Listen: Cody Canada & The Departed debut new song “Set It Free,” play Norman show Thursday
Oklahoma-Texas red dirt band Cody Canada & The Departed unveiled a rocking track from their upcoming album “Adventus” today exclusively at Billboard.com. To listen, click here.
Canada, who hails from Yukon and now lives in New Braunfels, Texas, told the trade publication that he wrote the song for his wife, Shannon.
“We were in the studio on Mothers’ Day, and were actually working on a tune called ‘Hobo’ that is on the record. I couldn’t figure out what I was going to do on the song — whether I was going to play acoustic or baritone or electric. We were all recording at the same time. So, I went and decided to write a song for my wife, because I always try to write one for her on each record. I wrote it for her on Mothers’ Day, then we woke up the next morning and recorded it. It came off really well in the studio because it was so spontaneous,” Canada told Billboard.com.
He also told the publication that his wife helped name the band’s sophomore album, “Advenus,” which is Latin for “arrival.”
“She wanted to call it ‘The Arrival.’ I thought it was a very good idea, but I thought we needed to make it a little more romantic, so we started looking for different ways to say it,” said Canada, who was opening tonight with bandmate Seth James for Todd Snider at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
“Adventus,” due out Nov. 13, is the follow-up to “This Is Indian Land,” The Departed’s stellar 2011 collection of covers by Oklahoma songwriters.
“We decided that instead of throwing together a record and putting out our first Departed original record, let’s take our time with it and make it the best we can possibly make it,” Canada told me in an interview this summer.
“Really, for the last two years we’ve just been writing a lot. Once we got to the studio to start this thing … I don’t know if Seth did or not, but I didn’t realize that we had so many songs. I hadn’t really assessed how many we had written in the last two years; I knew we had a bunch of ideas. Then once we got in there and started recording stuff, it hit 12 songs and it was like ‘OK, cool,’ and then it hit 15 and it was like ‘Oh, wow.’ And you get to like 18 tunes, and it’s like ‘OK, we’re way, way, way ahead of the game.’ So this is a good place to be.”
Canada told me he hopes fans of his former band – seminal red dirt rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed, who broke up in 2010 – will give “Adventus” and The Departed a chance.
“I think the people that are ready to accept it will love it, and I think the people that haven’t got over other things, man, that’s completely up to them,” he said. “If they have faith in the music that was made before, then they’ll have faith now, they’ll dig it now.”
The Departed will roll into Norman Thursday on the Red Bull Tour Bus to play a concert kicking-off the University of Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame football weekend.
The show will feature special guests Uncle Lucius.
Bringing The Departed to the stage for the first time in Norman, the all-ages show is set for 7 p.m. Thursday on Campus Corner in the Pepe Delgado’s Parking Lot, 786 Asp Ave.
The Red Bull Tour Bus is a restored and repurposed 1984 GMC Eagle that transforms into a concert venue on wheels. With two stellar bands and one sweet ride, Red Bull Tour Bus is sure to kick off the Sooners’ weekend in style.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the Red Dirt Relief Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides a safety net of critical assistance to red dirt musicians in times of need. Established by the proceeds of Red Bull Gypsy Cafe, the Red Dirt Relief Fund provided more than $4,000 in assistance to Oklahoma musicians in 2012.
Tickets can be purchased for $5 at Campus Corner Merchants or at http://redbulltourbuscampuscorner.eventbrite.com.
-BAM
Cody Canada & The Departed to play Oct. 25 show at OU’s Campus Corner
Oklahoma-Texas red dirt rockers Cody Canada and The Departed will roll into Norman Oct. 25 on the Red Bull Tour Bus to play a concert kicking-off the University of Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame football weekend.
The show will feature special guests Uncle Lucius.
On stage for the first time in Norman as Cody Canada and The Departed, the show is sure to attract fans eager to hear the group’s first album of original material, “Adventus,” dropping on Nov. 13.
The all-ages show is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 25 on Campus Corner in the Pepe Delgado’s Parking Lot, 786 Asp Ave.
The Red Bull Tour Bus is a restored and repurposed 1984 GMC Eagle that transforms into a concert venue on wheels. With two stellar bands and one sweet ride, Red Bull Tour Bus is sure to kick off the Sooners’ weekend in style.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the Red Dirt Relief Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides a safety net of critical assistance to red dirt musicians in times of need. Established by the proceeds of Red Bull Gypsy Cafe, the Red Dirt Relief Fund provided more than $4,000 in assistance to Oklahoma musicians in 2012.
Tickets can be purchased for $5 at Campus Corner Merchants or at http://redbulltourbuscampuscorner.eventbrite.com.
-BAM
Listen: The Departed preview “Worth the Fight” from upcoming album “Adventūs”
Oklahoma-Texas red dirt rockers The Departed have released a sneak preview of “Worth the Fight,” the raucous first single from their upcoming sophomore album “Adventūs.”
“Adventūs,” which is also the band’s first album of original material, is due out Nov. 13.
The band consists of former Cross Canadian Ragweed singer/guitarist Cody Canada and bassist Jeremy Plato, who formed The Departed with Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen when Ragweed split up in 2010. Drummer Chris Doege has since replaced Bowen, who retired for medical reasons, in the lineup.
In June 2011, The Departed released their debut album, “This Is Indian Land,” an 18-track salute to the Sooner State songwriters, from Leon Russell and J.J. Cale to the Red Dirt Rangers and Tom Skinner.
