Tulsa Concerts & Shows on wimgo

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my interview with Jason Boland, click here.

COUNTRY

Jason Boland & The Stragglers “Dark and Dirty Mile” (Proud Souls Entertainment/Thirty Tigers)

Jason Boland & The Stragglers keep steadfastly walking the classic country road with “Dark and Dirty Mile,” the renowned Austin, Texas-based band’s seventh studio album.

Released Tuesday, the follow-up to 2011’s excellent “Rancho Alto” showcases the worn-leather baritone of singer/songwriter/guitarist Boland as well as the hard-earned musicianship of his road-tested red dirt outfit, which includes guitar, pedal steel and resophonic guitar player Roger Ray, bassist Grant Tracy, drummer Brad Rice and fiddler/mandolin player Nick Worley.…

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my new interview with Randy Rogers, click here.

Country

Randy Rogers Band “Trouble” (MCA Nashville)

Lone Star State mainstays the Randy Rogers Band make their most daring, vivid and emotionally wrenching music yet with “Trouble.”

Due out Tuesday, the album’s cover depicts a jailhouse fingerprint card, which is appropriate since this is one will leave a mark with Texas country fans.

The five-piece country-rock outfit — vocalist/guitarist Rogers, guitarist Geoffrey Hill, fiddler Brady Black, …

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman

Country

The Band Perry “Pioneer” (Republic Nashville)

The Band Perry boldly plants its flag as one of the most electrifying and entertaining country bands in recent memory with its decidedly slump-free sophomore album, “Pioneer.”

The sibling trio — Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Reid Perry (bass, vocals) and Neil Perry (mandolin, drums, accordion, vocals) — stakes its claim in an unusual sweet spot where traditional and contemporary country intersect with classic rock and bluegrass …

Oklahoma-bred auteur Terrence Malick offers up a wondrous cinematic poem that ruminates on the nature of love with “To the Wonder.”

The rare truly experimental art filmmaker to gain mainstream acclaim, the famously …

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Country

Blake Shelton “Based on a True Story …” (Warner Bros.)

Oklahoma country music superstar Blake Shelton handily serves multiple masters on his seventh studio album “Based on a True Story …”

As much as it might pain his longtime fans, especially Oklahomans who have followed the Ada native’s career since the 1990s, Shelton is no longer just a likeable country boy with a big voice and even bigger personality. Still, he continues to leverage those …

Oklahoma City Concerts & Shows on wimgo

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. Look for my interview with Dustin Welch closer to his March 29 Oklahoma City show.

Rock

Dustin Welch “Tijuana Bible” (Super Rooster Records)

Dustin Welch’s sophomore album, “Tijuana Bible,” bounces his array of musical and literary influences through a series of funhouse mirrors and midway lights.

The tunefully distorted results are as thrilling, dizzying and rough-around-the edges as a spin on a ramshackle Tilt-O-Whirl at the state fair.

The …

Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert performs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 8, 2013. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, For The Oklahoman

To see more photos from Miranda Lambert’s set, click here. To see more photos from Dierks Bentley’s set, click here. To read my preview interview with Dierks Bentley, click here. To read my preview interview with Lee Brice, click here.

Country music fans got a double-barrel blast of boundless energy and nonstop hits Friday night as Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert and her longtime pal Dierks Bentley …

“Buzkashi Boys”

“Henry”

A version of this review appears in Feb. 8′s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 3 1/2 of 4 stars. To read my review of the Oscar-nominated animated short films, click here.

Movie review: Oscar-nominated live-action short films
Uniformly brilliant but stylistically diverse, the contenders are capable of transporting viewers into all sorts of new and unfamiliar places, whether real and imagined.

Over the past few years, the short film contests have become my favorite Academy Award races.

While the contenders tend to be uniformly brilliant — …

“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’”

“Adam and Dog”

A version of this review appears in Feb. 8’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 4 of 4 stars. To read my review of the Oscar-nominated live-action short films, click here.

Movie review: Oscar-nominated animated short films
All five nominees in this year’s race tell their tales without words — and none are needed to make them compelling cinema.

Once again, silence is golden among the Oscar-nominated animated short films.

After four of the five contenders on last year’s slate were …

“Paperman”

“Fresh Guacamole”

A version of this review appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 4 of 4 stars. To read my review of the Oscar-nominated live-action short films, click here.

Movie review: Oscar-nominated animated short films
All five nominees in this year’s race tell their tales without words — and none are needed to make them compelling cinema.

Once again, silence is golden among the Oscar-nominated animated short films.

After four of the five contenders on last year’s slate were dialogue-free affairs, all five nominees in this …