Oddisee with his live band Good Company. A roster of more than 300 other acts and performers will join them, with more than 80 percent of those based in Oklahoma. NMFX board president Quentin Bomgardner said the festival has come a long way from its first year as a one-day event to its massive three-day format. With that growth has come an expansion
of its encompassing brand. “Although we are named the Norman Music Festival and take place in Norman and started out as almost exclusively that, I think at this point we have become a celebration of original music in the state,” Bomgardner said. Multiple reasons could be cited for the growth. A key contributing factor is that the festival has always been free to the public. “We like that model,” Bomgardner said. “It works pretty well. The people who give us grants like it because it gives anyone the chance to access art.” Another reason for the growth was a shift from the handpicking of performers by organizers. “There was a point where we sort of made a choice on whether we should just open up and let bands apply or should we handpick them,” he said. “Everybody wanted to play, so by year three, we started doing the open call. We get 600-700 bands that apply every year.” Through the open-call process, the
festival began asking bands if they would be willing to play for free. Bomgardner is a former musician, and while he has played many free shows in the past, he said he hates asking others to do it. Still, the festival had a limited budget. Fortunately for organizers, Bomgarnder said between 80 and 90 percent of applicants said they were willing to perform just for the sake of it. That willingness both greatly expanded the festival’s annual roster of talent and helped grow the festival to its current size. Last year, NMF was finally able to achieve its longtime goal of compensating every performing artist. Each year, NMF is organized by a board of 15 volunteers. Last year, the fest was able to pay a part-time executive director for the first time. Director Shari Jackson’s position was increased to a 20-hour-per-week paid role for 2017.
Rapper Teflo Dollar performs at last year’s Norman Music Festival. | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file
Bomgardner said after a decade of putting the event together, he feels like organizers have hit a groove that should carry them far into the future. “We’ve been able to catch our own rhythm, build a rainy-day fund and can hopefully build for the future,” he said. Editor’s note: Next week, Oklahoma Gazette begins a four-part feature series profiling NMFX performers.
Norman Music Festival 10 April 27-29 E. Main Street, Norman normanmusicfestival.com Free
GENE SIMMONS OF KISS
PERFORMING LIVE APRIL 6 | 7:30 P.M.
SOUTHWIND CASINO BRAMAN
DOORS OPEN 1:00 P.M. | LIVE BANDS 2:00 P.M. QUEEN OF ROCK PAGEANT 7:00 P.M. TICKETS START AT $35 JENNY WOOD
(UNPLUGGED)
PURCHASE A CONCERT TICKET AND RECEIVE $15 MATCH PLAY VALID APRIL 7 – 30. Must present ticket to redeem.
PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE AT SOUTHWINDCASINO.COM F
OUTDOOR CONCERT – RAIN OR SHINE! F FOOD TRUCKS F BEER TENT F F QUEEN OF ROCK PAGEANT F FEATURING DROWNING POOL, TADDY PORTER, NICNOS, BC AND THE BIG RIG, AND JENNY WOOD F O kg a z e t t e . c o m | M a r c h 2 9 , 2 0 1 7
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Craft Show!
Date: Time: Cost:
Saturday, April 1st 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. $5 per person, $4 for seniors, ages 3 and under are free Details: All museum buildings will be open for touring, vendors will be set up in the Event Barn Harn Homestead • 405-235-4058 1721 N Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City OK 73105
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H
H H H H H H H H H H H HH H O Big and tall men S L A Dickie BrAnD ShortS to wAiSt 60 H t-Shirt to 10xl • PArADiSe For Big gUYS H H lAteSt StYleS & BArgAinS H Men's workwear • FRC and neon safety clothes H Storm & Survival itemS H alSo CamperS & H HunterS HeadquarterS H military & SeCurity H ClotHeS & gear H Sam’S BeSt BuyS H 2409 S. Agnew 636-1486 H monday - Saturday 9-5:45 H 72 YEARS AND MORE TO COME H H H H H H H H H H H H HH
MUSIC Crowder headlines 2017 Winter Jam. | Photo provided
Jason Boland & The Stragglers
T ogether Again
plays Calf Fry 2017 May 4-6. | Photo Daran Herman / provided
event
April 14 | 7pm
in concert for one night with the
Edmond North Auditorium | 215 West Danforth Rd. Edmond Tickets $15 | EdmondNorthOrchestra.com or at the door
Fair weather
Oklahoma’s festival season offers everything from country to hard rock and metal. By Lea Terry
Spring in Oklahoma means enjoying some of the best of what the local and national music scenes have to offer, thanks to several music and arts festivals around the state. From country to rock and all things in between, there’s a music festival for audiophiles of all persuasions. These are just a few of some of the state’s biggest and most notable music events for spring.
