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Voters have chance to pick state’s official rock song
Oklahoma has always rocked — just never officially. But a resolution expected to pass through the state Legislature would give the public the power to strike the right chord and nominate an official state rock ’n’ roll song.
If House Concurrent Resolution 1047 passes, a “panel of experts” — appointed by Gov. Brad Henry, Capitol leaders, the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Film and Music Commission — would choose 10 songs from online nominations cast at their site.
PROCESS
The panel’s picks would then go back to a public Internet vote from Sept. 1 to Nov. 15 and be presented in the first session of the 52nd Oklahoma Legislature in 2009, according to the text of the resolution.
The resolution, authored by Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, allows any song recorded or written by an Oklahoma artist to be nominated. Now live, the Web site is co-sponsored by the Oklahoma History Center, which will debut “Another Hot Oklahoma Night” early next year — a major exhibit about the state’s rock ’n’ roll heritage.
It’s time to rock the vote — and forever secure state credibility lost with the official centennial song “Oklahoma Rising.” —Joe Wertz