Payne County Line Oklahoma Music News: January 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

CMA AWARD-WINNING SINGER/SONGWRITER SUSAN GIBSON SCALES "TIGHTROPE" ON FEBRUARY 14^TH!

GOLDEN KEY CARDS WIN EXCLUSIVE PRIZES!

For immediate release: Contact: Brandy Reed

(615) 830-3508

Nashville, TN-January 25, 2011-February 14^th represents a milestone for CMA Award-winning songwriter, Susan Gibson, who is widely known for penning the epic smash hit "Wide Open Spaces" performed by iconic country music trio, the Dixie Chicks. Gibson's brand new album TIGHTROPEwill be released on the special day for lovers of all things including inspired lyric and unforgettable melody delivered by a truly gifted songwriter who has spent the last 14 years entertaining audiences across the US. In celebration of this momentous release, golden key cards will be placed inside random copies of the album, and those lucky enough to find one inside will win a variety of exclusive prizes including free admission to shows in 2011, dinner with Susan Gibson in your town, an interactive internet streamed concert for you and your friends, free merchandise and a special CD of unreleased live tracks just to name a few. These prize albums will be available at all of Gibson's CD release parties and online. Log onto to www.susangibson.com for more contest information. A portion of the proceeds will go to Music Cares, a vital organization that provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. Gibson has been on the receiving end of this truly humanitarian group and she is both eager and proud to give back.

After a terrifying accident in early 2010 that left her with a severely broken arm, dislocated elbow and a shattered wrist, Gibson was back on the road and in front of audiences a mere two-and-a-half months later proving that you can't keep a good songwriter down. In addition to a relentless tour schedule that annually drives her across the country, Gibson has also become a well sought after guest speaker with special engagements that include NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International), Belmont University (Nashville's premier music business school), and at other schools of music where she presents her well attended songwriting workshops.

The release of TIGHTROPE comes on the one-year anniversary of her car accident, and is both right at home with and a departure from her previous acclaimed albums. Gibson and producer Gabe Rhodes are the sole musicians on TIGHTROPE, which manages to be beautiful in its sparseness, easily accessible yet full of sophisticated notes for those who take a careful listen. TIGHTROPEfeatures co-writers that run the gamut from established songwriters including Michael Hearne, Monica Smart ("Evergreen" and Never Enough"), and Jana Pochop (Lovely When You Cry") to first time writers but longtime friends Amy Patton, Michelle Moss, and Marian Brackney ("Hope Diamond"). From a powerful narrative about a guitar and the lives it touched ("The Wood Wouldn't Burn") to the assertive and fiercely independent title track, Gibson continues to affirm her place on the list of troubadour songwriters who have an innate need to affect the lives of fellow human beings through song.

While the road literally stopped Gibson in her tire tracks last year, it also gave the motivation to heal and is now the means to bring TIGHTROPE to an audience. Gibson will debut this new release with a series of Spring album release dates in Texas as well as with an official showcase at the 2011 Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis.

For review copies, interviews or more information contact RPR Media.

RPR Marketing & Public Relations
952 Harpeth Bend Dr. | Nashville, TN 37221 | (615) 673-0150

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Hayes Carll on The Tonight Show

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JXrFW3YGZw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Stan

Friday, January 21, 2011

Hayes Carll with fellow okie Travis Linville on Leno tonight.. here is shot of practice today.

Jimmy Webb

Famed songsmith and Oklahoma native Jimmy Webb has been elected chairman of the

board of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

BY BRANDY MCDONNELL 0

Published: January 21, 2011

The board of directors elected Webb, 64, after Hal David opted last month to step down

after more than a decade as chairman of the Songwriters Hall.

Born the son of a Baptist minister in Elk City, Webb is the rare superstar songwriter. He

has won critical acclaim and scored a series of memorable hits dating back more than 40

years. He is the only recording artist to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and

orchestration.

Webb has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters

Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

In 2003, he received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's prestigious Johnny Mercer Award,

named for the organization's co-founder.

A music enthusiast since childhood, Webb followed his musical aspirations to Los

Angeles in the 1960s and scored a series of five top-10 hits within a 20-month period

that propelled him to international fame.

He is best known for penning classic hits for Glen Campbell ("By the Time I Get to

Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston"), Richard Harris ("MacArthur Park," "Didn't

We"), The Fifth Dimension, ("Up, Up and Away," "This Is Your Life"), The Brooklyn

Bridge ("Worst That Could Happen"), Art Garfunkel ("All I Know"), Joe Cocker ("The

Moon's a Harsh Mistress") and many others.

In the late 1980s, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

topped the charts with a new Webb anthem, "The Highwayman," that won him a

Grammy for country song of the year. Linda Ronstadt, who has recorded many of

Webb's works throughout her career, included four of his songs on her 1989 doubleplatinum

album, "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind," and notched a top-10

single in 1990 with her rendition of his "Adios."

