The sound of home runs and fan cheers is back as Oklahoma’s pro baseball teams return to the diamonds this month. Oklahoma City’s RedHawks roost once more at RedHawks Field at Bricktown to the score of live music and foot traffic that has made it one of the city’s most popular summer attractions. The season for this Triple-A affiliate team to the Houston Astros begins with a home field advantage against Memphis on April 5. Nearer the Arkansas River, the Tulsa Drillers throw that first ball at its new home at downtown’s ONEOK Field on April 12 against San Antonio. Although the season begins April 5, the first home game for the Double-A affiliate to the Colorado Rockies is always special as new development continues to spring up in the Brady Arts District. Seasons continue through September. www.okcredhawks.com, www.tulsadrillers.com
The Pour – Taking Stock
As the weather turns warmer, thoughts inevitably turn toward enjoying outdoor grilling and dinner parties featuring your own home-grown produce or that from a local farmer’s market. But to entertain well, it’s also important as a host to be prepared for guests’ cocktail requests and many occasions call for more than just a case of beer (hopefully). Stocking your home bar need not be random or elaborate, as long as you have the standard bases covered.
Liquors: Vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, bourbon, Scotch. Go for the baseline premium brands like Absolut or Skyy for vodka, Jack Daniels whiskey and Jim Beam bourbon, for example. Consider, though, perhaps one higher-end option like a Sauza Comemerativo or nicely aged Scotch for the sipping crowd.
Liqueurs: Among myriad options, a peach schnapps and perhaps a melon variety; an orange liqueur like Triple Sec or Grand Marnier; Crème De Menthe, Cacao and Banana; a flavor or two of brandy; Kahlua; Frangelica and Chambord, should be more than adequate.Beer and Wine: Red and white wines should suffice, and a mix of domestic and imported beers and light beers should keep guests happy.
Mixers: Cola and diet cola; Sprite/7 Up; ginger ale, tonic water and club soda; orange, cranberry, pineapple and grapefruit juices; and possibly bar mixes like sweet and sour and a Bloody Mary mix.
How The West Is Done
What classifies artwork as Western art? Is it the artist, the subject, the materials, the location or style? The patrons of Gilcrease Museum’s Rendezvous have seen hundreds of paintings, sculptures and more at the annual celebration and sale of Western art. If one had to explore the question, surely this year’s Rendezvous is the best place to start.
Gilcrease Museum welcomes fans to view the pieces by 35 distinguished Rendezvous artists from past years’ shows at a special event on April 13. Among those to submit work are Cyrus Afsary, Glenna Goodacre, Blair Buswell and last year’s featured artist Veryl Goodnight.
The sale is important to Gilcrease. Proceeds from the sale are used to purchase new pieces for the museum’s expanding permanent collection of historical and contemporary pieces. Work will be sold on April 13. Anything left will also be available for purchase through July 15.
Along with the sale and exhibit, Gilcrease offers a three-day master class in sculpture with Rendezvous artist Sandy Scott, April 10-12 at Gilcrease House. On April 13, there will be two Rendezvous Reunion Artists’ Talks with painter John Moyers and sculptor Blair Buwell. Moyers will discuss his style and plein air technique, and Buswell talks about the skill and inspiration behind carving the human face and figure.
A Meet the Artists Brunch follows on April 14.
For fans of the genre, the “what” isn’t as important as the “where,” “when” and “who.” Where do you find Western art, when is the sale and who are the artists? For all the answers and more, go online to www.gilcrease.utulsa.edu.
Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery
John Frank’s pottery is said to possess Oklahoma’s frontier spirit in every piece of fine tableware, vase and figurine that came from the Frankoma Pottery factory in Sapulpa. A new exhibit on the University of Oklahoma campus examines the unique story, properties and qualities that made the brand beloved by collectors and admired by consumers. Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery opens April 20 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and runs through Sept. 16. The exhibit focuses on the local clays, colors and designs evocative of the Southwest and Great Plain prevalent in the many unique pieces Frank and his artisans created as far back as the 1933, the official beginning to his smart, beautiful and affordable lines that most families could own and admire in their own homes. www.ou.edu/fjjma
Tucker's Onion Burgers
It’s rare to find an onion burger north of El Reno – home to the world-famous Fried Onion Burger Day – that can live up to the reputation touted by these culinary wonders. Onions cooked on a flat-top grill are pressed into a thin burger patty, injecting an oniony, juicy, other-worldly flavor into a simple burger. The trend began in western Oklahoma in the 1920s, when cafes looked to stretch a buck and supplement the beef in their burgers with “fillers.” But never has a filler been so delicious as the onion in onion-fried burgers.
At Tucker’s, these Oklahoma-style onion burgers are sold simply and deliciously. Made with Angus beef, bugers are sold as single, double or the namesake, the Mother Tucker: a triple-beef-and-onion-on-a-bun creation. Add an order of fresh-cut fries and a hand-dipped shake, and you’ve got a diner meal done right. 324 NW 23rd St., Oklahoma City. www.tuckersonionburgers.com
Good Ol’ JR
Jim “Good Ol’ JR” Ross is one of the most widely recognized and admired broadcasters in the sports entertainment world. In addition to announcing matches, he’s also a restaurateur, entrepreneur, a Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment executive and, occasionally, a wrestler himself. If it’s a wrestling event worth watching, his distinct, southern accent provides the commentary.
Oklahoma Magazine: How’d you find your way into the world of wrestling?
Jim Ross: I was attending Northeastern State University back in the ‘70s and my fraternity got in touch with Leroy McGuirk, Tulsa’s regional wrestling promoter, for a charity event. It went well, and after I graduated there was a standing job offer from him. I’d been a lifelong TV sports fan since I was a boy and that’s how I got into the business – at just $125 per week.
OM: And it took off from there?
JR: McGuirk was blind, so I worked as sort of a personal assistant to him, and I learned the business from the bottom up – everything from ring crew work to refereeing. I was always interested in broadcasting. My opportunity came when somebody forgot that the regular TV guy was on vacation. I was called into duty at the last minute. I got a sport coat and a tie and went to work. And from there I went to work for Ted Turner, then TBS, and in 1993, I landed at the WWE. It’s been a fun ride, going from a two-camera shoot on a one-hour local TV show to cable and satellite TV into WWE, which isn’t just national but global, probably 150 countries and 30 languages.
OM: You’re a bit of an outdoor chef. Where’d that come from?
JR: I grew up in far eastern Oklahoma in Westville. We lived in a four-room concrete-block house and it was so hot that we prepared a lot of food outdoors just to keep the house cooler. So we smoked a lot of meat outside and one of my chores was to manage the smoker. My mother would make homemade barbecue sauce, and that’s the origin of my entrepreneurial venture: a line of barbecue sauces, ketchup, mustard and five flavors of beef jerky. It’s all Oklahoma made. It’s not a vanity project where I just wanted to see my face on a label. That would have sold maybe once. I’ve also written two cookbooks, and one of them was a New York Times bestseller.
OM: You’re widely regarded as one of the best sports announcers around. What’s the secret to getting fans so excited?
JR: Being natural. I never play the role of a broadcaster. I never put a headset on and pretend to be what I think an announcer should be. I’ve also always been a fan of the athletes. I never saw announcing as a job. I just thought, “I’m a lucky guy. This is a lot of fun.” You also have to be prepared and have enough information to keep the viewer entertained. I had a lot of role models, too. Growing up in a small Oklahoma town as an only child, I was around a lot of adult conversations. There are some colorful storytellers in those hills. My two grandfathers were like that. I also had a transistor radio. I’d listen to KMOX radio out of St. Louis and hear Jack Buck and Harry Caray broadcast the Cardinals. It always sounded like they were talking directly to me. That’s an amazing gift. They were great storytellers and great role models for me.
OM: You’re a huge OU football fan. And that’s saying a lot in this state.
JR: It goes back to spending quality time with the guys in my family. Listening to OU football games was the way I bonded with my father, uncle and grandfathers. There were only maybe three OU games on TV when I was a kid. Always OU-Texas and OU-Nebraska, and hopefully a bowl game. It was a family activity. Long before Stoops came to OU, I was in. I was a member of the church. I made an emotional investment in Oklahoma football as a kid because that was a chance to sit on my dad’s knee, listen to a game and have him explain it to me. It was an important part of my relationship with him.
