|
Biography's

- Kenneth 'Butch' Rose,
Owner of ONP, drummer, PhD. (English), Rancher, Retired Veteran
-
-
-
Butch started playing drums as a high school
student in 1955, where he learned to play Bob Wills type western swing and
classic hillbilly music. Then in college he was introduced to marching
band, where he learned to read drum music. He also played in the Debonaires, a 21 piece swing & jazz band sponsored by Southeastern State College.
While going to rodeos in the mid 50's, he watched Paul McGhee, who played
drums for Hank Thompson, and learned from him some of the techniques of
playing Western Swing music. Later on, in the early 70's, when Butch
played for Eddie Ray, Hugo Chambers, who also played for Hank Thompson and
Ray Price taught him to play the western shuffle beat and to play on top of
the beat for people to dance.
When rock-n-roll was invented in the mid fifties, he was in on the ground floor. His band, the San
-
Joaquin Valley Boys added various rock-n-roll tunes to their western swing program.
In 1959 and 1960 while Butch was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, with the US Navy, he played
with bands in almost every club in the Tidewater Virginia area, including Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps. In 1960 he returned to Oklahoma where he organized a band called the Maniacs. Then the war in Vietnam came along and Butch enlisted in the US Army where he stayed until 1970. While in the Army he kept up his music, playing with various service bands until his discharge in 1970. He
reentered the Army in the Reserves and retired in 1992
After his discharge in 1970, he returned to Oklahoma and began attending college at Southeastern State University where he completed a Masters in Behavioral Studies. While in college he played six nights a week at Arnold's Club with Billy Green and his band. He later worked for Billy Ferris at the
Bamboo Room, playing dinner music and old-time-rock-and-roll. After graduation he took a job with Eddie Ray at the Palms Danceland in Dallas, TX where he played for a year. In the summer of 1974 Butch organized his own band, Oklahoma Night and
played at Friar Tuck’s Supper Club in Ruidiosa, NM, for the Summer. Orville Couch planned to put a group together to tour in the fall of 1974, and thanks to Eddie Ray’s introduction, Butch was hired as his drummer. But, just before the tour was to kick off, Butch was accepted in the Doctoral program in English at East Texas State University in Commerce, TX. After a long discussion with Orville, he decided to pursue his terminal degree so he put music aside.
When his coursework at East Texas State was completed, Butch accepted a job teaching English at Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton, OK, where he recently retired after a 20 year career.
In 1994 he got back into music and organized the Oklahoma Night band, with his wife Lori J. as female vocalist and back-up singer to the
other vocalists in the band. In the past years they have played clubs and festivals in the Oklahoma-Texas-Arkansas-Missouri area and have released one album.
After being on the road for a couple of years, Butch and Lori moved to Branson, MO. They worked for various artists in Branson, including Tommy Horton
(appearing on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree in Nashville, TN), Moe Bandy, The Gatlin's, and Delene, and Butch was the stage director for "The Cowboy Ain't Dead Yet" for 3 years. They were also involved in audio and video production on various shows, including The American Kids National Contest, while working for Monolith Productions.
Butch and his wife Lori J., manage Oklahoma Night Productions, producing music
CD’s and music videos, and creating web sites for a number of artists.
He and Lori J. now live in Arkansas and play music locally and limited engagements on the road.
Great
American Cowboy Magazine Story
Top of page
- Lori J. Rose,
Owner of ONP, vocalist, LPN (retired), rancher, Website designer, desktop publisher
-
*** Click on photo
for more pics
featuring Lori J

Lori J. Wilburn Rose was born in Wisconsin,
grew up in Colorado, moved to Texas, and then on to Oklahoma. She
began singing and playing acoustic guitar, with the encouragement and teaching of her father, at the age of 9 years. All through school she sang with the mixed choir and girls' glee club. Lori has written songs and poems since childhood, and she continues to write and sing music along with
helping her husband run their small ranch, being married and being a mom &
grandmother. She lets nothing stand in her way, she lets nothing stop her. She is one determined lady. As a teenager Lori was a member of a gospel group known as The
Majestic's, and also performed with The Faith Singers in Sacramento,
California. In 1989-90 Lori recorded a gospel album, The Power of His Name, with G N Productions. The album was released on Crystal Gospel Recordings. In the early 1990's she joined the Oklahoma Night Band. One
of the first engagements that Oklahoma Night played was opening for the Lost
Gonzo Band, in the Amphitheatre at Broken Bow Lake. Lori was
one of the lead female vocalist and also sang harmony with the other female and male vocalists in the band. It was then she began to put her efforts into country music.
Lori performed on her second album Oklahoma Night, released by the Oklahoma Night Band.
- In 1998 Lori recorded her third album, Lori J. with a variety of country and pop tunes from various artists. Over the years Lori has performed regularly in clubs, churches, festivals, rallies, and private gatherings, both with the band and solo. In 2001 she performed with a Branson style show in the Branson, MO. area and appeared with them on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree in Nashville, TN.
-
In 2007, one of her songs was included on "The Best of the Little
Dixie Honkytonks" CD, released on Brox Records. This is a
compilation CD that includes other artists like Moe Bandy, Martin Delray,
and Billy Joe Shaver.
"Secrets of the Heart," one of her original songs that she recorded in 1998, is receiving air play in Oklahoma, Texas, and Australia.
She is married to Kenneth 'Butch' Rose, co-owner of Oklahoma Night
Productions. She has two handsome sons, Jason and Daniel.
She writes, arranges, and performs her own original music (lead & harmony). Lori is also co-producer for Oklahoma Night Productions. (Web design, Country Vocalist, Gospel Vocalist)
Top of page |