TULSA, OKLA. – For the past eight years, we have tirelessly promoted and produced Dfest Music Conference & Festival. We have experienced some amazing performances, made friendships that will last a lifetime, and created a special event that made Tulsa a very exciting place each July. Those of you who truly know us understand we do this out of sheer passion, our unending love of music and to empower and create a better place for hardworking, independent musicians.

In 2010, we have to make the difficult decision to put Dfest on hiatus. A tough economy, rising production costs and a decline in lower level corporate sponsorships and support have caused us to take pause. These factors have made us unable to produce the kind of event we are known for, so we are unable to move forward with the festival this year. At the point we knew that we had exhausted any and all options and head into July 2010 with full steam, we decided to postpone the event on our own terms. The integrity and quality of Dfest is of the utmost importance to us as the creators of the event.

We know that Dfest is a very special event and so much more than just a festival. We are not willing to compromise the quality of the event in any way that might cause it to be less of a festival than the people of Tulsa and our fans have come to know and love. In light of these events, we would like to give a very special thanks to the fans who have bought tickets to Dfest in the past, told your friends, Facebooked, tweeted, blogged and let everyone you knew know about how much you love Dfest. We would also like to thank our loyal sponsors, media partners, team members, emerging artists, and volunteers who have supported Dfest year after year. A very special thanks and appreciation goes to State Farm, who shared our vision for this event and stood by our side throughout this difficult decision.

With love and respect,

Tom and Angie Green and the Dfest Team

The two-day multi-genre music festival fused with a music industry conference was established in 2002 to help emerging artists gain exposure and connect with the music industry. The conference consisted of music panels, a tradeshow, music clinics and artist mentoring. Each night, national recording artists performed on large outdoor festival stages while top local, regional and national emerging artists performed on a multitude of outdoor stages, indoor venues and club stages. Dfest has quickly become one of the top independent music conferences in the nation as well as the Midwest’s largest music festival of its type, and a hot bed for showcasing exciting new diverse music talent.

The BOK Center declared that Rod Stewart will be performing on 9/20 as part of a “limited” tour this summer. Tickets will be on sale 10 AM on May 11th.

OK State higher education regents approved a “School of Rock” degree program Thursday for the University of Central Oklahoma. Now only if Jack Black taught there…

We all know that this holiday puts a lot of pressure on guys to make it a fabulous and memorable day for the special women in their lives. The problem is that many guys lack either the funds or imagination to come up with the perfect Valentine that will have her gushing to all of her friends the next day. Let’s face it, this holiday was created for women, so in an effort to help out everyone here are some tips for guys from a woman (categorized by price).

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Think ahead! Many of the nicer restaurants offer reservations. Getting on that list shows your forethought and she will be thrilled that you did it! Ti Amo’s is a classic Valentine’s Day spot, their intimate booths and delicious Italian food will wow her for sure. The Melting Pot and Mahogany’s are also great pics for a romantic meal.

Diamonds are forever. This is a fail safe gift that will make any woman’s eye’s light up with surprise and excitement. Israel Diamond is wonderful if you have a little extra to spend, but watch for deals at other stores and you can find a beautiful sparkle that is moderately priced. Macy’s sells fine jewelry and has a great selection, plus they always have sales going on and you get extra discounts for using your Macy’s card. Sam’s Club also has some quality jewelry at reasonable prices. Don’t be scared that it’s WalMart’s big cousin…sparkle is sparkle.

Flowers always bring a smile. Most women love fresh cut flowers and a beautiful arrangement will have her blushing all day. Toni’s is one of the nicest places in town for a beautiful bouquet; just make sure you order in advance!

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Looking for jewelry but don’t have a fortune to spend? James Avery is located in Woodland Hills Mall (lower level by Macy’s) and offers a wide variety of jewelry with lots of sterling silver. From rings to necklaces and earrings you can’t go wrong with a gift from this unique shop.

Eat your heart out! Everyone does Valentine’s Day dinner out but who wants to deal with crowded restaurants and long waiting times? To try something a little different, go to the Marriott at Southern Hills and enjoy their delicious breakfast buffet. For around $20 (not including tip) the two of you can enjoy a buffet of muffins, assorted pastry, fresh fruit, hash brows, sausage, bacon, made-to-order omelets and many other tasty treats. To add even more romance get a room package that includes a super comfy bed and buffet breakfast the next morning.

Play games! Since the only Dave & Buster’s in the State just opened in Tulsa, why not go have some fun? Just be sure that she is into this kind of thing before planning a date around it. Have some food and a couple of drinks and relish in some childhood delights by playing everything from skee ball to trivia games.

