Tulsa Remembers Tom Skinner with local Music Festival
On October 13th, 2016, Oklahomans will commemorate the life of a local legend. Tom Skinner the accredited creator of red dirt music will be celebrated in downtown Tulsa’s Brady Arts District. The event will be hosted by Mike McClure, Paul Benjamin, and the Red Dirt Rangers.
The Tom Skinner Skyline Music Fest lineup will include many of Skinner’s friends, and rightly so knowing Skinner’s description of Red Dirt. He is often quoted for describing it as “more of a brotherhood and a community thing than it is necessarily a style”. This lineup includes Don Morris, Scott Evans, Monica Taylor, and many more. The artist will perform in songwriter groups and they will play 45-minute sets across three venues: Inner Circle Vodka Bar, The Hunt Club, and Vanguard Music Hall. The evening will wrap up with an all-musician jam on the main stage at Vanguard.
The festival will be a true testament to Skinner because artists will come together to do what they love. The red dirt innovator. spent most of his life doing what he loved; making music. His passions allowed him to have an impact on many people and music artists. Country star Garth Brooks accredits some of his influence to Skinner. The two played together for a short time in Nashville until Skinner came back to Oklahoma to spend more time with his family.
While back home, the Stillwater native and Tulsa resident recorded few albums and focused the majority of his time on touring and writing. In fact, when Skinner was admitted to the hospital due to his long-standing health issues, he was scheduled to play Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. Skinner spent his last days writing music from his hospital bed. His funeral treated as a celebration of his life; a tradition that will continue with this new event.
Be sure to head down to the Brady District on October 13th. Tickets that allow access to all venues start at $15 advance, $20 at the door. All ages are welcome at the Vanguard stage. The other stages are 21+.
A select number of VIP tickets good for reserved seating and snacks at Vanguard, as well as access to all stages, are available for $40.
