Stoney LaRue, Cody Canada playing first “Red, White, Boots & Guitars” military benefit show
Stoney LaRue poses in combat boots for the Boot Campaign, which raises funds and awareness for military efforts. LaRue will play the inaugural "Red, White, Boots and Guitar" benefit show tonight at Oklahoma City's Wormy Dog Saloon.
From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Inaugural “Red, White, Boots and Guitars” benefit to raise funds, awareness for military causes
Red dirt music stars Stoney LaRue and Cody Canada are strapping on their boots and guitars tonight for a special show benefiting active military and veterans.
“Red, White, Boots and Guitars,” featuring performances from LaRue, Canada and Jason Isbell, is set for 8:30 tonight at the Wormy Dog Saloon in Bricktown. Organized by the new nonprofit Women for Warriors Campaign, the inaugural show will raise funds for the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Hospital and Luttrell’s Lone Survivor Foundation.
“Our thought was that these guys do so much for us every day, and we want to do something to give back,” said Jazmine Farmer, Wormy Dog co-owner and president of Women for Warriors.
Along with the music, tonight’s event also will include a raffle for prizes, an appearance by the grassroots crusaders known as the Boot Girls and a talk by best-selling author and former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, the inspiration for the show.
In 2005, Luttrell was deployed to Afghanistan, and his SEAL team was sent to the remote mountains on a mission to kill or capture a Taliban leader. During Operation Redwing, his team was attacked and his three teammates were killed. When another team of eight Navy SEALs and eight Army Special Operations Nightstalkers were sent to rescue them by helicopter, they were shot down.
Cody Canada (Associated Press file photo)
Though badly wounded, Luttrell managed to escape a Taliban onslaught and was saved and protected by an Afghan village elder. The Texan became the lone survivor of Operation Redwing. He recounted the ordeal in the best-selling memoir “Lone Survivor” and in June launched the Lone Survivor Foundation to honor his fallen comrades and help returning combat veterans regain their lives.
Luttrell’s story inspired a group of Texas women to become the Boot Girls. Through their Boot Campaign, they raise funds and awareness for Luttrell’s foundation by selling combat boots and getting celebrities to pose for photos in the boots.
“The Boot Girls are kind of the ones who geared us up to do this,” Farmer said.
Along with posing for the Boot Campaign, LaRue played a summer benefit in Houston that featured the Boot Girls and Luttrell, along with actor/filmmaker Peter Berg (who is working to turn Luttrell’s story into a movie), Glenn Beck and Texas first lady Anita Perry. After the event, LaRue’s wife Kandace Phillips and Farmer formed Women for Warriors with a few friends and started organizing “Red, White, Boots & Guitars.”
“This is the crossroads of the America, and it’s also the Bible Belt … and we have military bases right here in Oklahoma not too far from my front door, so I think this will touch home with almost everyone,” said LaRue, who lives in Edmond. “Especially around the holiday season (people should) at least pray for them because when we’re eating turkey, who knows what they’re doing.”
With his busy tour schedule, LaRue meets a few dozen servicemen and women a week who are either getting ready to be deployed or just coming home.
“They’re just ready for whichever one they’re doing. The mindset there is just they’re prepared. It’s awe-inspiring. Sometimes you tear up, and you definitely give them a bear hug either way,” he said. “We have a lot of response from soliders that come to our shows. I mean, a lot of ‘em have said they’ve flown our flag; there’ll be the American flag, there’ll be their company flag, and then they’ll make a little red dirt flag with our name on it. Or they’ll play our music whenever they’re in battle or whatever. It’s pretty significant. … It’s something that really motivates us.”
His soulful anthem “Down in Flames” in particular seems to strike a chord with military men and women. The song is included on the red dirt compilation CD “When They Come Back,” which also features Cross Canadian Ragweed, Robert Earl Keen, and Randy Rogers Band. The album will be on sale at tonight’s event, along with the Boot Girls’ “give back” boots.
“I don’t know a lot about what goes on over there for these guys, but I know enough to realize that they need our support when they finally get to come home. My brother, Stoney, asked me to do this show and I will be there no matter I have going on,” said Canada, frontman for Cross Canadian Ragweed and Cody Canada & The Departed, in an e-mail.
Although the event will feature LaRue and Canada’s usual high-energy performances, the focus of the event will be raising funds and awareness and paying tribute to the troops. People who hear Luttrell’s story can’t help but be sobered and touched, LaRue said.
“He’s just the epitome of an American patriot,” he said.
Going on
“Red, White, Boots and Guitars”
When: 8:30 tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.
What: Performances by Stoney LaRue, Cody Canada and Jason Isbell; appearances by Marcus Luttrell and the Boot Girls; and raffle for prizes.
Benefiting: Lone Survivor Foundation and Oklahoma City VA Hospital.
Information: 601-6276, www.wormydog.com, www.lonesurvivorfoundation.org or www.bootcampaign.com.
-BAM
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