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Flowers for less. Go to Sam’s Club or Reasor’s and you can pick and choose from several bundles of flowers to make your own arrangement. Buy an inexpensive vase to go with it and viola! you just did something thoughtful and creative!

Want to scare her into your arms? If you enjoy horror flicks and don’t mind crowded theaters, check out My Bloody Valentine which will be opening on (what else) Valentine’s Day. Added bonus: 3-D flick.

Funky food and fun. Cosmo’s is one of my favorite places to go to grab a drink or eat a whole meal and I enjoy they kooky atmosphere and fun staff. You can sit at a regular table or grab a seat in a plush chair and pick one of their many board games to play while you hang out. It is different and fun, my husband and I are regulars!

Want something inexpensive and low key? Here are a few ideas that always work… Stay at home, get a bottle of wine and make her dinner. Get some massage oil and make her literally melt in your hands. Have a picnic dinner in your living room and watch a romantic movie that you would never watch otherwise but know she will love. Make a Valentine’s Day card for her and be creative. My favorite V-day gift is the “love box” my husband made me with “I Love You” written in 100 languages!

Whatever you do, make it special in your own way and hopefully you will get some good lovin’ in return!

DO NOT: Buy her a gift card, forget to get (or make) a card or leave everything up to her! This only spells disaster.

Hopefully some of these ides will help you guys out and keep you in the arms of the one you love this Valentine’s Day. Have any other great ideas? Leave them in the comments.

Watch with shock n awe, as the top Baristas from Green Country’s best cafés compete until one drops from a caffeine overdose. Not really, but you can catch the aromas, tastes and talent as Baristas challenge each other in a coffee contest that is a first for Tulsa and hosted by Café Topéca. Proprietor of
Café Topéca, John Gaberino III (Chip) says, “This will be an interactional event.” “Our (coffee) culture is at the right time for this (type of event)”.

So what is a “Barista”? A “barista” is a person who is a expertise in the making a espresso-based coffee drink. You know how cool those “art forms” on the top of the crème of your latte are and how quick you like your tasty beverage to be in your hands. Now is your chance to see artists at work during a day long competition against the best in Oklahoma right here in your own T-town.

The competition will be taken on by one representative from each participating café. They will get 10 minutes to perfect a espresso, cappuccino, and a personal “signature” drink (in the epitome of the Iron Chef”) for two USBC certified sensorial judges using manual grounding, dosing and tamping of the coffee beans. How serious is this? Besides the 2 sensory judges (one flying in from Nashville),
there will be 1 Technical judge and 1 head judge in the mix. The two sensory judges will judge
timeliness, consistency, cleanliness, quality, taste and presentation. 1st place gets $100, 1/2
day roasting class on a Detrich IR-12 Roaster., 2nd place-$50, 3rd place-$25 and 4th place a
can of Folders.

Participating cafés will be: Jews Coffee & Health, Coffee House on 15th Street, Café Topeca, DoubleShot, Shades of Brown, and Coffee Slingers.

All the details

Where Café Topéca, 115 West 5th Street (south-east side of the historic Mayo Hotel)
When Saturday, December 6th, 2008 at 10:00AM

On September 25, 1958 Quiktrip opened its doors to Tulsa, Oklahoma at its first store on South Peoria. Now it’s time for the Tulsa based convenience store chain to celebrate their 50th year anniversary with live music from a variety of both local and regional acts. Quiktrip is also throwing a huge fireworks display to thank Tulsa citizens and the community for fifty years of support. The event will be held at the River West Festival Park (on the West Bank of the Arkansas River behind the Amphitheater) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Best of all, you can get your tickets at all Tulsa area Quiktrip locations for free! 

Bands, Bands, and More Bands!

• Uche and the Crash – These guys will take Stage 2 at 12pm
• Little Chair – Stage 1 at 12:50pm
• Crooked X - Stage 2 at 1:40pm
• Rattle and Hum -  Stage 1 and 2:30pm
• Midlife Crisis – Stage 2 at 3:20pm
• South40 – Stage 1 at 4:10
• Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey – Stage 2 at 5pm
• Leon Russell – Stage 1 at 6pmHanson – Stage 1 at 7:50

What about beer, restrictions, and food?

Glad you asked! Quiktrip Mobile will be on site with concessions, the same food you have learned to enjoy from their deli sandwiches to egg rolls. Best of all, Budweiser will be on site with their beer garden, providing a nice environment to sit back and drink-up! There is a double fist limit of two beers per visit to the beer concession and the beer stops flowing at 9:30PM when the fireworks demonstration begins. Quiktrip has outlined all the details of their Tulsa festival on their website www.quiktrip.com/festival/QTfest_faq.asp.

