Country Fever 2009 rocks with red dirt music
Robert Earl Keen
I made my first pilgrimage to the Catch the Fever festival grounds north of Pryor Thursday to catch the first day of the 2009 Country Fever Music Festival.
I was planning to provide blog updates from the event Thursday, but was stymied by problems the venue was having with its wi-fi. I was hard-pressed to get my story for The Oklahoman and NewsOK e-mailed on (or close to, I should say) the deadline, and I only accomplished that thanks to the help of a kindly radio personality who had DSL in her booth. (I didn’t catch her name, but I thank her.)
Computer issues notwithstanding, I had a great time at Country Fever. Sure, it was uncomfortably hot and windy during the afternoon hours, but it was worth it to see some great bands. Plus, since my cowboy hat wouldn’t stay on, I had the perfect excuse to buy a cute Wade Bowen cap. Hey, I didn’t want to sunburn, right?
Over the past couple of years, I’ve rekindled my love for red dirt/Texas music. I was at Oklahoma State University in the mid-’90s, around the time when Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Great Divide were building their audiences in Stillwater. I didn’t listen to any country music at all, including red dirt, for a few years, but eventually found my way back.
So, I was excited Thursday to see live several terrific red dirt bands, since Country Fever this year has converted from the mainstream country sound to the “too rock for country, too country for rock” red dirt sound.
Jackson Taylor opened the main stage with his ornery brand of new outlaw country. I only got to see a few songs of No Justice’s set – I had to dash over to a press conference with Taylor, who was an absolute trip to interview – but they were doing Stillwater proud while I was watching. They were really entertaining to talk to in their pre-show news conference, and I kept bumping into various band members throughout the night, which was fun.
Because of those pesky computer problems, I only got to witness a few fleeting moments of Wade Bowen’s show, but he sounded fantastic from the backstage area and was super-nice in his pre-show press conference. I could feel the energy his music was building even through the clouds of deadline-induced tension in my head.
Speaking of amazing energy, Norman-based Mama Sweet and Tahlequah-based Turnpike Troubadors created music that was just too big to be contained in the tent covering the Red Dirt/Texas side stage (the one with the mechanical bull in it). Their rootsy rocking just blasted out of the tent and drew me in, even after Robert Earl Keen left the stage and I was just dead on my feet after a long day.
And speaking of REK, it was my first chance to see the legendary Texas singer-songwriter perform live and, wow, what an incredible performer. To me, his mellow sound was an odd way to end a big full-day lineup of hard-driving alt-country bands – I prefer a big blast of adrenalizing music to carry me through for the drive home – but I can’t complain about the quality of the performance. He sounded incredible strumming his guitar and crooning out his evocative songs, and he had a first-rate band backing him up. I loved singing along with “Dreadful Selfish Crime” and “Corpus Christi Bay” and couldn’t stop grinning when Keen took “Front Porch Song” off on its trademark wild tangents, including several Texas A&M jokes.
Naturally, he finished the set just before midnight with his signature “Road Goes on Forever,” which got even more of the crowd (which seemed disappointingly light to me) dancing, singing and stomping along. REK and the band came back for a single-song encore, an impressive rendition of Cream’s “Crossroads.”
I would have loved to stay in Pryor for the entire four-day Country Fever, which still has Stoney LaRue, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Eli Young Band on the lineup. But after staying the night in Tulsa with family, duty called me back to Oklahoma City.
But I recommend red dirt fans catch Country Fever this weekend. Thursday’s show was definitely worth the drive.
-BAM
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