Green Bean Fever
Green beans are just coming into season here in Oklahoma. Soon farm stand displays will be piled high with voluptuous kelly green mountains, which, if past patterns continue, will disappear in the first hour the farmers’ markets open.
During the springtime harvest, green beans are more like a faithful sidekick than just any old side dish. They are the reliable weeknight dinner option: not just sluggishly getting the job done, like canned green beans, but also making sure we’re getting a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals in the process.
Of course, inspiration can sometimes fall flat, even with farm-fresh produce. In the old days, my family ate green beans one of two ways: steamed until tender, or served cool with chopped tomatoes, olive oil and vinegar. That’s it. After 32 years of eating green beans the same way, I decided it was time to mix things up a bit.
Thankfully, the last two years of cooking the world from my kitchen has taught me that there are countless creative ways to enjoy green beans. Since they can grow in almost every corner of the world, most cultures use them in their cuisine. Best of all, what is normal to someone halfway around the world is often just the ticket to totally shake up my weeknight routine.
Thanks to globalization, I can model my family’s meal on recipes from families in a distant corner of the world – from entire cultures I’ll likely never meet. And yet, eating food from their table makes the world seem a little friendlier – a little smaller. My favorites hit nearly every continent. In snowy Austria, they adorn their green beans with soft onions and salty speck, a bacon-like cured meat. In arid Algeria, the people like to infuse them with an intense blast of woodsy clove. All over West Africa, green beans are loaded up in Jollof, a rice casserole made many ways, but typically with ham, onions and spices. The green beans make a striking contrast to the rice, which is stained red from cooking in tomato sauce. In steamy, tropical Indonesia, the people cool off with Gado Gado, a cold vegetable salad served with peanut dressing. Not too far away, in central Asia, they top steamed green beans with a slightly tangy tomato sauce thickened with sour cream. In Guyana, South America, they gobble up their green beans in Guyanese Chow Mein. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming.)
My favorite new way to prepare green beans falls in the comfort food category – Green Bean Soup from Luxembourg. With this recipe, this teeny, tiny country in Europe has managed to capture springtime in a soup bowl. The broth is light and healthy, made with a mountain of green beans, a handful of potatoes, and bit of onion and celeriac. Because the aromatics are not browned, but simply cooked until soft in water, the resulting flavor is clean and bright. Tradition dictates that the green bean soup get topped with bits of crumbled bacon and German-style sausage, which takes this soup from vegetarian to a meat-lover’s delight. The choice, as ever, is yours.
Sasha Martin is cooking one meal for every country in the world. Her picky husband and baby girl are along for the ride. Join the adventure for recipes, reviews and more at www.globaltableadventure.com.
Local Okie
Heads-up entrepreneurs with a special love for local music, Tulsans Lauren and Justin Orcutt seem to be the perfect pair to launch a new record label. They know their artists, they know their marketing, and they know their promotion. With their first disc scheduled to roll out this month under the Okie Tone Records banner, this savvy husband-and-wife team are equally adept at using the latest social media techniques and classic advertising strategies, including appearances in print and on radio and television, to get their product into the public consciousness.
Nowhere is their mixture of the new and the time-tested better illustrated than in their decision to release Okie Tone product on vinyl records, a medium that was supposed to have died out with the rise of, in order, eight-track tapes, cassettes and CDs – to say nothing of downloads. But vinyl never quite faded away, and there are many who swear that a song sounds far better when it’s coming from a black grooved platter on a turntable.
That’s one reason for Okie Tone investing in vinyl. But there are others.
“In this digital age, with iPods and all the technology, anyone can burn a CD,” explains Justin. “In order to have a higher-end product, you have to go back to vinyl. Not only is it a much warmer sound than CDs or downloads; it also gives a sense of familiarity.”
Putting out an actual album also allows for plenty of art and liner notes, which Justin sees as another plus. Those who may not be familiar with Okie Tone acts – which at this point include the Brandon Clark Band, Mike Williams, and John Moreland and the Dust Bowl Souls – can pick up an LP, see a photo of the act and read all about it in the liner notes.
“Vinyl,” he adds, “gave us the opportunity to do something to distinguish ourselves as a label. We wanted to try to have that classic feel while still doing something new.”
