Shepherds, Idols and Saints

By now, most of Tulsa knows that one of its favorite and most promising bands, The Hero Factor, has been experiencing a relatively quiet period over the past nine months, only playing a handful of shows. Most of the band has still been visible during that time, working on other projects: Matt Fisher with his solo project, Vandevander, and cover band The Meerkats, both with bassist Eric Arndt and drummer Nathan Price, as well as his Songmakers Night at The Colony.

Arndt has been working on his own project, The Refund Division, with the potential of releasing some of his own tunes on us later this year, and keyboardist Chad Copelin has stayed busy as one of Central Oklahoma's choice producers, working out of Black Watch Studios in Norman. The one who has appeared to be curiously silent, however, has been vocalist Ben Kilgore.

As we all know, however, things aren't always as they appear. Kilgore has indeed been busy and singing quite a bit, only in a different venue. As worship leader at Guts Church (9120 East Broken Arrow Expressway), Kilgore's hours have changed a bit with services held at 8:30am, 10:30am and 6pm on Sundays and 8pm on Wednesdays.

As creative as Ben is, it was only a matter of time before he ended up back in the studio during this "quiet period," and he quietly released a new solo EP just before the end of the year. In keeping with his role at Guts, The Good Shepherd is a disc of modern worship music, with an emphasis on modern. The disc marries his modern pop sensibilities with faith and worship.

Considering the fact that Kilgore's voice is so closely identified with one of our city's most beloved bands, it's hard to not describe the disc as sounding like a Christian Hero factor, but in truth, it might me better to think along the lines of what a more overtly Christian U2 or more spiritual Coldplay might put forth.

As one might expect by the disc's title, the subject matter on the disc's five songs revolves loosely around the 23rd Psalm, just not as directly as U2's "40." Most specifically, the title track, "The Good Shepherd," and "You Are the Hope" follow scriptural references, while the rest of the disc expands on that in a more worship-oriented context.

Of course, Guts doesn't believe all worship music has to be mellow Jesus music and neither does Kilgore, so there are also a couple of more upbeat tunes like "Soul Rejoice," which most closely resembles the Hero Factor sound and "Live to Worship You," which builds around a more dance oriented beat.

Overall, The Good Shepherd is a more than pleasant surprise that proves that not all good Christian music has been cornered by the Christian labels yet. It's been a long time since I've heard a Christian release of this quality come out of Tulsa's local music scene, so let's hope this is the disc that kicks a door open and reveals more of the spiritual side of our music community.

If you're looking for a copy of The Good Shepherd, you can stream the songs and purchase over the internet at www.myspace.com/benkilgoremusic or at Guts Church before and after services or at the main office, Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm.

Another Oklahoma Idol?

Yes, the question has finally come down to this: Am I really going to have to start watching American Idol after successfully avoiding it this long? Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the point of view), it certainly looks that way.

If you have to ask why, you must not be paying attention. If you've heard the rumors, yes it's true: local boy David Cook appeared on TV a couple of weeks ago, filmed at the Omaha auditions. Paula reportedly loved him and Simon didn't even have a wisecrack, so Mr. Cook has officially moved on to the second round.

When I ran into David at the Tulsa Original Music show at the Cain's, he was still playing coy on what's really up, saying that so far "it's all been kind of crazy" as the surreality of it has hit him, with a few people he doesn't know recognizing him from TV.

He did admit that he was being flown back out to California last week, so that's a good sign, but he won't admit to knowing anything firm yet.

In the mean time, Cook told me that the most frustrating thing about it is waiting in limbo.

"I just finished my new album, with Neal (Tiemann, of MWK) producing, and it sounds great. I just don't know when or if I'll be able to release it now," he said.

If you'll think back to last year, Cook took home the Urby at UTW's Absolute Best of Tulsa awards for "Best Locally Produced, Independent Album" and made an appearance in our Soundproof Concert Series at the Tulsa Press Club during the fall. Maybe UTW and our readers know more than they get credit for, huh?

More Tunes at the Press Club

Speaking of Soundproof, you can mark your calendar for the next show--a week out on Thursday, February 21. The featured artist for February will be local singer/songwriter Roger Jaegar. If you haven't heard him yet, this is one Soundproof you won't want to miss.

Although Jeager is a Tulsa native, he has spent a great deal of time abroad and has drawn from his travels and experiences to color his music. By blending folk, alternative rock, Indian and funk music, Jeager has created a unique sound that lifts your spirits. What better way could there be to unwind at Happy Hour that to sit back and enjoy? After all, as we've already seer, you never know where the next big star may come from.

Around the Town

It's another busy weekend in Tulsa as we all try to recover from the spell that St. Valentine has cast on us. If your night out includes some music after dinner with that special someone, you might want to consider Delbert McClinton with the Michael Ray Little Band at the Cain's Ballroom ($31 at the door) or Branjae at Exit 6C. If you're running solo, like me, and want to feel better (or worse) about yourself, you're more likely to stop in at The Soundpony to be humored by the inimitable Vince Carbone.

Friday, February 15, follows up the My Dirty Valentine show at the Cain's Ballroom with the return of Dangerous Toys and Junkyard with Crooked X and Soulrider. Tickets are $32.50 at the door. Just think of it as a little warm up for the next Rocklahoma.

Looking around the downtown area on Friday night, Cairde na Gael plays the "great Guinness toast" at Arnie's, Mike Hosty Duo appears at Plan B (formerly Cronies), The Continental hosts "S.W.A.K." with Postman, Tech Tonic, Murdadrum and DJ Ironix and Exit 6C welcome breakout indie acts Breakaway Hank and Black Swan.

On Saturday, February 16, Steve Pryor rocks Arnie's while Admiral Twin, Vandevander and Nude Furniture team up for a show at Exit 6C. Meanwhile, The Action Is plays the Soundpony and Brian Dunning and the Rock and Roll Trio gets busy at Mercury Lounge.

On Sunday evening, February 17, The Jazz Hall of Fame hosts its annual Piano keyboard concert with Chuck Gardner, Amy Cottingham, Rick Fortner and Jon Glazer. Later that night, No Ghost will be entertaining the crowd at Soundpony.

On Monday night, The Continental hosts a free show with Terrible Twos and True White Brother, so be sure to enjoy more of T-Town's underground movement in a cool, but intimate atmosphere.

The Cain's Ballroom dominates the rest of the week with Tesla and Cinder Road on Tuesday, February 19 ($30 in advance), G. Love and Special Sauce with Tristan Prettyman on Wednesday night ($23) and the triumphant return of Cross Canadian Ragweed to the Ballroom on Thursday for $25.

Wednesday, February 20, also sees a killer show at The Continental with RTX (former Royal Trux members, if I remember right), El Paso Hot Button and GHOSTS.