The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com
Thursday, October 14, 2010 • 5
LIFE&ARTS
TOMORROW ›› Read a review of ‘Never Let Me Go’ starring Carey Mulligan (shown right)
Dusty Somers, life & arts editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-5189
Q&A
Singer-songwriter ‘chasing magic’ in Norman ANNIKA LARSON The Oklahoma Daily
Pennsylvania native Langhorne Slim first got public attention while touring with The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, and then when his song “Electric Love Letter” was featured on a Rolling Stone editor’s top ten picks. Since then, he’s recorded three LPs — the most recent of which was 2009’s “Be Set Free” — performed on “Late Show with David Letterman” and had his songs covered by Seth Avett. Tonight, he plays at the Opolis as part of the Paste Magazine tour, also featuring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Jesse Sykes, Phil Wandscher and Mimicking Birds. The Daily spoke to Slim about life on the road, making it big and recording in his friend’s basement.
THE DAILY: Sometimes people think of indiefolk type music as boring, weepy stuff, but your music has a lot of energy and passion. What genre do you identify as? SLIM: I really don’t, I just identify as music. I used to think it was Louis Armstrong, but someone told me it was Duke Ellington who said, “There’s two kinds of music: good music and bad music.” If I had to be on one of the sides, I’d prefer to be on the side of the good music. Nobody wants to say, “I do this” or “I do that” because, where do you go from there, you know? You want to be free to go any direction creatively that your heart wants to take you. THE DAILY: What’s life on the road like? SLIM: For me, it’s what I need. I’ve been doing it now for most of my adult life, so I’m getting pretty used to it. I guess it’s the same as like, whatever your routine is, this is what it is. I love it. I think what’s best for me is just playing for live audiences and connecting with people every night, hanging out and meeting people, having a good time. It’s what I enjoy the most out of any of what goes into this. At least now; maybe later I won’t, but I feel like I would be lost without playing so many shows.
THE DAILY: Do you prefer smaller crowds or bigger ones?
SLIM: I like both, but keep in mind, we don’t play arenas or stadiums or anything like that.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim hails from Pennsylvania. He performs at 9 tonight at the Opolis as part of the Paste Magazine Tour.
I think sometimes it is easier to play for a smaller room, easier for a connection to be made with a few hundred people than a few thousand. It just depends. That’s probably why I choose to play so many shows — always chasing magic.
THE DAILY: 2009’s “Be Set Free” is a lot more fuller and more orchestrated than early albums. What’s it like to change the recording process over the years? SLIM: It is true that the first album I ever recorded was in my friend’s basement, and it’s true that we didn’t have any other choice. And it is true that my last album was recorded in a studio, and hired a producer and everything like that. But it’s not necessarily as you get bigger and maybe have more money, that you make it
more lavish. This was an experience I wanted to have — in a proper studio. I’d never done that before.
THE DAILY: I’m always wondering how you are not a household name. How do you feel about that, or is gaining widespread fame not high on your priority list?
SLIM: I’m not trying to stay under the radar necessarily, but what’s important is not [getting] everyone to know my name and my face, but I want to be proud of what I’m doing when I’m going to bed at night, or perhaps breathing my last breath in this body on earth. So that’s what’s important.
If you go WHO: The Paste Magazine Tour presents Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Langhorne Slim, Mimicking Birds and Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher WHEN: 9 tonight WHERE: Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave. in Norman COST: $15 INFO: For tickets, visit www. ticketstorm.com.