But Webb continues to write new songs and record albums. Stars from Tony Bennett

and Rosemary Clooney to Urge Overkill and R.E.M. have cut his songs for their albums.

Judy Collins featured his intricate ballad "Gauguin" on her 2010 record, "Paradise."

In addition, Webb has been recording and releasing his own albums for years, including

the acclaimed 2010 retrospective "Just Across the River," which features fellow

Oklahoma native Vince Gill, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Campbell and

Ronstadt performing duets with Webb on a selection of his classic songs.

Webb also has scored films, made music for television and in 1999 wrote "Tunesmith,"

which Musician magazine heralded as the "finest book about songwriting of our time."

"You can put him in the top five of all time of songwriters. I would," Gill said of Webb in

a phone interview last week. "He's even nicer than he is talented, if that's possible. And

... he's a fellow Okie, and there's something about a lot of these Okies that I really like.

I'm really proud of where I'm from, and anytime you see one doing great, you just kind

of swell up with a little bit of 'way to go.' You know, it makes us all look good."

In a news release, Webb called it an honor to be elected chairman of the Songwriters

Hall of Fame, which he said is "poised to expand its role in preserving the legacy of the

music creators of the past and helping to educate and inspire the songwriters of the

future."

"I've been a very lucky guy," Webb said in a phone interview last fall with The

Oklahoman. "I've heard Mr. Sinatra record my songs, (and) Barbra Streisand. On this

new album alone, I'm hearing Billy Joel sing my music, I'm hearing Vince Gill, who ...

may very well be the best singer in the world, and Linda Ronstadt, we have our little

duet moment on 'All I Know.' Linda's an iconic figure in American music all by herself.

"This is a very rich time for me to know that in my 60s that I'm still able to experience

these rushes of disbelief, you know, that life could be so wonderful at this age and so

rewarding, really."

For more information on the Songwriters Hall, go to www.songhall.org.

Jabee Williams

Local hip-hop artist raps 'to inspire children'

Matt Carney/The Daily

Friday, January 21, 2011

Local rapper Jabee poses for a photo Tuesday at Sara Sara Cupcakes in Oklahoma City. Jabee will open for Chicago-based hip-hop duo The Cool Kids tonight in Oklahoma City. (Matt Carney/The Daily)

Jabee Williams was only 7 years old when he learned the shock value of hip-hop.

"You know who Bushwick Bill is?" he asked from across the little white table in the corner of Sara Sara Cupcakes, not far from the east side of Oklahoma City where he grew up. I nodded, hazily aware of the most famous member of the Geto Boys, a depressed, alcoholic midget.

"They had an album cover — he'd shot himself — they went to the hospital and shot the album cover right after he'd shot himself," Jabee said. "You see that picture of him on the gurney, with the bullet wound in his face and listening to "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," he was talking about Halloween and stuff like that cause he was real graphic."

One of Oklahoma's most talented and accomplished rappers, Jabee has rejected gangsterism and violence in his own songwriting, a choice that's helped to change hundreds of Oklahoma City middle schoolers' lives for the better, said Masie Bross, director of Whiz Kids, an inner-city tutoring program.

"They just follow him and love him," Bross said. "You can see why; he's like a rock star to them."

Jabee works as the coordinator for The Club, the middle school division of Whiz Kids, where he spends time with at-risk children at Taft Middle School and John Marshall Mid-High School. Many of them from the same neighborhood where he grew up.

"We help them with their homework and we do a Bible devotional," he said of the program, which is partnered with a pair of churches in the area, Northwest Baptist and Crossroads Community.

He's been mentoring for eight years. "They have different activities like basketball, cooking, stuff like that," he said.

"I do it because someone did it for me, and if someone hadn't reached out to me, I would probably be dead or in jail," Jabee told aboveGround magazine in 2009.

His attitude hasn't changed much since then, as all the children got a free copy of his recent album "Lucky Me" for Christmas a month ago.

"He's so able to relate to them," said Bross ,who praised the rapper's work ethic and disciplinary skills with the children. "They really respect him."

Jabee recorded "Lucky Me" during a four-month stint away from home, working in Los Angeles and North Carolina studios.

I ask him if he feels he's really that lucky a guy. He says he wouldn't have called it that if it weren't true.

"That was the point!" he said, smiling and leaning forward to scratch his chin. Jabee reveals what has to be the coolest tattoo I'd ever seen — A red POW! on the back of his left palm stylized like traditional comic book onomatopoeia. "I've done more than most who come from where I've come from and I'm thankful for that," he said.

A sample from Kanye West's "Good Life" open "Imagination," the third track from "Lucky Me." He adopts Kanye's adolescent hopes for piled-up money and bright lights, transforming them into his own vision of a healed neighborhood: "Ain't no love in this city, I imagine that there is if I can dream it I can make it, see it I can take it."