Winter Jam 2017
5-10 p.m. Saturday Chesapeake Arena 100 W. Reno Ave. 2017.jamtour.com $10 All ages Winter Jam 2017 is a family-friendly, all-ages concert showcasing popular Christian music. Headlined by Crowder, the concert also features Britt Nicole, Tenth Avenue North, Sadie Robertson, Thousand Foot Krutch, Andy Mineo, Colton Dixon, NewSong and Tony Nolan. The pre-jam, which starts at 5 p.m., features Obb, Sarah Reeves and Steven Malcolm. Food vendors will be open on the concourse, and many of the artists will meet fans and sign autographs at their merchandise tables following the concert.
painting, drawing, glass, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, wood and many others. In between concerts, indulge in a snack from one of the many food vendors, including the diverse tastes of International Food Row, or check out the Young Art Sale. At 3:30 p.m. April 30, the festival hosts Festival’s Got Talent, a talent show for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade. This year’s festival is at Bicentennial Park, located between City Hall and Civic Center Music Hall. The park was the original home of the festival, which returned to the park in 2016.
Festival of the Arts
11 a.m.-9 p.m. April 25-29 and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. April 30 Bicentennial Park 500 Couch Drive artscouncilokc.com Free All ages Going strong since 1967, Festival of the Arts hosts musical acts on three stages in addition to nearly 150 visual artists whose works include photography, 38
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Festival of the Arts features live music, an international food row and more. | Photo Gazette / file
Calf Fry 2017
May 4-6 Tumbleweed Dancehall 5010 W. Lakeview Road, Stillwater tumbleweed.preferredfan.com $30-$160 18+ Country music fans can head on up to Stillwater for the annual Calf Fry festival, which features Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Cody Canada and The Departed, Bri Bagwell, Randy Rogers Band, Chance Anderson Band, Cameran Nelson, Josh Abbott Band, Casey Donahew, Read Southall Band and Koe Wetzel.
Rocklahoma
May 26-28 1421 W. 450 Road, Pryor rocklahoma.com 866-310-2288 $72 - $707 If you were a headbanger in the ’80s or just prefer your rock on the heavier side, the Rocklahoma outdoor festival in Pryor might be just your thing. This annual event features some of the biggest names in rock and metal, including Def Leppard, RATT, Soundgarden, The Cult, Slaughter, The Offspring, Seether, Three Days Grace, Buckcherry, The Pretty Reckless, Fuel, Stonesour and many others. Camping is available on the grounds, with the campsite opening at noon May 21 and closing noon May 30. Also provided is a general store selling everything from food and drinks to a wide range of camping supplies, so you won’t have to miss a beat if you need to restock your supplies during the festival. For the ultimate in VIP treatment, guests can purchase special packages that offer everything from weekend pit access to admission to the VIP catering tent.
Paseo Arts Festival
May 27-29 The Paseo Arts District Paseo Street from NW 30th Street to N. Walker Avenue thepaseo.org Free All ages The annual Paseo Arts Festival closes things out over Memorial Day weekend, offering music, arts, crafts, food and more. Now in its 41st year, the festival features dozens of musical acts in addition to a food court, a free children’s area and over 80 visual artists specializing in everything from painting to jewelry. Plus, guests can enjoy the Spanish revival architecture of the district, built in the 1920s. While festivalgoers are waiting for their favorite band to perform, they can check out special exhibits and new artist openings at the district’s galleries.
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LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
WEDNESDAY, 3.29 Larry V TheRemedy, Oklahoma City Limits. ACOUSTIC
Welcome Home/Avoid, Paramount Theatre. ROCK
THURSDAY, 3.30 Blake Lankford, JJ’s Alley. SINGER/SONGWRITER Brain in the Sky/The Roofdogs/Khonsu/Old Poems, Paramount Theatre. VARIOUS Cole Risner, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Deekline, ACM Performance Lab. ELECTRONIC
Evan Harris/Nicole Keeling and more, Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Center, Norman.
