June 8 — FFS, Deaf Wish (2018)

June 8, 2018 by Russ Florence

Following Wednesday’s post on Screaming Trees, my friend and former neighbor in Tulsa, Chuck Hodges, sent me a note about Deaf Wish. It’s probably not a coincidence. Deaf Wish is on Sub Pop, the same Seattle label that spawned Screaming Trees, Nirvana, and dozens of other guitar-noise bands in the 1980s.  The similarities don’t stop there. Deaf Wish slings the same aesthetic as several indomitable college-rock bands of the day. “I hear some Sonic Youth,” Chuck said. Indeed, when I […]

Categories: 2010s, Friends

June 2 — MY PET SNAKES, Jenny and Johnny (2010)

June 2, 2018 by Russ Florence

There’s a lot to take in at Repticon, the reptile show that slithers through town about once a year. Lizards, geckos, chameleons, gila monsters, and snakes, plus all the reptile gear you could want. Need a collar and leash to walk your dragon lizard? Step right up. None of this phased Luke and me; it was our second year, so we’re old pros. But what continues to impress is the people watching. Kind of a blend of Deliverance and Black […]

Categories: 2010s, Family

May 29 — SOLID SILK, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (2018)

May 29, 2018 by Russ Florence

My first exposure to Pavement came in the summer of 1992. Their debut, Slanted & Enchanted, had the music-world buzzing, and I went with friends to see Pavement at Ikon, a small venue in Tulsa. I don’t remember a lot about the show — good or bad — except the place was packed. I kept up with the band after that, if only peripherally. I liked the aesthetics and the spirit of the music, but it never grew on me. This was the […]

Categories: 2010s, Concerts

May 20 — PAY GAP, Margo Price (2017)

May 20, 2018 by Russ Florence

RBG, the new documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, shows the Supreme Court Justice as tenacious, feisty, smart, disciplined, and charming. It’s an inspiring portrait of a woman who literally changed the course of history; who challenged the status quo and wrestled it to the ground. But for me, one of the biggest takeaways was how gender-based discrimination was so open, so unapologetic — and, in fact, perfectly legal — as recently as the 1970s. When Ginsburg graduated from Harvard Law School in the […]

Categories: 2010s, Books and Films, Current Events

May 7 — KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNIN’, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers (2017)

May 7, 2018 by Russ Florence

With a 20-hour roadtrip coming up, a friend on Facebook this morning asked for music, podcast and audio book recommendations. It took a full five seconds for me to think of a response. I’m not sure how Sarah Shook’s debut album got by me last year. It should have made the rounds on year-end “best” lists; it damn sure would have made mine. Fortunately, Shook’s follow-up is every bit as strong and is getting attention. Since discovering her a month […]

Categories: 2010s, Friends

May 6 — TRUCKSTOP GOSPEL, Parker Millsap (2014)

May 6, 2018 by Russ Florence

Lord have mercy on the fan who attends a concert expecting to hear his or her favorite songs, only for the setlist to alternate between deep cuts and the new album. That was the wrap this week on U2, which kicked off its worldwide tour in Tulsa. Hardcore fans may see it as daring or ambitious; casual fans see it as a waste. Parker Millsap’s homecoming show in Norman last night wasn’t void of the old hits. (“Old” being a […]

Categories: 2010s, Concerts, Family

May 3 — QUITE A FEELIN’, Barna Howard (2015)

May 3, 2018 by Russ Florence

Upon first listen, I assumed Barna Howard was from the sideburns-and-corduroy wing of the early ‘70s, wedged somewhere between Gordon Lightfoot and Jim Croche. Even the album art seems inspired by Euell Gibbons. Lo and behold, Barna Howard is a man of the modern world. He was raised in the small town of Eureka, Missouri, according to his bio, “baseball cards in his bicycle spokes, flying freely down Main Street.” After high school he moved north and then northeast, before […]

Categories: 2010s

April 30 — EVERYBODY’S COMING TO MY HOUSE, David Byrne (2018)

April 30, 2018 by Russ Florence

How soon after seeing a concert can you determine where it ranks among your all-time favorites? Years pass, but how vivid are the images? How easily is that feeling resurrected? It’s been since 2001 that I saw Lucinda Williams at the Ryman in Nashville, but I can still pull up the sensation. Same with the Replacements in St. Paul (1989), Son Volt and Alejandro Escovedo in Fayetteville (1997), and the Flaming Lips in Tulsa (2007). It’s been less than a […]

Categories: 2010s, Concerts

April 22 — UNDER THE WHEELS, Calexico (2018)

April 22, 2018 by Russ Florence

I’ve been following Calexico since Feast of Wire came out, some fifteen years ago. In about 2005, touring in support of their collaboration with Iron and Wine, the bands played a joint show at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. But it was the night before the Tulsa Run, and I thought better than to spend a late night on my feet before a 9-mile run early the next morning. Since then, I’ve religiously checked Calexico’s tour calendar, hoping for an appearance somewhere […]

Categories: 2010s, Concerts, Family

April 17 — EL CORRIDO DE JESSE JAMES, Ry Cooder (2011)

April 17, 2018 by Russ Florence

There’s no shortage of doorways into Ry Cooder’s music. My primary reference points are his one-off album Little Village in 1991 with John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner; his celebrated solo album Chavez Ravine, which tells the story of Mexican-Americans who were displaced by the Brooklyn Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles in the 1950s; and his role as producer and ringleader of the Buena Vista Social Club, an ensemble of previously unknown Cuban musicians, whom Cooder assembled on a […]

Categories: 2010s, Santa Fe