Music City: Tulsa the next big music destination?

[erfalf]

OK, I may have to make my first trip to the Woody Guthrie Center now. An exhibit featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan is opening tomorrow.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/offbeat/stevie-ray-vaughan-the-focus-of-latest-woody-guthrie-center/article_1ef4fb0e-6a9d-5500-ba98-97522cab028e.html

[Conan71]

Yep, not going to miss that exhibit.  I'm a huge SRV fan.

[davideinstein]

OK, I may have to make my first trip to the Woody Guthrie Center now. An exhibit featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan is opening tomorrow.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/offbeat/stevie-ray-vaughan-the-focus-of-latest-woody-guthrie-center/article_1ef4fb0e-6a9d-5500-ba98-97522cab028e.html

That's awesome. I'll drop by for sure.

[Jeff P]

Tulsa has the structure in place to become the closest rival to Nashville.   Just how much music will you see recorded in Tulsa depends on the recording venues and their attractiveness to the aspiring artists.

Situated in the heart of country music in a state known for many legendary artists; Tulsa offers a refreshing alternative to city like Nashville  that has reached it saturation point.

Yeah but does Tulsa want to be an "industry" city like Nashville, or a creative incubator, like Austin was 25-30 years ago?  I think the latter.

There may not be a difference to some, but to me there is a big difference.  Nashville is basically a country music assembly line, versus what used to happen in Austin, which was a breeding ground for interesting artists spanning many genres.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Not likely to happen anytime soon....Garth and Trisha just finished their self-imposed exile to Owasso and returned to Nashville.  If Tulsa area was going to 'boom' music-wise, it has had many opportunities in the past that just didn't quite reach critical mass.  This moment is another one of those.

[cannon_fodder]

As discussed, Nashville is an industry town. Much like L.A. Most Country music is recorded in Nashville, most everything else is recorded in LA. Of course there is a ton of other places for this or that, more and more home studios. NYC obviously has a couple famous studios as do locations around the world. But LA and Nashville are music industry towns. You go there to "make it."

But most of those acts don't originate from LA or Nashville. I'd argue they don't even get their fair share of recording artists coming from there (excepting rap music from LA).  Austin, Seattle, and yes, Tulsa have far more recording artists per capita than Nashville or LA.  For the size and economics of the town, Tulsa is a disproportional force in the music world. Clearly we aren't "the" force and we are somewhat under the radar - but I certainly think it is an angle we can grow, play up, and gain attention from.

Austin is played out. Seattle peaked in the 90s. Lets take their place.

[cynical]

Describing Nashville as an "industry town" is simplistic to an extreme. Nashville's arts scene is much more than a place where country artists go to record. While it is true that most recording of country and Christian music occurs in Nashville, if the overall arts scene is considered, it is one of the most vibrant arts communities in the country. By mere coincidence I happened onto a report done by SMU's National Center for Arts Research that ranked large and medium/small communities according to arts providers (independent artists, arts and culture employment numbers, and arts organizations), arts dollars (program revenue, contributed revenue, total expenses, and compensation of staff and artists), and public support (state, local, and federal government support for arts programs). Nashville was ranked 2nd nationally, behind Washington, DC, but ahead of NYC. Austin made the list for the first time, ranking 18th, just ahead of Kansas City. Anyone in the top 20 isn't doing badly at all, but Nashville is on a roll. I have friends working in the (non-country) music business there, and they describe the scene as amazing.

Nashville is unique and many of the factors that led to its cultural preeminence don't apply here, but it is a very good example of a city leveraging its position in a specific genre to promote growth overall.

Coincidentally, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is a virtual clone of Tulsa's PAC. The Nashville Symphony gave up on trying to make the lousy acoustics of the Andrew Jackson Hall work and built their own symphony hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The problem with the TPAC wasn't its size, it was its design. Chapman Music Hall in Tulsa and Andrew Jackson Hall in Nashville are very flexible spaces with many moving parts, but no configuration allows sound to project from the stage to the audience.

The summary for Nashville follows:

#2  Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN (pop. 1,792,649) Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN,
has long been known for its expansive music scene, but the emergence of world-class visual
arts and performing arts options has put Nashville – Music City – on the map as an artistic and
culturally rich destination. Nashville claims to be the largest songwriter community in the world,
with a strong presence of Americana-focused artisans and artists. There is robust public support
for the arts at the local level, and individual philanthropists have helped propel growth of
some of the larger cultural institutions in the last decade. To attract and nurture emerging artists in
all genres, Nashville leaders recently pooled funds to create Periscope, a six-week artist boot camp
that provides artists with pre-IPO startup training. Music and recording activity in Nashville exceeds
the level found in 99% of other communities. The Frist Center for the Visual Arts is the anchor for a rapidly expanding
visual arts scene. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center are main
performing arts venues. Nashville is in the top 5% of all cities on the Arts Dollars, Arts Providers and Government
Support measures.