The fireworks will pop from the 21^st Street Bridge at 9:30PM in Tulsa, Oklahoma and continue until they’re out of the magical black power and star dust. Don’t miss out, come out to the River and enjoy some FREE live music and fireworks! See you there, Tulsa!

Article image thankfully jacked from quiktrip.com/festival/. Great artwork huh?

Coming up next week (September 7th – 13th) is the Tulsa’s annual “Restaurant Week”. If you’d like to please your pallet with some of the city’s best restaurants now’s the time. You can get great three-course dishes at special prices next week only.

There are a ton of restaurants participating in this year’s event including the Avalon Steakhouse, Bodean’s Seafood, The Chalkboard, The Melting Pot, and many, many more. The best part about it is that each of these participants are donating 10% of the proceeds during this time to the Community Food Bank for Northeastern Oklahoma.

TulsaPeople has all participating restaurants listed with links to their menu options for the event. We’ll list them too just in case you haven’t read the TulsaPeople website.

• Avalon Steakhouse
• BigA
• Bodean’s
• The Brasserie
• Cyprus Grill
• The Chalkboard
• Daily Grill
• Fleming’s
• Garlic Rose
• Jazmo’z
• Keo
• Lava Noshery
• The Local Table
• The Melting Pot
• Oliver’s Twist
• Oscar’s Gastropub
• Palace Cafe
• Polo Grill
• Sochey
• Sonoma
• Thyme

Even before the BOK Center officially opens on August 30th, performances had already been booked.  The Eagles will be the first act to perform in the new building on September 6th and a second date has also been added for November 11th.  Just announced today, August 28th, Janet Jackson will be coming to Tulsa on October 26th for her Rock Witchu tour.

The BOK is 565,000 square-feet and will play host to a wide variety of events, including preseason NBA basketball featuring the new Oklahoma City team, men’s college basketball, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus, and Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco.  Also already booked are musical performances with local ties.  American Idol winner and Checotah native, Carrie Underwood is scheduled to perform on October 29th and American Idol season 10 winner David Cook, who lived and worked in Tulsa, will be there September 13 along with the rest of the top 10 contestants from that season.

For information about upcoming events and tickets, go to the BOK Center website.

There’s no doubting Tulsa’s rich music history. We’ve always been a city captivated by live music, especially jazz. With the fall season starting to hit us, music is in full swing downtown, and we feel that its about time.

The Jazz Hall of Fame is celebrating their one year anniversary in their new building, The Jazz Depot; the BOK Arena is slated to open soon with tons of concerts already booked; and new businesses are either starting up or re-locating downtown. The new Downtown Tulsa is changing…and that’s a good thing.

Here’s what the Jazz Depot, who’s motto is "Creating Unity Through Music" has going on through the rest of the year:

September 14 – Songstress – Ms. Olivia Duhon

Ms. Duhon is a TU grad and hot new jazz vocalist with trio, Sonny Gray, Vernon Howard and George Toumayan.

September 21 – Two Gents of Song – Jason De Long and Devre Jackson

Two of the Jazz Hall’s favorites, Mr. De Long and Mr. Jackson are planning a knock-out performance, with Mike Leland on piano, Spike Gore on drums and Nigel Frye on bass.

September 27 –  Kansas City, Mo. American Jazz Museum All-Stars

Greg Carroll (Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum), sax man Gerald Dunn, and other Kansas City jazz all-stars make appearance at the Jazz Depot with a slam dunk performance.

October 5 – Still Jazzin’ Our Way’ With the Midnight Social Club Quartet

Pam Van Dyke Crosby, local jazz vocal favorite sings up a storm with Bill Crosby on bass; guitarist, Frank Brown; drummer, Wade Robertson drums and Jeff Newsome on piano.

October 12 – Amy Cottingham and Friends

Pianist/vocalist Amy Cottingham brilliantly plays jazz, classical, pop and practically any other style of music. She will be joined by her trio.

October 19 – Chuck Gardner “Music From My Heart”

Pianist, Chuck Gardner is a jazz standard at the Jazz Hall and plans a special concert featuring original compositions of his, never heard before in Tulsa. He’s joined by Bill Crosby on bass and Tony Yohe on drums, with special guest vocalists.

October 26 – An Evening with Janet Rutland

The always top-notch vocalist will blow the roof off the Jazz Depot with guitarist, Randy Wimer and her special blend of music and style.

