Flowers for Moz

Musical Tributes at the Power House Bar

The Tribute

You Can’t Go Skating in a Buffalo Herd … But You Can Sing about It

One of the most pop­u­lar recent broad­casts on KOSU the SPY FM’s Oklahoma Rock Show was their all Roger Miller pro­gram. When local musi­cian Jerrod Beck heard the show last June, he approached his friend, singer Gabriel Knight Hancock, with an idea. “What if we did a live Roger Miller cover show?” Hancock was on board, but it soon became appar­ent to both musi­cians that the show could, and should, be larger than the 2 of them.

Aaron Tomasko & Rachel Brashear (I)
Aaron Tomasko & Rachel Brashear (I) — The Smiths Tribute Show

In a short time Beck and Hancock orga­nized a ben­e­fit show at The Plant Shoppe, an Oklahoma City (you guessed it) plant shop known for host­ing shows and work­shops. The lineup grew to 8 addi­tional musi­cians and raised sig­nif­i­cant funds for shop own­ers Jen Semmler and Chad Grubs, who had suf­fered finan­cial duress after their child was born pre­ma­turely. As with a cer­tain potato chip brand, 1 show proved not to be enough. Within a span of 4 months, Beck has orga­nized 3 more trib­ute shows, this time on the Power House Bar’s patio stage. First came a John Prine trib­ute, then a Smiths trib­ute, and, this past Sunday, a trib­ute to the late Oklahoma singer-song­writer J.J. Cale.

Kinsey + Audience
Kinsey + Audience — The Smiths Tribute Show

Mercury Photo Bureau was on hand to doc­u­ment the Smiths trib­ute and the

Building Community

Regarding the series’ mis­sion, Beck said, The shows are about pay­ing trib­ute, but they are also about build­ing com­mu­nity among musi­cians locally. We encour­age every artist involved to col­lab­o­rate with one another. Most times these local musi­cians and song­writ­ers are busy doing their own shows and don’t get to see one another per­form. The trib­ute shows cre­ate an oppor­tu­nity for reunion and mutual appre­ci­a­tion for var­i­ous styles of local song craft. It’s about hav­ing fun and it’s about grow­ing as artists.

Cheers!
Cheers! — The Smiths Tribute Show

Also appearing:

The series returns on 20 November to The Plant Shoppe with a trib­ute to singer, song­writer, and activist Nina Simone.

Gallery

Gallery: The Smiths Tribute Show

About Chris J. Zähller

International Man of Mystery. Cocktail Nerd. Occasionally designs websites. Sometimes snaps a picture or two.

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