CLASSICAL
Ronnie Milsap, Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center, Midwest City. COUNTRY
FRIDAY, 3.31
TWEET TWEET! FOLLOW US! @OKGAZETTE
Amy Behrman/John Tuck/Pete Moran, Malarkey’s Dueling Piano Bar. PIANO Bison Machine/Snowchild/CobraJab, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK Blind Date, Oklahoma City Limits. POP Boytoy/Masterhand/Fentz/Planet What, OKC Farmers Public Market. VARIOUS
Brandon Jenkins, Blue Door. SINGER/
SONGWRITER
Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ Brian Lynn Jones, Crosseyed Moose. COUNTRY Darrin Kobetich, Jazmo’z Bourbon Street. FOLK Dorian Small/Josh Hogsett, Opolis, Norman. ROCK Erick Taylor, Noir Bistro & Bar. SINGER/
Anvil The Big Four heavy metal bands Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax all cite Canadian pioneers Anvil as a major influence. Oklahoma City metalheads can check out the legendary act with guests Night Demon, Graveshadow and Drunk on a Monday at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Thunder Alley, 2127 SW 74th St. Tickets are $15-$25. Visit ticketstorm.com or call 405-702-0302. Friday Photo Freeman Promotions / provided
Miss Brown To You, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ OKC Voodoo, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK Smilin’ Vic, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. BLUES Teasing Weasel, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewery. ROCK
SUNDAY, 4.2 The Direct Connect Band, Elmer’s Uptown. R&B The Ivy, Uptown 23rd District. INDIE
MONDAY, 4.3 Ape Machine, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK
SONGWRITER
Come Clean, Unkempt Beaver. PUNK
Mike Bone, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. HIP-HOP
Ian Sweet/Lala Lala, 89th Street Collective. INDIE
Night Demon, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar. ROCK
Victor Wooten Trio/Dennis Chambers and more, Will Rogers Theater. BLUES
Panhandle Dirt, Anthem Brewing Company. COUNTRY
Ravens Three, Full Circle Bookstore. FOLK Read Southall Band/Koe Wetzel, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Scott Keeton, Remington Park. ROCK Stephen Salewon, Othello’s Italian Restaurant, Norman. BLUES Tenth Mountain Division/Frequency Jones, The Root. VARIOUS The Nixons/Nicnōs/Life Lessons/ MozKow, Chevy Bricktown Events Center. ROCK Wild Heart, Cee Gee’s Bar, Edmond. COVER
SATURDAY, 4.1 Arkhon, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar. ROCK
TUESDAY, 4.4 Idre/Cross Stitched Eyes/Last Minute, Opolis, Norman. PUNK Royal Thunder, 89th Street Collective. ROCK Steelwind/Jose Hernandez/Andy Adams, Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER Tess Remy-Schumacher, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. CLASSICAL
Turbo Wizard/Get Fired, Drunken Fry. ROCK
WEDNESDAY, 4.5 Duane Mark, Red Brick Bar, Norman. FOLK Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ
Blind Staggers, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK Brandi Reloaded, So Fine Club. COVER Chelsea Grin/Ice Nine Kills and more, 89th Street Collective. ROCK Erik the Viking/Ben McKenzie, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Feel Spectres/Teenage Self, Power House. VARIOUS Goldie Lahr & The Union, Anthem Brewing Company. FOLK Judith, The Plant Shoppe. FOLK
Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.
Lincka/Deus, Opolis, Norman. VARIOUS
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go to okgazette.com for full listings!
puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle 111-ACROSS!
By Grant Thackray | Edited by Will Shortz | 0326
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87 Unattended 88 Exclusion 89 Big name in kitchen utensils 90 Center of a roast 93 See 30-Across 95 Jester 97 Cause a wedgie 98 Opposed 99 See 45-Across 101 Bucko 102 Major John ____, Benedict Arnold’s co-conspirator 103 Western capital 106 Koi’s habitat 107 Baghdad’s ____ City 108 Early millennium year 109 Not to mention 110 Show with a “cold open,” for short 111 Excel command 112 For 113 Remote button
New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers Puzzle No. 0319, which appeared in the March 22 issue.
