April 09 - Article in "Current News" Text version is easier to read

The Sound That Defined Tulsa - Leon Russell's Birthday Bash

Muscial Duo: It's a Family Tradition
       Ask Don and Steve White to recall the first show they ever did together, and they'll take you back to the early '80s and beyond, into a world studded with legendary Tulsa Sound practitioners like J.J. Cale, Jimmy Karstein, Larry Bell -- and White pere, of course. ``Since Steve was growing up around me and Cale and all those guys, he got into it quite young,'' says Don White, turning to his son. ``Didn't we do our first duo thing 10 or 11 years ago, when Larry Bell sat in, and Jimmy Karstein came in and set up his drums?'' ``No,'' replies Steve, laughing. ``We did a talent show first.'' ``Oh, yeah -- that's right,'' says Don. ``Our first gig was at Eliot Elementary.'' (read more)

Review: Yoakam resurrects lightning-hot
excitement of rockabilly
        Opening for Yoakam was the veteran Tulsa Sound figure Don White, who held the crowd's attention nicely with a selection of originals and well-chosen cover tunes, doing it for the most part with just his voice and guitar. His vocals contained that rough-edged, world- weary romantic quality that calls to mind Willie Nelson, among others, and his rhythm and slide-guitar playing was sure-handed and often inventive.
       Among the highlights were his "My Baby Ain't Lazy," which rolled along in a relaxed groove that perfectly suited the lyrics, and a reading of "She Thinks I Still Care" that found a new-sounding approach to that classic song.
        White's guitarist-vocalist son Steve joined him for the last two songs, the languid J.J. Cale number "Magnolia" and a fine one called, I believe, "Small Town." It ended with a crowd-pleasing jam in which Steve strummed his guitar while Don chorded it and vice versa. (read more)

Yoakam turns it loose for Tulsa
        ... singer-songwriter Don White, who opened Wednesday's concert.
       White, in fact, nearly stole the show in his opening spot. Accompanying himself on guitar, the Tulsa Sound veteran played what he termed "a little music to find your seat by." It was actually a set of great country blues tunes from the likes of Kieran Kane, J.J. Cale, Hank Thompson and White himself.
       His final number was a country-rock reading of Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)." Let's hope it's prophetic. With a new CD he's currently shopping to major labels, White may yet get the big break he so richly deserves. (read more)

Resurrecting Okie Soul
After a Quarter of a Century
Gus Hardin and Don White Reunite
        Ask Gus Hardin about the first time she sang with Don White, and she can tell you when it was immediately - despite the fact that it happened a quarter of a century ago. "Don was working with Bill Davis in Soul Incorporated - those were Bill's James Brown days," recalled Hardin Wednesday night. "And I got up and sang "Natural Woman' with 'em. It was in '68 or '69. The club, at that point, was called the Vapors. And Gailard Sartain was in the audience." Sartain wasn't in the audience at Studio 212 on Wednesday night; he was on location in northern California, shooting the latest in a string of movies that have made him one of the country's most successful character actors. But Bill Davis was. And so were a number of other stellar Tulsa musicians, local music-industry figures, club owners and other interested parties.
        They were all there to see Hardin and White, reunited in the new band Okie Soul, demonstrate in a live performance just exactly where they were taking the Tulsa Sound. (read more)

NASHVILLE IT AIN'T
        It's just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon in Vinita, and inside the little building beside the big tower just off the highway, Tulsa Sound legend Don White and longtime radio personality Dave Boyd are getting ready to roll into another installment of "Not Necessarily Nashville." Inside the studio, Boyd is showing a visitor that his radio station, KITO (96.1 FM/1470 AM), isn't only equipped with a state- of-the-art CD player, but -- unlike most other stations these days -- with a functioning turntable for vinyl records.
        "We still play 45s sometimes," he says. "Heck, I can play 78s. ... "
        Meanwhile, White looks over the playlist for his hour-long show and tunes his guitar, indicating that a live musical segment will be included this week. "I always put a few songs together, but that doesn't necessarily mean those are the ones we're gonna play," says White with a crooked grin. "I try to play people from around here or people I know. It's not that I have that many friends; it's that all my friends happen to make albums." (read more)