Still, Okie Tone isn’t about to ignore the digital market.
“People who buy one of our vinyl albums will get a free digital download to put on their iPods or smartphones,” says Justin, “for when they go to the gym or whatever.”
Justin and Lauren come to Okie Tone from a successful Tulsa venture they began a couple of years ago called You Buy We Fly.
“It was a delivery service,” he says. “We ran errands, picked up dry cleaning – we’d even go by McDonald’s and pick up your lunch. If it fit in a standard vehicle, we delivered it. Then, we started partnering with local businesses – Reasor’s, Joe Momma’s Pizza, Petty’s – and they outsourced their deliveries to us.”
The unusual business drew the attention of KOTV’s Rick Wells, who did a story on the duo. It was picked up by CNN and, remembers Justin, “When we got up the next morning we had a call from Boston, wanting to know about a franchise.”
But, more important, the business was also teaching the newly minted entrepreneurs about the potential in their own backyard.
“With You Buy, we noticed there was a huge trend toward people thinking locally and wanting to buy locally,” says Lauren. “Whether it was tomatoes, t-shirts or toilet paper, they were looking for a connection in the things they bought. Just about the only thing they were outsourcing was their music.”
It all came together when the two were out on a delivery, listening to one of their favorite discs. The artist was Tulsa-based singer-songwriter John Moreland, whom they’d first discovered in a local venue – Justin believes it was the Mercury Lounge.
“We’re both huge fans, and we started asking each other, ‘What’s going on with this guy? Why don’t more people know about him?’
“We thought that all he needed was someone to help him. He’s focused on the actual act of creating songs, which is where he should be, and not on promoting himself. We thought we could help by putting out John Moreland’s records.”
As often happens in these sorts of scenarios, however, one thing led to another. Another Tulsan, Mike Williams – known to fans of hardcore metal for his stint with the internationally-known band the Agony Scene – was performing with Moreland. Williams and his wife were personal friends of the Orcutts, as well. And Moreland had written songs for the Brandon Clark Band, which served as an entrée for Okie Tone. When the dust cleared, the label had signed all three acts.
“Once John was on board, he talked to Brandon about it,” recalls Justin. “Brandon has a huge local following, but he’s ready to go to the next level. His vision aligned with our vision, so we’re aligned with him.”
The honor of the first Okie Tone release goes to Moreland and the Dust Bowl Souls with Everything the Hard Way, which came out as a digital album last fall. Next comes the label’s first live LP, Live at the Cain’s Ballroom by the Brandon Clark Band.
Other releases, including one from Williams, are set to follow.
All of the Okie Tone acts to date could, with little forcing, be placed into the Americana or, more specifically, Red Dirt category, being lyric-based, earthy singer-songwriter music that reflects its time and place. That’s exactly the kind of thing Justin and Lauren were looking for.
“I feel like the general sound of the music we’re putting out is something that sounds organic and belongs here,” says Lauren. “No matter who we give it to, whether it’s a 20-year-old student at TU or a 45-year-old lawyer in south Tulsa, they all connect with it on some level.”
“People really want to connect with what’s here,” adds Justin.
Of course, other local record companies have sprung up over the years, and most of them have fallen short of their noble goal of getting Oklahoma’s music to a wider audience. Lauren and Justin Orcutt and Okie Tone, however, just may be the ones to make it over the long haul.
“I’m not really educated enough to talk about the things that have been done before in that area,” says Justin, “but in the past 10 years, there didn’t seem to be much of an attempt to connect with an overall audience. The music seemed to be targeted for such a small group of people that it couldn’t be sustained. Roots music, Red Dirt, and rock ‘n’ roll are relatable for a lot of people. Heavy metal and hardcore aren’t.”
“I know about a few of the endeavors that have happened in the past,” adds Lauren, “but ours is more of a partnership. He’s a musician, and he likes the kind of music other musicians appreciate. I am a consumer. He has the history and knowledge. I have the perspective of a person picking up a CD at Dwelling Spaces.”
The Blue Horde
“I’m just a gawking spectator,” says fifth grade teacher David Nichols of the astounding success of the chess club he helped found at Ida Freeman Elementary School in Edmond.
How astounding? In the club’s 14 years of existence, it has won the state championship every single year, and according to Nichols, that the club exists at all is mostly attributable to the students at Ida Freeman.
