Cross Canadian Ragweed to jam with musical family
Cross Canadian Ragweed
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To listen to an audio clip of Randy Ragsdale talking about the Family Jam, click here.
Feels like family
Ragweed to welcome Womack, Buckcherry at fifth Family Jam
Leave it to Oklahoma-Texas band Cross Canadian Ragweed to count both Lee Ann Womack and Buckcherry as family.
Both the Texas country songstress and the Los Angeles hard rockers will appear on the bill, along with their hosts, Saturday at the Fifth Annual Cross Canadian Ragweed Family Jam at the Zoo Amphitheatre. The lineup also will include the Mike McClure Band, Randy Rogers Band, Stoney LaRue and the Arsenals and more on two stages.
For Ragweed drummer Randy Ragsdale, the unusually diverse collection of talent is part of the beauty of the Family Jam.
“Not to sound cheesy or anything like that, but we really do feel pretty blessed to be able to put something like that on, you know, just like stretch the boundaries and just do whatever it is that you can do to make it your own type of show. And I think we’ve pretty much done that this year having Lee Ann Womack and Buckcherry at the same time,” Ragsdale said laughing during a phone interview from an Austin, Texas, tour stop.
“No, you’re not really gonna ever freaking see that again probably. But yeah, that’s what Family Jam’s all about, you know, it’s not necessarily just a promoter looking at the bottom dollar and putting on a show. It’s people who … like to just play music and have a good time.”
The title “Family Jam” indicates that the bands are coming together like kin, not that the show is in any way family oriented, he said. After all, Buckcherry’s new album, “Black Butterfly,” released s16 Tuesday, features an explicit lyrics warning.
The concert may not be for children, but it raises money for children’s causes. The Family Jam was started as a fundraiser for Mandi’s Ministries, a nonprofit organization named for Ragsdale’s sister, who died in a 2001 car accident. She was 9 years old.
“That was a way to keep her name alive. We’ve gone all over the place to just try to help kids in any way we can,” he said.
The charity’s current project hits close to home: The group is working to build a special needs T-ball field in Yukon. Ragsdale’s son, J.C., who will be 9 in October, has special needs. His wife, Ashley, started the Yukon Spirit League so J.C. and other special needs children could play ball.
The new ball field will include features such as rubberized matting for the baselines and larger dugouts that will make it wheelchair accessible.
“It was really hard for us to get him into sports and like have him feel like he’s part of a team,” Ragsdale said. “We’re hoping to make it as accessible … as possible.”
Ragsdale, frontman/songwriter/lead guitarist Cody Canada, rhythm guitarist Grady Cross and bassist Jeremy Plato founded Cross Canadian Ragweed in Yukon in 1994. The band initially earned a following in Stillwater and took its energetic stage shows on the road, building its fan base through nearly nonstop touring.
They are “still the same freaking dudes we were 14 years ago,” though Ragsdale and Cross still live in Yukon while Canada and Plato reside in Texas. They continue to defy labels by playing their distinctive blend of Red Dirt, alt-country and raucous rock, making them the perfect musical link between Lee Ann Womack and Buckcherry.
“You wake up in the morning and it’s ‘Do I wear my freaking boots or my Vans?’ That’s how it is, you know. You never know. There’s just no category for a band like us; we’re having to kind of pave our own road. And that’s OK, that’s fine. It’s just for as much work as we put into it throughout as much time as we’ve been doing it, there’s a lot of other bands that don’t have to fight that battle that have a lot more rewarding careers,” Ragsdale said.
“But at the same time, I feel like that also kind of makes us a band that’s gonna be remembered a lot longer maybe. I mean, that’s what I hope.”
The band, which is preparing to make a new album, has definitely gained a following in Oklahoma. The fifth Family Jam is expected to sell out before the gates open at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“This is a show that’s growing every year and this has been their most successful,” said Zoo Amphitheatre manager Howard Pollack. “This is the first time it will sell out in advance, in preparation for an even bigger show next year, when we hope to make it a two-day event.”
After ceding the headlining spot last year to the Black Crowes, Ragweed will close this year’s show. Knowing they will play to a sell-out crowd makes the Family Jam even more fun, Ragsdale said.
“We were really excited when we heard that because we’ve been going to the amphitheater for a long time, you know, pretty much all of our lives,” he said. “So, to be able to say that you’ve done something like that at the Zoo Amphitheatre, I mean, to me that’s pretty cool.”
GOING ON
What: The Fifth Annual Cross Canadian Ragweed Family Jam.
Where: Zoo Amphitheatre, 2101 NE 50.
When: Saturday. Gates open at 1:30 p.m.; show starts at 3 p.m.
Tickets: Sold out.
Information: Call (800) 511-1552 or go to www.zooamp.com.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment