For Immediate ReleaseContact: Anita Arnold
Mar 12, 2025(405) 524-3800
2025 Charlie Christian International Music Festival (CCIMF)’s Deep Deuce Underground Session 1 will showcase the young and not so young artists as well as seasoned artists. Audiences will enjoy “newbie’s” including 31 year old Greenville Mississippi’s Keith Johnson and Big Muddy Band and A Band Called Quest. Also, new to the festival is Jemar Poteat Band. Not so new is being represented by Koolie High. Koolie makes his third appearance on the stages of Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC), Inc.
Seasoned players from here in Oklahoma City such as Walter Taylor III and Adam & Kizzie Ledbetter (now living in Los Angeles) will have audiences rocking and feeling the beat. Oklahoma City’s well-knowns are loudly applauded for their continuous efforts to keep the music alive here and everywhere else they find themselves. Taylor III keeps re-inventing himself. He put Blue Fonk Blues on the map and it has spread. Plainly speaking, he travels to other cities and states promoting his live music and free sponsored concerts in an effort to save the dying art form in OKC and other communities. Having just returned from Springfield, IL where he set up a regular schedule of music near the Capitol city of IL, the award winning Drummer I, Producer I Blues I Funk I Jazz musician will revisit his blues roots as he plays in the festival.
Not to be outdone, newbie, Mississippi’s Keith Johnson, nephew of Blues Legend, Muddy Waters, famously known for I’m a Man, and like Walter Taylor, he’s on a mission to keep Blues alive. He’s got the talent to do so, according to Anita Arnold, Executive Director of BLAC, Inc. “The 2025 Festival is on a mission to “go big” again next year and this is the launching pad.” “This festival could very well be the biggest battle of the bands that Oklahoma City has ever seen,” she continued while reflecting on the early beginnings of the festival down on the “Deuce.” “Listen,” she said, “there is no shame in the game of Koolie High and A Band Called Quest. If folks miss this one, everybody will know that BLAC, Inc. gave them something to talk about for a long while.”
“In fact, a gentleman by the name of Clay Alexander from Dallas, Texas got in his car and drove to Oklahoma City and brought a certified cashier’s check to fully support Young Keith Johnson. That’s how much he believed in him and his talent. It makes BLAC, Inc. feel good to know that sponsors like Clay Alexander came to the CCIMF last year and wanted to come back to this year’s event with the idea of future collaborations and sponsorships,” Arnold concluded.
The evening will be filled with a showcase of great food, unbelievable, excellent talent and so much more. This event is open to the public. Sponsors include BancFirst, Oklahoma Arts Council, Midwest Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, NBA, Oklahoma City/County Historical Society, Clay Alexander and Tinker Federal Credit Union. For more information, call (405)524-3800. Tickets are on sale now for $40 per night to the May 30th and 31st event. Cash, check or all major credit cards are accepted.