“It was 1996 or ’97, and I noticed a lot of the kids at school playing chess during inclement weather,” Nichols recalls, “and while they played, there were always several more waiting to play.”
The students’ widespread interest led Nichols to wonder if there would also be interest in a school sponsored chess club, so he posted a signup sheet. By the end of the first day there were 50 names on the sheet. Back then, the club was limited to fifth graders who would give up their recess twice a week in order to learn and play chess. The students soon began asking Nichols about playing outside competition, and after competing in a handful of tournaments that first year, the Oklahoma Junior Chess Association, the state’s governing body for scholastic chess at the time, crowned the club state champion.
“David Nichols has done a tremendous job. He’s a great friend to chess,” says Chuck Unruh, president of the Oklahoma Chess Association, the parent organization of the Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization, which governs scholastic chess in the state today.
“We’re there to help coaches and teachers of chess,” Unruh says of the OCA’s charter. “Our goal for students is for them to allow chess to help organize their thoughts in life, math, music and whatever they approach.”
Nichols sees the effect chess has on his own students. Not only does chess help them focus in the classroom, but it also brings them together for a common goal as they strive to become the latest in the long line of champions at Ida Freeman. The bond for many is so strong that there is a regular contingent of Nichols’ former students who attend the chess club’s meetings, now held once a week after school, as mentors and assistant coaches.
“One of the amazing things I’ve seen in the club is the peer to peer teaching that goes on,” Nichols says. “A student might learn a certain zap over the weekend and bring it to chess club. Before long the entire club knows it. And by the next week they all know how to defend it.”
The desire to become better as a program serves the Ida Freeman Chess Club well during tournaments, where “The Blue Horde,” as they are known because of their blue team colors, regularly brings more than 60 players. And it’s only likely to grow, as the club, which once was open only to fifth grade students, is now represented by members from grades two through five.
“I really, really like it,” fifth grader Emily Ogletree says of the club. “If I can focus on chess, I can focus on anything.”
Ogletree’s classmate, Shane Keathley, feels the same way about the club, but for slightly different reasons.
“I just like to be there with my friends,” Keathley says.
Southern Goth
Can an artist be provocative and avant garde without being overtly obnoxious?
Absolutely. Just ask Luke Dick.
The Cogar, Okla., native-turned-New York City resident is a multimedia artist that extends himself beyond his music, delving into narrative art, video and fictional storytelling that is as thought-provoking as it is subtly abrasive.
Take his video covering the Lady Gaga song, “Paparazzi,” in which he gives the song a dose of his Southern gothic folk flair and flips it around on the superstar, digging deeper into the song’s voyeuristic concept with a psychological trip.
“I don’t find much need for censorship where storytelling is concerned. In life, there are so many stories to be told – even though some stories might push the lines of edginess, I don’t think that it should hinder you from creating them so long as you have a reason that compels you to do it. I believe in telling a story for a purpose,” Dick says.
“What I find most compelling about it all is that my mother got out of the Red Dog scene without dying."
It was during his formative years in rural Oklahoma, where his mother moved to escape a rough-and-tumble city life, when he perhaps first began to develop an affinity for folk storytelling with darker undertones.
Through both song and visuals on music videos such as, “Heaven Knows” and “Crazy for You,” those tones are prominent and consistent with his style.
From a rough, red dirt country upbringing to the realms of higher education, Dick earned both a philosophy degree from Oklahoma City University and a graduate degree in the same from Oklahoma State University.
A professor of aesthetics and art, he utilizes his affinity for both to fuse and balance philosophy’s concepts with the art of craft.
“I really enjoy thinking of ideas and possibilities. Philosophy is a discipline that’s heightened my awareness of the world. It gives me concepts to work with and around and wonder about,” he explains.
Aspiring to make not one, but three, albums this year, Dick is currently working on the first entitled, The Red Dog, named after the Oklahoma City club where his mother once worked when he was very young.
“It’s a throwback to ‘70s-style rock and stories that she and other people have told me,” he says.
“What I find most compelling about it all is that my mother got out of the Red Dog scene without dying. Sometimes you have to turn over some nasty rocks to find good organisms to feed your storytelling and art.”