S E T B Y
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59 Regulus’s constellation 60 Draw back 62 Slapstick prop 64 Puccini pieces 65 Stolen item in Alice in Wonderland 67 Moving aid 68 State quarters? 71 Rest 73 Penguin and others 77 Lead-in to Jon or Wayne 78 Exclusive groups 80 Nothing but ____ 81 Player of Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom 84 Interest for a limnologist 85 Some core classes: Abbr. 86 Treehouse builder, maybe
31 Govt. cultural org. until 1999 32 Big cheese 33 Suffix with Jacob 34 Throw on the floor? 37 Sound in the stacks 41 Star Wars: The Force Awakens protagonist 42 Lead-in to foam 43 Oh follower 44 “Tiny Bubbles” singer 45 See 100-Across 46 Hill of R&B 47 Inquired about 48 Jamie of M*A*S*H 49 Falls for 54 Brightest star in Aquila 55 See 22-Across 57 Swamp 58 Kind of port
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Sudoku Hard | n°15710 Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com
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ACROSS 1 Poor-weather driving aid 7 Pale-faced 11 Texting format, for short 14 Indonesian island 18 Possible weapon in a bar fight 19 Resting place for a polar bear 20 “I totally crushed that!” 22 It’s actually made of 55-Down 24 Companion of Jason 25 Wood that makes up the foundation of much of Venice 26 Clomped (on) 27 Basil who designed England’s Coventry Cathedral 28 Level 29 ____ All That (1999 rom-com) 30 Who 93-Down was all along 35 Product of Boston or Chicago 36 Part of a KFC order 37 Enthusiastic assent in Madrid 38 Cambodia’s Lon ____ 39 What flows in une rivière 40 The “E” of QED 42 Boat with a very fine net 44 “Phooey!” 45 It turns out to be 99-Down 49 Beefcake’s pride 50 Fresh 51 House call? 52 Up to this point 53 Bad luck, old-style 56 Joke, slangily 57 Metal band around a pencil eraser 61 Peeping aid 63 Fashion 66 It really is an 8-Down 69 Has pegged, say 70 Disappointment for someone looking for a parking spot 72 Record-holder for the most times hosting the Academy Awards 74 Limit 75 Studio sign 76 Georgia neighbor 79 Indonesia’s ____ Islands 80 Nothing, in Latin 82 Having a spare tire, maybe 83 What 11-Down does, shockingly 88 Computer-controlled players, in gaming lingo 90 Relating to the sun 91 Tolkien’s trilogy, for short
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EDITOR-in-chief Jennifer Palmer Chancellor jchancellor@okgazette.com Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Greg Elwell Laura Eastes Ben Luschen Contributors Lisa K. Broad, Christine Eddington Ian Jayne, Michael Kinney, George Lang, Lea Terry Photographer Garett Fisbeck Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley Art Director Chris Street Production coordinator Arden Biard Graphic Designers Anna Shilling Megan Nance www.okgazette.com
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free will astrology Homework: Carry out a prank that makes someone feel good. Report results at Truthrooster@gmail.com. ARIES (March 21-April 19): The dragon that stole your treasure will return it. Tulips and snapdragons will blossom in a field you thought was a wasteland. Gargoyles from the abyss will crawl into view, but then meekly lick your hand and reveal secrets you can really use. The dour troll that guards the bridge to the Next Big Thing will let you pass even though you don't have the password. APRIL FOOL! Everything I just described is only metaphorically true, not literally. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to legend, Buddha had to face daunting tests to achieve enlightenment. A diabolical adversary tempted him with sensual excesses and assailed him with vortexes of blistering mud, flaming ice, and howling rocks. Happily, Buddha glided into a state of wise calm and triumphed over the mayhem. He converted his nemesis's vortexes into bouquets of flowers and celestial ointments. What does this have to do with you? In accordance with current astrological omens, I hope you will emulate Buddha as you deal with your own initiatory tests. APRIL FOOL! I wasn't completely honest. It's true you'll face initiatory tests that could prod you to a higher level of wisdom. But they'll most likely come from allies and inner prompts rather than a diabolical adversary.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Since I expect you'll
soon be tempted to indulge in too much debauched fun and riotous release, I'll offer you a good hangover remedy. Throw these ingredients into a blender, then drink up: a thousand-year-old quail egg from China, seaweed from Antarctica, milk from an Iraqi donkey, lemon juice imported from Kazakhstan, and a dab of Argentinian toothpaste on which the moon has shone for an hour. APRIL FOOL! I deceived you. You won't have to get crazy drunk or stoned to enjoy extreme pleasure and cathartic abandon. It will come to you quite naturally -- especially if you expand your mind through travel, big ideas, or healthy experiments
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hire a promoter to
create gold plaques listing your accomplishments and hang them up in public places. Or pay someone to make a thousand bobble-head dolls in your likeness, each wearing a royal crown, and give them away to everyone you know. Or enlist a pilot to fly a small plane over a sporting event while trailing a banner that reads, "[Your name] is a gorgeous genius worthy of worshipful reverence." APRIL FOOL! What I just advised was a distorted interpretation of the cosmic omens. Here's the truth: The best way to celebrate your surging power is not by reveling in frivolous displays of pride, but rather by making a bold move that will render a fantastic dream ten percent more possible for you to accomplish.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Endangered species: black