Meeting at a cupcake shop was his idea and I wasn't surprised to see people greeting him the moment he opened Sara Sara's pink door. He didn't order one, but the girl behind the counter brought him a red velvet cupcake anyway before stopping to chat a while.

"Ah, my favorite," he grinned, eyeing the cream-colored icing and scarlet topping. People stopped to chat off and on, probably about half a dozen times in an hour. We returned to the interview and Jabee began to express himself the same way he does in his hip-hop: with frank positivism, even in dire, terrible circumstance.

Jabee lost his younger brother to gang violence in the neighborhood where he grew up, but he doesn't advertise that to bolster a gangster reputation. Instead, he acknowledged the potential everybody has for evil, himself included.

"I came from the same gun that killed my bro, grew up with the same folks that killed him though," he raps in the opening of "Don't Forget About Me," a short but standout rap from his "Must Be Nice" mixtape.

I ask him why he doesn't just record Christian hip-hop and his focus sharpens, like he's been thinking hard about just that.

"When you get saved, Christian musicians do this, they say: 'Who do you listen to?' And you say, 'Man, I listen to Mos Def'. Then they say, 'Well, the Christian version of him is this.' To me, that's whack, man. That's not original, you don't have your identity," Jabee said.

Jabee backed up a little to clarify that he doesn't have anything against Christian rap.

"Not that that's wrong — I've done that. But my purpose is different," he said.

He sees his purpose in hip-hop just the same as when he goes into Taft and John Marshall to spend time with children. He said he's not perfect, but that's not the point.

"They want somebody who understands you, somebody who's real," he said of the secular audience. "I feel like if I were a Christian rapper, I'd be fake. It wouldn't be real, man."

Jabee's nothing if not genuine. It's a big chunk of his lyrical content and how he characterizes the typically lush, soul-styled production on "Lucky Me" that's reflective of his personality.

He's got immediate plans for "Lucky Me" that include a re-up with extra songs, new songs and remixes released this summer, and a proper full-length album in the near future, as well as an appearance at South By Southwest music festival and conference in the spring.

Jabee said he's optimistic about a connection that may lead to a collaboration with El-P, a rapper/producer whom he respects as much as Kanye.

It's no surprise such a humble, happy guy's got so much going for him.

"I've got a long way to go, and I'm not where I'd like to be," he says. "But I'm grateful for everything."

Camille Harp

Hi friends!

There's been a change in the schedule! Despite what may be circulating on the internet or on a board at The Brewhouse, I am NOT playing there this Saturday the 22nd. They had an event and asked me to reshedule. It was fine with me but surely don't want any of my frans (fans + friends = frans) to make a trip down there for no reason. Sorry for the mix up!

My next performance will be with Alan Orebaugh at Libby's in Goldsby on Friday, January 28th. Music will start about 9 or so. Would love for you to join us!

Check out the website for some really cool shows coming up!

Hope you're staying warm!
Camille

Kevin Pickett

KEVIN PICKETT & SOUTHERN RAIN

Pauls Valley, OK
Country / Red Dirt / Southern Rock

Hey folks - thought it was high time we gave you an update on the happenings of the band.

First off we're back in the studio recording another studio album, we have changed studios and producers and we are very , very, very excited about what we are hearing. We are trying to make it a point to keep everyone up to speed by posting on our youtube channelwww.youtube.com/user/kevinpickett so check that out and get ready for a KILLER album.

Next we have a show that we really need some support on. Thursday March 31st we play the Wormy Dog Saloon in Bricktown, OKC - So if you can make plans now to make it out that would be great. The show will be over by midnight so you can still get enough rest to make it through your Friday. Get tickets at www.wormydog.com or at the door.

The new website should be up and running soon. www.kevinpickettmusic.com

If you dont have the LIVE CD/DVD yet then go to www.fourcountrecords.com and get that.

That is all - Thanks for your support................peace...............KP

PRESS

""Kevin Pickett & Southern Rain made a very nice impression. Hard drivin', whiskey drinkin' southern rock is the best way Vinny can describe their sound. Kinda reminds Vinny of a harder version of Whiskey Myers with a mean harmonica player thrown in to the mix. " Vinny The Shark, Wormy Dog SHow Review
"I've had the chance to watch these guys grow over the past year. KP's 1st CD is full of modern day folk tales set to dirty blues that you can't help but love. Garvin County Blues is my personal favorite. And if you haven't seen them live...you're missing out. Can't wait for the new material. " Craig Stone -Radio Personality-, Online

UPCOMING SHOWS

The Arbuckle Ballroom	Davis, OK	Sat Feb 12 11	08:00 PM
Wall Street	Duncan, OK	Sat Feb 26 11	08:00 PM	Tickets
Wormy Dog Saloon	Oklahoma City, OK	Thu Mar 31 11	08:00 PM	Tickets
> SEE MORE / DETAILS