The entire report can be read here: http://www.smu.edu/~/media/Site/Meadows/NCAR/NCARWhitePaper-ArtsVibrancyIndexII

[cannon_fodder]

Describing LA as in "industry town" is simplistic to an extreme too. I was trying to differentiate them from creative centers that are not also the hub for the recording industry. I don't think we can steal the recording industry from Nashville or LA, but I think we can be on the map as a creative place that supports music and the arts, and draw in both creative people and people who want to enjoy their work product.

[PonderInc]

Random note: if you haven't popped into Soul City to have a bite, a beer and some live local music, you should.  I caught Mark Gibson there a couple weeks ago. (Speaking of incredible local talent.)  Felt like I was in Austin.  Very cool place!  Great vibe.  (And delicious bison tacos!)

[Conan71]

Tulsa has an incredibly rich music history, but if you don't know where to look for it nor were into our history, you wouldn't know it existed.

Leon Russell is probably the most influential songwriter and producer to come out of this area.  As a studio musician in LA in the 1960's, he literally played on 100's of singles and albums.  The list of artists who recorded at Russell's Church Studio and Shelter Studio on Grand Lake is legendary:

George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, JJ Cale, Phoebe Snow, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, etc.  His record label was known for discovering up and coming acts, along with Petty, Shelter records released Bob Marley's first single, and discovered local acts The GAP Band and Dwight Twilley.

Jerry Lynn Williams, a songwriter who wrote for Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, BB King, Clint Black, Delbert McClinton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and others lived down near Haskell and maintained a studio there.  Word was Clapton traveled to Williams' place quite often.  

Clapton also worked with Tulsa musicians Carl Radle, JJ Cale (wrote Cocaine), Jamie Oldaker, and Rocky Frisco.

David Teegarden played for Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band for years.

There's many lesser-known Tulsa artists who have made it on a national scale as session and/or touring backing musicians.

I haven't even started in on the Tulsa area's contributions to country music.  Jim Halsey has managed many of the top country music acts of the last 40 years from Tulsa.  Roy Clark lives in Tulsa near Utica Square.

I've also not counted later popular acts like Hanson or David Cook who came out of the area.

Tulsa is a known quantity within the American music scene.  It simply doesn't have the popular buzz Austin does.

Tulsa has always been a really good arts town, I think we are all a bit to close to it to realize how great we've had it with the arts.  I still recall what Al Hirt said the last time he played in Tulsa at the Brady Theater with the Tulsa Symphonia.  He was lamenting the recent demise of the symphony in New Orleans and begged those in attendance to continue to support the arts in Tulsa because cities larger than ourselves were taking theirs for granted.

[cannon_fodder]

Random note: if you haven't popped into Soul City to have a bite, a beer and some live local music, you should.  I caught Mark Gibson there a couple weeks ago. (Speaking of incredible local talent.)  Felt like I was in Austin.  Very cool place!  Great vibe.  (And delicious bison tacos!)

There happens to be an act playing tonight that I hear is pretty entertaining!

[davideinstein]

I'm in Austin this week and Tulsa has about 30 years to catch up on. Sucks.

[Conan71]

I'm in Austin this week and Tulsa has about 30 years to catch up on. Sucks.

Tulsa has always had a vibrant music scene.  You realize people from ATX probably travel to Nashville or LA and say the same thing you just did, right?  It's all in perspective.

Personally, I can't stand all the traffic in ATX.  Are they gaining on managing it better through the I-35 corridor?

[davideinstein]

Tulsa has always had a vibrant music scene.  You realize people from ATX probably travel to Nashville or LA and say the same thing you just did, right?  It's all in perspective.

Personally, I can't stand all the traffic in ATX.  Are they gaining on managing it better through the I-35 corridor?

Haven't been on 35, but it was backed up when I saw it today. Mopac is an issue currently because of construction. They are building protected bike lanes all over Downtown, the bus system is fantastic (in particular the BRT) and it looks like they are extending the light rail.

Disagree with you on what people from Austin say. I wasn't impressed with Nashville and feel like they try mimicking Austin. When I'm here it's all about seeing live music. In Tulsa, a few shows every year. It's really not the impressive besides the Brady.

[johrasephoenix]

Austin has the HUGE advantage that is the University of Texas, Texas State, and St. Edward's pumping the region with 80,000+ college students who do things like go to shows, support a gazillion bars, become hipsters who support an alternative music scene, and in some cases actually become the musicians.  It's really tough to replicate that unless we could convince some of our philanthropic benefactors to found universities and then sit back and wait 100 years.

Also big plus in having Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, et. all decide Austin was dope in the 70s and set up shop there. 

I lived in Austin 2010-2013 and can verify that it is indeed awesome (although unfortunately some of the chillest hippie cowboy spots are being pushed out).  When I first moved there my office building downtown was surrounded on three sides by surface parking lots.  By the time I left all three had skyscrapers going up on them.

They also put water in their river - which is really not much more than a glorified creek in its natural state - several decades ago and its now the city's #1 natural amenity.