OKLAHOMA CITY – I’ve made it pretty clear over the years that I’m no big fan of the recently exploding tribute act/cover show/dance party market, and I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling.
It’s easy to feel like something is being lost in the scene when every night is loaded with another all-80s, all-90s, all-country, or all-“Shrek” dance party and shows starring local artists performing original music seem to be getting fewer and further between on the city’s biggest stages.
Likewise for the endless wave of low-effort recorded cover releases, a flooding market of “what if this high-energy current pop song was a moody acoustic ballad?” and “what if Artist A sounded like Artist B?” Sure, it’s easy engagement, and sure I might be an old man yelling at a cloud here, but it’s just not the same as thoughtfully interpreting or re-contextualizing a song or a piece of music that’s actually important to you in a way that could be just as important to a listener.
And yet, there are still some creative, heartfelt, and genuinely intriguing ways to do a tribute show or a cover release.
Maybe it’s a full night dedicated to paying honest tribute to a seminal and inimitable talent and his signature style.
Maybe it’s an opportunity for fans to sing, laugh, and share an experience that was never previously available to a live audience.
Or maybe it’s an artist taking the time to really dig into the catalog of a consistent inspiration to find what makes their songwriting and their bristling energy endure.
Any of those might just result in that rare project that both capitalizes on a known and loved quantity and touches on something deeper and more genuine in music.
A Night of Charlie Parker – feat. Mike Cameron w/ Kendrik McKinney Trio – Slate at Founders Tower – July 21st
Charlie Parker may well be the single most important and influential figure in the history of jazz saxophone, and he’s surely one of the most seminal players in all of jazz across the board.
So it makes perfect sense for the jazz faithful of today to continue paying respect to his life, work, and firebreathing style by re-interpreting and re-contextualizing his music the way it was really meant to be played: in front of an enraptured live audience.
Of course, the only thing that could make that better would be some dizzying penthouse views of the full, receding sprawl of Oklahoma City.
That’s what you’ll get at Slate atop Founders Tower when saxophonist Mike Cameron steps up in front of the inexhaustible OKC jazz leaders that make up the Kendrik McKinney Trio – including McKinney himself on keys, Rei Wang on bass, and Dave Bowen on drums – to last through Bird’s untouchable catalog.
‘Inside’ Again – feat. Jacob Beesley and Call Me Sparrow – Resonant Head – August 29th
Without hyperbole, comedian/songwriter Bo Burnham’s “Inside” is likely the singularly defining artistic statement of 2020, the COVID era, the internet saturation and algorithmic Stockholm Syndrome of modern discourse, and the entire rapidly disintegrating construct of what we used to know as the average American life.
It’s not just a devastatingly astute deconstruction of present day isolation and the spiraling collective psyche as we hand our brains over to endless scrolling and dopamine addiction, it’s also freakin’ hilarious and the songs all rip. From “Content” and “Comedy” to the chest-punching “That Funny Feeling” and “All Eyes on Me,” they’re all as pointed and sharp as they are shockingly catchy.
So yes, while that might sound like a lot of gross exaggeration, Burnham’s one-man cross-media streaming special really is practically everything.
The one thing it isn’t is a live show meant to be performed in front of an audience.
It’s a moment in time picking at the deepening wounds of pandemic isolation and anxiety, and Burnham himself has still never attempted to perform it in public.
So what OKC-based pianist Jacob Beesley is attempting next month at Resonant Head could be something of a highwire act.
He’ll be leading his band – the recently buzzing Call Me Sparrow – in a full, live presentation of “Inside,” inviting fans into the whole experience in real time.
Will he and the band pull it off? Will the comedy remain intact or just the songs? What will it be like for a whole audience to sing along together to these songs of depressed isolation and reclusive anxiety?
It’s tough to say, but you can bet that I’m going to be there to find out, because – I don’t know if you picked up on this or not – I’m a pretty big fan of “Inside.”
‘Beau Jennings Sings Tom Petty’ – Coming October 20th
When Oklahoma landmark Beau Jennings and his full-volume backing band of grit-rockers, The Tigers, took the Tower Theatre stage a couple years ago to perform a full night of songs by the dearly departed Tom Petty, it felt like an honest, genuine tribute, not just another excuse to sell drinks and cash in on some well-known songs.
“It felt like going back to school,” Jennings said of learning and performing Petty’s timeless Americana rockers for the 2023 tribute show, “like getting an education in how to play some of the greatest songs ever written.”
But what started as a fun little one-night tribute project bloomed into something unexpectedly powerful.
Jennings himself hasn’t been able to shake the songs or the lingering specter of Petty ever since, resurrecting the set first as a last-minute acoustic spot at the spur-of-the-moment Tomorrowfest, and now as a full album of stripped-back campfire takes on the iconic singer’s catalog.
“I’ve always loved the tradition of artists recording entire albums of another songwriter’s work,” Jennings said in a press release announcing the album. “They’re living inside another songwriter’s catalog for a while. Once I realized that’s what I was doing, it kinda gave me the context to finish and release this record.”
Set to drop on October 20th (what would be Petty’s 76th birthday,) “Beau Jennings Sings Tom Petty” will be a final culmination for a project that Jennings never expected to last so long.
But it’ll also be a lot more than that.
It’s a testament to the lasting legacy and life-affirming appeal of Petty’s songwriting, a testament to the unrelenting power of simple, straightforward songwriting altogether, and maybe a glimpse, too, into the formative elements and energies that Jennings used to build his own songwriting voice some years ago.
And that’s what a good tribute project should be.
You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
