Cross Canadian Ragweed talks new album, this weekend’s Family Jam
Cross Canadian Ragweed
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Cross Canadian Ragweed invites rockers to Oklahoma City Zoo Amp
Family Jam: Mixing red dirt with rock
Not surprisingly, a strong lineup of Oklahoma and Texas bands will be featured Saturday at the Sixth Annual Cross Canadian Ragweed Family Jam.
But people expecting an all-red dirt extravaganza will be taken aback.
“We’ll have the usual suspects … but we’re trying to make it a leaning more toward rock this year,” said Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada.
To accomplish that goal, Ragweed has invited hard rock band Tesla, which includes Idabel-bred singer Jeff Keith, and reunited alternative rockers the Toadies, who are based in Fort Worth, Texas.
They will be joined by many of Ragweed’s red dirt fellows: Stoney LaRue & the Arsenals, Randy Rogers Band and Seth James also will make music on the Zoo Amphitheatre’s two stages.
Ragweed’s members — Canada, drummer Randy Ragsdale, guitarist Grady Cross and bassist Jeremy Plato — select the Family Jam lineup, tapping musical compatriots and bands they admire for the benefit concert.
“It’s one of those gigs that you look forward to it the day after it’s over. You know, it’s like what are we gonna do next year. It’s a big one for us; we’re thinking about it all the time,” said Ragsdale by phone before a recent Memphis, Tenn., show.
The Oklahoma-Texas quartet likens the Family Jam to an iPod set on shuffle.
“It’s not really based on a genre or anything like that. It’s more based on just good music, you know, what we like to listen to,” said Ragsdale, who lives in Yukon. “We try to mix it up.”
In the 1990s, he and his bandmates were fans of the Toadies. Ragweed formed in 1994, the same year the alt-rockers released their platinum debut album “Rubberneck.”
The members of Ragweed also grew up on the ‘80s and ‘90s blues-metal of Tesla, who played the 2008 Rocklahoma festival in Pryor.
“We’ve known their music since we were kids. But we met them a few years ago in Wisconsin at a rock fest, and we talked to them about doing our Oklahoma gig. And of course, they’re all about Oklahoma,” Canada said in phone interview this summer. “And Oklahoma likes Tesla.”
This year’s Family Jam also will feature three artists who played integral roles in Ragweed’s new album, “Happiness and All the Other Things,” released last month. Mike McClure produced the album and co-wrote several songs, Stephanie Briggs played piano and helped pen some tracks, and Brandon Jenkins co-wrote the song “Drag.”
The record reached No. 10 on the country album charts and No. 33 on the Top 200 Albums list with first-week sales of more than 15,000.
“That’s what you want to see. That’s what we’re going for is to try to keep this thing going, keep the wheels turning, so it’s good to feel like you’re kind of doing something right for sure,” Ragsdale said. “Instead of keeping it (the music) hard-rocking fast, heavy energy, it’s more or less based on tones and melodies. So, I like it. It’s been awhile since we’ve done that kind of stuff.”
Ragweed will mark 15 years together in October, and an anniversary deluxe limited edition of the album is available. Since they started as teenagers, Ragsdale and his bandmates have been in Ragweed about half their lives.
“Whenever I really think about it, yeah, it seems like a really freaking long time,” he said with a laugh. “But we’ve been doing what we love. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to just go play and do what we like to do. … If I can pay bills and be happy doing what I’m doing, than I’m doing something right.”
He also feels like the band is doing something right with the Family Jam, which raises funds for Mandi’s Ministries, a charity named for Ragsdale’s sister, who died in a 2001 car accident. She was 9 years old.
The nonprofit raises money for children’s causes. Funds from this year’s concert will go to further improvements on the special needs T-ball field the group helped build in Yukon. Ragsdale’s son, J.C., 9, has special needs, and his wife, Ashley, started the Yukon Spirit League so their boy and other special-needs children could play ball.
“It’s going strong and we plan on still trying to fund that and make it better,” he said. “We’ve got kids driving down like from almost Kansas, like from Ponca City and stuff like that, to play in this thing. So it’s a really cool deal.”
In concert
Sixth Annual Cross Canadian Ragweed Family Jam
Who: Cross Canadian Ragweed, Tesla, Toadies, Brandon Jenkins, Mike McClure, Stoney LaRue, Randy Rogers Band, Seth James, Stephanie Briggs.
When: 3 p.m. Saturday. Gates open at 1:30 p.m.
Where: Zoo Amphitheatre, 2101 NE 50.
Information: 364-3700 or www.zooamp.com.
-BAM
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