November 2 – Presenting the Annie Ellicott Trio

From young to old alike, Annie Ellicott has carved a niche in everyone’s heart with her shining vocals and wonderful scatting ability. She will be joined by her dad, Rod Ellicott on bass, Wade Robertson on drums, and Frank Brown on guitar.

November 9 – TU Big Jazz Band One

The swinging sound of big band music with TU’s stunning jazz ensemble, and vocalists will be on the bandstand too. Under the musical direction of Jazz Studies professor, Vernon Howard.

November 16 – Ernestine Dillard & the Tulsa Praise Orchestra

World-renowned gospel vocalist and Oklahoma music treasure, Ms. Dillard performs all of your classic gospel selections with the amazing Oklahoma Praise Orchestra.

November 30 – Ellington’s “Sophisticated Ladies” – The Stage Concert

Stage version of the Broadway hit, Sophisticated Ladies will feature a number of top-flight vocalists, with staging by Jazz Hall CEO, Chuck Cissel

December 7 – Jeff Shadley & His Big Band’s “Ring-a-Ding Ding”

“Ole Blue Eyes” shows up at the Depot in the form of vocalist Jeff Shadley and his big band performing your favorite Sinatra tunes, also with plenty of brand new music.

December 14 – Holiday “Jazz Jam” Session

Leon Rollerson’s Band will perform holiday tunes and collaborate with area jazz musicians and vocalists coming together to celebrate the Christmas holiday in an evening of straight-ahead jammin’.

December 21 – Gospel Workshop Choir of America

Making their annual visit to the Jazz Depot performing gospel selections with the choral sound only the Gospel of Workshop Choir can. Musical director is Jazz Hall Inductee, Dr. Joey Crutcher.

December 28 – J3 Acoustic Jazz and Blues Band

Back by popular demand, J3 took the Hall by storm on their first visit, and now they are coming back like a hurricane – to absolutely blow you away with their fine musicianship and vocals. Added treat will be holiday music on the menu.

Site: www.okjazz.org

All concerts are at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame building – The Jazz Depot. Its located at 111 E. 1st St.  Phone: (918) 596-1001

If you missed the first evening of Summer Bash 2008 at Plan B in downtown, Tulsa, Oklahoma — you missed one hell of a show! It is okay! We captured plenty of photographs and video footage to help assist you in filling the void of local music and entertainment. No matter what we show you, you did miss an extremely energetic performance by some of Tulsa’s great local bands: We Stay Gold, Radio Radio, First Lady Assassins, P.D.A., and Violence to Vegas.

Each band performed for about forty five minutes on average and entertained with music from their extensive repertoires. The energy was noticed throughout every performance and only grew through the middle of the evening when Anthony from P.D.A. performed; prior to Violence to Vegas.

“How many of you have heard of THISTULSA.COM? If you haven’t you need to check them out online at THISTULSA.COM!” exclaimed Anthony, P.D.A., during his performance at Summer Bash. He was extremely enthusiastic and supportive of this website. Brad and I were both extremely surprised at this statement. Mad love!

The show continued throughout the midnight hour with Violence to Vegas, opened by P.D.A.’s wild performance. First Lady Assassins jammed the outdoor sand covered patio with their harmonic screaming tones, prior to Radio Radio knocking the house down with their melodies. If you’ve not witnessed performances from these bands; we recommend you check them out.

The drinks were affordable, the environment very clean, and bands well established. For eight dollars for a single night or ten dollars for both evenings; you could not ask for a better performance. The weather for this event has been absolutely beautiful and could not be any better.

We look forward to all the new visitors to the site per P.D.A.’s recommendation and personal endorsement. If you are new, let us know!

Mad props to all the bands this evening and those performing on day two (Technically that is today as well — considering it is 2:54AM now Saturday morning.)

If you have not checked out P.D.A. on myspace, do so now: myspace.com/pdaonline and follow him on twitter at twitter.com/pdaonline.

Check back in a few hours for the short video teaser, Anthony promised we would have the entire performance on the website (we told him we’d edit it down a bit.) FocusOn: Tulsa will end up posting more segments from the video in the upcoming show next week. We also have all the photographs here on flickr.com. Check them out!

On a side note, when Brad and I arrived back at his casa to have a few beers and prepare the photographs and video for release on the website; we decided to watch a flick. During this process there was a shadow figure in a straight flight path across his living room wall into his kitchen. “Dude it’s a moth.” he mentioned. “Man, it looked like a bird,” I said. “Holy ####! It is a (BLEEPING) bat!” he shouted. “Grab my camera!” I yelled while running from the sofa.

Needless to say, I think the 8″ winged monster is gone and we both don’t have rabies — that we know of.