Visit OUDaily.com to read the complete Q&A
oct. 14 - oct. 17 thursday, oct. 14 Homecoming Week | Today, enjoy free food at noon on the South Oval courtesy of Healthy Sooners! visit http://cac.ou.edu for a full schedule of events. Presented by the Campus Activities Council. Intramural Update | Horseshoe entries today at the Huston Huffman Center front desk, $1 per participant (free to students living in the residence halls) . For more information, visit recservices.ou.edu or call Jonathan Dewhirst, (405) 325-3053. Bruce Goff: A Creative Mind Exhibition Opening Weekend | on display now through Jan. 2, 2011 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Student Success Series: Preparing for Medical School | 4 p.m. in Wagner Hall 245. Are you thinking about applying for medical school? Then this is the perfect Student Success Seminar for you! Come to this seminar to learn about the ins and outs of “Preparing for Medical School,” from an OU student who has gone through this process. Presented by University College! Lab Theatre Presents: Nine Parts of Desire | 8 p.m. at the Lab Theatre, Old Science Hall. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for adults. Contact the Fine Arts Box Office for more information, (405) 325-4101. Night at the Huff | 6:30 p.m. check-in at the Huston Huffman Center, tournaments begin at 7 p.m. Part of the Campus Activities Council Homecoming Week. Women’s Soccer: OU vs. Nebraska | 7 p.m. at the John Crain Field. Free admission with a valid OU student ID. Visit soonersports.com for more information. Union Jazz Lounge: Stephen Pittman Trio & the Jonbear Fourtet | 8 p.m. in Beaird Lounge. Free admission and free food. Presented by the Union Programming Board, www.ou.edu/upb.
friday, oct. 15 cont’d. Goff’s Interiors: Sensual Shelter | 6 p.m. in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium. OU College of Architecture interior design professors Hans-Peter Wachter and Scott Williams will explore how Bruce Goff’s compositions of the visual and tactile textures of construction and finish materials invoked an occupant’s primal sense of protection and comfort. Homecoming Pep Rally | 7 p.m. in the McCasland Field House. Presented by the Campus Activities Council. Lab Theatre Presents: Nine Parts of Desire | 8 p.m. at the Lab Theatre, Old Science Hall. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for adults. Contact the Fine Arts Box Office for more information, (405) 325-4101. Concert: Johnny Polygon | 9:30 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium, doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets available through ticketstorm.com. *FREE for OU students with valid OU ID and $10 for the general public, $15 at the door. *Additional service charges apply, OU students are encouraged to reserve their free tickets online at ticketstorm.com as supplies are limited. Students must present their valid OU ID at the door to be admitted free of charge. Presented by the Union Programming Board Concert Series. Always Something, www.ou.edu/upb. saturday, oct. 16 Bruce Goff: A Creative Mind Exhibition Opening Weekend | please visit http:// www.ou.edu/fjjma/home/main/calendar.html for a full schedule of events regarding the exhibition. Homecoming Parade | 3 p.m. on Boyd Street, parade will start at the intersection of Elm Street and Boyd Street. Presented by the Campus Activities Council.
Norton Series: Third Coast Percussion Quartet | 8 p.m. in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Center. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students, faculty/staff and senior adults. Please call the Box Office at (405) 325-4101 for more information.
Sooner Football: OU vs. Iowa State | 6 p.m. at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Visit soonersports.com for more information.
friday, oct. 15
Lab Theatre Presents: Nine Parts of Desire | 8 p.m. at the Lab Theatre, Old Science Hall. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for adults. Contact the Fine Arts Box Office for more information, (405) 325-4101.
Homecoming Week | Today, enjoy free food at noon on the South Oval courtesy of Healthy Sooners! visit http://cac.ou.edu for a full schedule of events. Presented by the Campus Activities Council. Ring Ceremony | 4 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Courtyard. Presented by the OU Alumni Association. Movie Night at the Museum: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” | 5:30-9 p.m. at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Bring your pillow and sleeping bag for this family movie night in the museum’s Great Hall. Galleries open from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Movie begins at 7:00. Evening museum admission, which includes movie admission, is $5 for adults, $4 seniors age 65 and up, $3 youth ages 6 to 17, and free for children ages 5 and under. Museum members receive a $1 per ticket discount. Snacks will be available for purchase during the show.
sunday, oct. 17 Women’s Soccer: OU vs. Colorado | 1 p.m. at the John Crain Field. Free admission with a valid OU student ID. Visit soonersports.com for more information. Lab Theatre Presents: Nine Parts of Desire | 3 p.m. at the Lab Theatre, Old Science Hall. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for adults. Contact the Fine Arts Box Office for more information, (405) 325-4101. This University in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid and educational services. For accommodations on the basis of disability, please contact the sponsoring department of any program or event.