rhino, Bornean orangutan, hawksbill turtle, South China tiger, Sumatran elephant, and the Leo messiah complex. You may not be able to do much to preserve the first five on that list, but PLEASE get to work on saving the last. It's time for a massive eruption of your megalomania. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating for effect. There's no need to go overboard in reclaiming your messiah complex. But please do take strong action to stoke your self-respect, self-esteem, and confidence.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Race through your yoga
routine so you have more time to surf the Internet. Inhale doughnuts and vodka in the car as you race to the health food store. Get into a screaming fight with a loved one about how you desperately need more peace and tenderness. APRIL FOOL! A little bit of self-contradiction would be cute, but not THAT much. And yet I do worry that you are close to expressing THAT much. The problem may be that you haven't been giving your inner rebel any high-quality mischief to attend to. As a result, it's bogged down in trivial insurrections. So please give your inner rebel more important work to do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Research shows that a
typical working couple devotes an average of four minutes per day in meaningful conversations. I
suggest you boost that output by at least ten percent. Try to engage your best companion in four minutes and 24 seconds of intimate talk per day. APRIL FOOL! I lied. A ten-percent increase isn't nearly enough. Given the current astrological indicators, you must seek out longer and deeper exchanges with the people you love. Can you manage 20 minutes per day?
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In a way, it's too bad
you're about to lose your mind. The chaos that ensues will be a big chore to clean up. But in another sense, losing your mind may be a lucky development. The process of reassembling it will be entertaining and informative. And as a result, your problems will become more fascinating than usual, and your sins will be especially original. APRIL FOOL! I lied, sort of. You won't really lose your mind. But this much is true: Your problems will be more fascinating than usual, and your sins will be especially original. That's a good thing! It may even help you recover a rogue part of your mind that you lost a while back.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You say that
some of the healthiest foods don't taste good? And that some of your pleasurable diversions seem to bother people you care about? You say it's too much hassle to arrange for a certain adventure that you know would be exciting and meaningful? Here's what I have to say about all that: Stop whining. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, there will soon be far fewer reasons for you to whine. The discrepancies between what you have to do and what you want to do will at least partially dissolve. So will the gaps between what's good for you and what feels good, and between what pleases others and what pleases you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You should begin
work on a book with one of the following titles, and you should finish writing it no later than April 28: "The Totally Intense Four Weeks of My Life When I Came All the Way Home" . . . "The Wildly Productive Four Weeks of My Life when I Discovered the Ultimate Secrets of Domestic Bliss" . . . "The Crazily Meaningful Four Weeks When I Permanently Anchored Myself
in the Nourishing Depths." APRIL FOOL! I lied. There's no need to actually write a book like that. But I do hope you seek out and generate experiences that would enable you to write books with those titles.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you were a
passenger on a plane full of your favorite celebrities, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on a remote snowbound mountain, and you had to eat one of the celebrities in order to stay alive until rescuers found you, which celebrity would you want to eat first? APRIL FOOL! That was a really stupid and pointless question. I can't believe I asked it. I hope you didn't waste a nanosecond thinking about what your reply might be. Here's the truth, Aquarius: You're in a phase of your astrological cycle when the single most important thing you can do is ask and answer really good questions.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You now have an
elevated chance of finding a crumpled one-dollar bill on a sidewalk. There's also an increased likelihood you'll get a coupon for a five-percent discount from a carpet shampoo company, or win enough money in the lottery to buy a new sweatshirt. To enhance these possibilities, all you have to do is sit on your ass and wish really hard that good economic luck will come your way. APRIL FOOL! What I just said was kind of true, but also useless. Here's more interesting news: The odds are better than average that you'll score tips on how to improve your finances. You may also be invited to collaborate on a potentially lucrative project, or receive an offer of practical help for a breadand-butter dilemma. To encourage these outcomes, all you have to do is develop a long-term plan for improved money management.
Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
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