​Nashville, TN-(Tuesday, October 1, 2024)-Today “them boys from Oklahoma” confirm that the rumors are true. Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours will co-headline one of the biggest shows of the year at the Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma on April 12, 2025. A reunion of epic proportions, the show will additionally feature the who’s who of Red Dirt music icons including The Great Divide, Jason Boland and The Stragglers and Stoney LaRue. Tickets go on sale October 11th, with pre-sales beginning on October 7th at 10:00 AM Central. Tickets can be purchased at www.okstate.com/concert. 
Sign up to get your pre-sale password at www.theboysfromoklahoma.com from October 1st through October 5th.

"The thing that sticks out the most to me about Ragweed was all the people that we met. People that I'm still friends with, from Portland, Oregon, to Ybor City, Florida, and from New York to San Diego.  That's why there's a part of me that never wants to quit doing this. I'm nostalgic for that. I think that everybody should have a little nostalgia in their life.  So, let's get together, and let's make sure that we sound really good, and let's make people smile. Let's make ourselves smile, and let's make McClure and Jason and Stoney and the Turnpike boys smile too." -Cody Canada

“We are excited to bring the first ever concert to Boone Pickens Stadium this spring and look forward to hosting this fantastic Oklahoma-based lineup in the home of the Cowboys.  We are grateful to the team at DMG for helping make this happen. This show will benefit OSU’s NIL efforts, and will also be a great event for our student-athletes, student body, alumni, fans and the community of Stillwater.”  - Chad Weiberg, Director of Athletics/Oklahoma State University

For over a decade Cross Canadian Ragweed, a wildly influential indie country rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, dominated the touring circuit with sold out shows from coast to coast, amassing millions in touring revenue and sharing bills with some of the biggest names in music.  Their fan base grew vastly beyond all borders, genres and demographics to what might be considered a cult following that included rockers, cowboys, hippies, executives and college crowds.  It became a well-known and shared opinion that if Ragweed was coming to your town, that was where everyone was going to be.  The onstage chemistry between Cody Canada, Jeremy Plato, Grady Cross and Randy Ragsdale was a recipe cooked up from childhood, a captured lightning bolt that shocked the system of every person in the crowd stunning them into a reverie.  The love and support from fans were so enormous that you could almost hear hearts breaking when they disbanded in 2010, playing their last show at Joe’s on Weed Street in Chicago, Illinois.  For the last 15 years those familiar stages have been void of that “thing” that only Ragweed could deliver, but their loyal bevy of fans and peers has continued to carry their torch. Frontman Cody Canada recently received a huge dose of that sentiment when he stood on the legendary stage of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville listening to a packed room sing Ragweed favorites back to him.  That kind of love and loyalty for a band that has not been together for so many years could no longer be denied.  It was clear to Canada that it was high time to give back to the people who have given so much to them. 

On September 15th the Stillwater band reactivated their social media pages for the first time since 2011 with a cryptic image that sent fans into a frenzy immediately sparking rumors all over the digital landscape of a possible reunion show.  With this official confirmation the excitement has reached a deafening clamor, fans overwhelmed at the chance to not only see, once again, one of the most notorious bands to ever come out of the renowned Red Dirt music scene, but also to lose themselves completely in the pure nostalgia of it all.  The rise of the genre is well documented by Oklahoma native and Rolling Stone magazine contributor Josh Crutchmer in his previous book Red Dirt: Roots Music Born in Oklahoma, Raised in Texas, At Home Anywhere.  On December 13, 2024, Crutchmer will release his new book Red Dirt Unplugged: Singers, Songs and Stories Shining a Spotlight on Heartland Roots Music with the foreword written by Canada himself, and the final chapter featuring all four members of Cross Canadian Ragweed discussing this comeback concert, marking the first full-band Ragweed interview in more than 15 years.  Red Dirt Unplugged is the view from the wings as the Red Dirt music scene reaches heights with artists enjoying sustained worldwide attention at a large scale for the first time in history.  Growing up in Oklahoma, Crutchmer had a front row seat to it all and shares his perspective through an endless stream of artist interviews, side-stage musings, and thoughtful, old-fashioned concert reviews. 
www.reddirt-unplugged.com    

From Dierks Bentley’s song “Free And Easy” in 2006 where he sings "Ragweed's rockin' on the radio" to Koe Wetzel’s 2019 song “Ragweed” where he sings about missing the band to the 2021 album The Years: A MusicFest Tribute to Cody Canada and the music of Cross Canadian Ragweed to references to the band’s music in two different Stephen King novels, the deep impact of the band’s music and influence has never been allowed to fade, rather it has been memorialized and preserved for the existing populous of fans and the coming generations who will no doubt one day discover the band that “smells like country, tastes like rock n’ roll.”

Cross Canadian Ragweed released a total of 10 albums from 1998 until 2010.  Their music has been featured in commercials, TV shows and films, and the band has toured with artists including ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sammy Hagar, Jonny Lang, Robert Earl Keen and Dierks Bentley.  Their first four independent releases (Carney, Live and Loud at the Wormy Dog Saloon, Highway 377, Live and Loud at Billy Bob’s Texas) were well received propelling them into wider audiences and a heavy tour schedule.  In 2002, the group signed with Universal South Records and released 5 studio albums during their time on the label (The Purple Album, Soul Gravy, Garage, Mission California, Happiness and All the Other Things). The band charted multiple singles on the Billboard charts including "Sick and Tired" with Lee Ann Womack on backing vocals, “Alabama,” “17,” “Constantly,” “Fightin’ For,” “This Time Around” and “Cry Lonely.”
 
www.crosscanadianragweed.com www.facebook.com/crosscanadianragweed  www.instagram.com/crosscanadianragweed25/

It has been almost 5 years since TDC shuttered. In that time, I finally landed my (outside music) dream job/calling as a Nurse Practitioner in Corrections. I absolutely love my career and can honestly say that I look forward to going into work every day. But while I love that career, I also still love music. A lot. It's the one constant in my life, as I am sure it is in many of yours. It's there in good times and bad - a song for every occasion. It's the excitement of a new record, the nerdiness of fawning over album artwork and reading liner notes, the elation of finding someone whose vocals and lyrics stir your soul and make you feellllll, or the adrenaline rush of seeing a live show (whether in the pit or a seat) that brings a genuine smile to my face and joy to my heart. So, let's see if we can reignite this site into something......not spewing out press releases (unless they're something truly noteworthy) and covering everyone under the sun, but sharing what makes my musical heart happy and hopefully yours too.
XO Tara