Oklahoma Americana duo The Imaginaries to play Christmas in July show in Chickasha
From Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman
CHICKASHA – Oklahoma husband-and-wife Americana duo The Imaginaries – Shane Henry (guitar, vocals) and Maggie McClure (keys, piano, vocals) – are celebrating Christmas in July Saturday.
As part of a special promotion, The Chickasha Economic Development Council and the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce are hosting a Christmas in July Concert in the Park featuring The Imaginaries performing traditional Christmas songs as well as original songs from their Christmas album.
The family-friendly free concert will begin at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Amphitheater at Shannon Springs Park. Social distancing will be in place for seating and the show will also be live-streamed on the Visit Chickasha Facebook page.
Plus, The Imaginaries are set to release their third single, “Walking On A Wire,” on Aug. 14. The song is featured in a scene in the recently released Oklahoma-made movie “Infamous,” starring Bella Thorne.
Written about facing obstacles head on and pushing through, no matter what, to overcome them, the song is available to pre-save or pre-order HERE.
“‘Walking On A Wire’ is about the balancing act that artists face daily,” says McClure in a statement. “It’s about opportunities that we’ve been given that have then been taken away due to circumstances completely out of our control. But it’s also a song about keeping the faith and staying the course, no matter what.”
Watch the trailer for the “Walking on a Wire” video, which again pairs the duo with director Reagan Elkins who directed The Imaginaries’ previous two videos, “Revival” and “Thinking ‘Bout You.”
Shot in Little Sahara State Park in Waynoka and Gloss Mountain State Park in Fairview, the upcoming video reflected the collaborators’ desire to do something more experimental and different from what they’ve done before, according to a news release.
“We can’t wait for our fans to see a different side of us in this video,” says the duo in a statement, “and we are looking forward to their reaction when it’s released.”
More information about the video and its release date will be announced soon.
As previously reported, The Imaginaries recently released their swampy second single, “Revival,” along with accompanying cinematic short film “Revival,” which you can watch here.
The “Revival” video has gained a lot of attention among the film festival circuit. It’s been chosen to screen at Oklahoma’s deadCenter FIlm Festival, Tokyo’s Lift-Off Film Festival, and New York Lift-Off Film Festival. It also made its network TV debut on DittyTV’s The Curve and featured in American Songwriter.
As previously reported, The Imaginaries were gearing up to release their debut album last year and go on tour when they had a series of setbacks. Henry had to have an emergency appendectomy, and what initially seemed like a routine surgery and recovery turned into many grueling months of pain and a long process to get back on his feet and be able to perform again.
Once he finally recovered, the duo got the news they were chosen to open for Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Christmas Rocks! Tour,” only to have it be canceled suddenly because Setzer experienced a severe case of tinnitus.
Then, McClure had to have unexpected invasive gum surgery, which kept her from singing for two months.
During this time, they worked diligently on booking shows for a spring and summer tour to support their pending album release when the coronavirus pandemic caused them to cancel all their planned shows. With everything on hold, The Imaginaries have been doing a string of live-stream performances, including their Facebook Live Concert Series “Quarantunes,” Rockwood Music Hall’s Rockwood Livestream Concerts series, Monday Monday at the Hotel Café, as well as Oklahoma performances for the city of Norman for its Stay Home Be Social Facebook live concert series, Norman NEXT for its Quarantiny Desk Facebook Live Concert Series, and for Stillwater’s Gypsy Cafe Reimagined, a benefit concert for the Red Dirt Relief Fund, which aired on O’Colly TV.
The Imaginaries’ album (release date TBD / pre-order HERE) was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, enlisting the help of legendary Muscle Shoals “Swamper” and bassist David Hood (Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Paul Simon), and session musicians such as longtime Little Richard guitarist Kelvin Holly (Jason Isbell, Gregg Allman, Neil Young), bassist Shonna Tucker (The Secret Sisters, Drive By Truckers, John Paul White) and keyboardist NC Thurman (Hank Williams Jr, Gregg Allman, Little Richard).
They also flew in drummer Rob Humphreys (Jon Foreman, Leonard Cohen, Jason Mraz) for the recording and worked with Chad Copelin (Sufjan Stevens, Christina Perri, Ben Rector) back here in Oklahoma for keys and additional production as well as with keyboardist Dan Walker (Heart).
To read my recent interview with The Imaginaries, click here.
The Imaginaries show dates (more live-streams TBA):
7/25 – Christmas in July at Shannon Springs Park in Chickasha, OK (Live Show + Live Stream) 9pm CT
9/3 – The Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney, TX
10/3 – Oklahoma Food Truck Championship in Chickasha, OK 3-5pm CT
10/4 – Tulsa State Fair in Tulsa, OK
-BAM
