The Boys From Oklahoma
Cross Canadian Ragweed, Turnpike Troubadours, The Great Divide, Stoney LaRue, Jason Boland & The Stragglers | Stillwater, Okla., April 13, 2025
The Boys From Oklahoma, a stadium-sized celebration of Red Dirt music that spanned four nights and saw a reunited Cross Canadian Ragweed return to the stage for the first time in more than a decade, brought fans from all 50 states and several countries outside the U.S.
The shows, held April 10-13, featured the Turnpike Troubadours as a co-headliner and other Red Dirt stalwarts (Jason Boland and The Stragglers, Stoney LaRue, and The Great Divide) performing in front of 183,000 people at T. Boone Pickens Stadium on the Oklahoma State University campus.
Initially scheduled as a one-off show, the allure of a Ragweed reunion proved so popular that the four shows sold out without going on sale to the general public. At the final show I attended and photographed on Sunday (April 13), Scotte Lester of The Great Divide described the event as “Red Dirt Woodstock.”
Ragweed, a four-piece band featuring singer and lead guitarist Cody Canada, guitarist Grady Cross, bass player Jeremy Plato, and drummer Randy Ragsdale, released five studio albums and three live albums between 1994 and 2010. While never breaking through on a national scale, Ragweed’s live shows featuring a mix of country lyrics and grunge/rock ignited the Red Dirt scene in Oklahoma and in Texas and influenced a new generation of performers that includes Wyatt Flores and Kaitlin Butts.
Since the band’s acrimonious split in 2010, fans of the group’s raucous live shows have clamored for a reunion. When it finally happened, with the Ragweed taking the stage as Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Getting Back Together” played on the loud speakersthe show exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Ragweed performed more than 20 songs each of the four nights, with Flores, Butts, Kyle Nicks, Dierks Canada, Dierks Bentley, Parker McCollum, and members of Reckless Kelly joining them on stage at different concerts.
Highlights from Sunday’s Ragweed set: “17,” featuring Jason Boland, who started the day off with a too-short opening set; “Constantly,” featuring McCollum; “Sick and Tired,” with Gracycie York takining LeeAnn Womack’s part; Flores on the encore number “Alabama”; and the finale, “Carney Man,” featuring Evan Felker of Turnpike and Mike McClure from The Great Divide.
As the co-headliner, Turnpike also played a 16-song set that included Flores joining the band on “7 & 7” and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show leading a singalong of “Wagon Wheel.” Secor co-wrote “On the Red River” that is featured on Turnpike’s “The Price of Admission,” an 11-song album that was released in conjunction with the shows.
Cross Canadian Ragweed and the Turnpike Troubadours will co-headline a “Texas Encore” of The Boys From Oklahoma on August 23 at Baylor University’s McLane Stadium. The show, which is also sold out, also will feature Shane Smith and the Saints, Wade Bowen and American Aquarium.
Written and photographed for Americana Highways. More photos can be found below and on my Flickr site.