In an interview this summer, Canada said he and his bandmates had plenty of material to make “Adventūs”:
“Really, for the last two years we’ve just been writing a lot. Once we got to the studio to start this thing … I don’t know if Seth did or not, but I didn’t realize that we had so many songs. I hadn’t really assessed how many we had written in the last two years; I knew we had a bunch of ideas. Then once we got in there and started recording stuff, it hit 12 songs and it was like ‘OK, cool,’ and then it hit 15 and it was like ‘Oh, wow.’ And you get to like 18 tunes, and it’s like ‘OK, we’re way, way, way ahead of the game.’ So this is a good place to be.”
He album was recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Austin, Texas.
“I think the people that are ready to accept it will love it, and I think the people that haven’t got over other things, man, that’s completely up to them,” Canada said. “If they have faith in the music that was made before, then they’ll have faith now, they’ll dig it now.”
Also, Plato, Canada and James are due to sing the National Anthem before today’s Texas Rangers game.
-BAM
Interview: Cody Canada talks about The Departed, Cross Canadian Ragweed, the Wormy Dog Saloon’s 20th anniversary
Cody Canada & The Departed
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
The past, present and future of Cody Canada
The frontman of the late, great Cross Canadian Ragweed and current red dirt rockers The Departed will play Friday night during the 20th birthday celebration of the Wormy Dog Saloon, a venue that has played a pivotal role in his life and music.
Cody Canada has spent a good chunk of the past two decades in bars, and he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
That’s just life as a red dirt musician.
But one bar in particular has played a pivotal role in the Yukon-bred singer/songwriter/guitarist’s life and career: The Wormy Dog Saloon.
“I hate to put my life around a bar, but you know, I met (singer-songwriter pal Jason) Boland there, I met Stoney (LaRue) there, I met my wife there. And I love it,” That’s why we invested in it and became partners because we wanted to see it succeed and we wanted people to have that same feeling even if only for one visit,” Canada said in a recent phone interview from his office in his adopted hometown of New Braunfels, Texas.
The original Wormy Dog in Stillwater, which was open from 1992-2004, was the main stomping ground for Canada’s previous band, the late, great red dirt rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed. His new band, Cody Canada & The Departed, will headline the saloon’s 20th anniversary party Friday night at the Bricktown location, which he and his wife/manager Shannon Canada helped establish in 2003.
“It was really a shock to my ears to hear that it’s 20 years old. I didn’t even think about it. You know, I showed up the Wormy Dog when it was 2 years old. That’s when The Great Divide was blowing up and I’d just discovered what was in my back yard with all this great Oklahoma music. I can say it now ‘cause nobody’s gonna get in trouble, but I’d sneak in there at 17 years old — well, I guess I was 16, damn — and talk to a certain few people that knew how old I was and it was just, ‘If you’re gonna drink beer, drink it in back, be quiet, don’t get drunk and be a dumbass,’” Canada recalled with a laugh.
“I got to do that for a long time, and “Then when I was 18, I got a gig with (Great Divide frontman Mike) McClure. I played Mondays with him for about six months and then they gave me my own night.” But man, it was really boring. I mean, it was fun to play music for people, but being alone just sucked. I was so used to playing with a lot of people in the last six months being with McClure. And then I met Jason and … I started bringing him to the Wormy Dog on Tuesdays.”
Cody Canada
The past with Ragweed
In other words, Canada, 36, learned all about music, life and himself during those Dog days, including that he was a band kind of guy rather than a solo artist type.
For 16 years, seminal red dirt quartet Cross Canadian Ragweed was that band. Formed in 1994 in Yukon, Ragweed — Canada, bassist Jeremy Plato, guitarist Grady Cross and drummer Randy Ragsdale — planted its musical roots in the fertile red dirt soil of Stillwater, The band forged a following playing college crowds around Oklahoma State University, particularly at the Wormy Dog, built a strong fan base with virtually nonstop touring and took the music mainstream by inking a record deal with Universal South.
In May 2010, Ragweed shocked its fervent followers by announcing it was going on indefinite hiatus, giving the reason that Ragsdale, who lives in Yukon, needed to spend more time with his family, particularly his son, JC, who has autism. While Ragsdale and Cross settled down off the road, Canada and Plato formed The Departed with Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen, with the band playing its first shows before the end of 2010.
“With the split up of Ragweed happening so fast, we decided that there was not gonna be a gap between acts. I mean, obviously Jeremy and I are gonna keep playing. I mean, Jeremy and I have really been connected at the hip since we were kids and then when we started playing music together, the cards were set. We knew what were gonna do. And There was that day and a half of freak out when Ragweed split, like ‘What the hell we gonna do?’ And Jeremy said, ‘Well, what do you think we’re gonna do, man? We’re gonna rock. We’re gonna get a band together,’” Canada said.
“We decided that instead of throwing together a record and putting out our first Departed original record, let’s take our time with it and make it the best we can possibly make it.”
In June 2011, The Departed released its debut album, “This Is Indian Land,” an 18-track salute to the Sooner State songwriters, from Leon Russell and J.J. Cale to the Red Dirt Rangers and Tom Skinner. Even as the covers record garnered acclaim and The Departed played to packed houses, some diehard Ragweed fans clung to the notion that the old band would eventually get back together.
“I really appreciate people hanging on to Ragweed, but it’s like, man, if you don’t let go a little bit, then you can’t accept what we’re doing,” Canada said. “This is not a side project. Ragweed was so much fun, I love those guys in the band with all my being, and I wish everybody well. I still keep in contact. But it got to the point where people started having kids, and the highway started taking its toll, and some people can handle it and some people can’t.
“In my opinion, I’m going to be in bar for the rest of my life, whether it’s a bar of 300 people or a bar of 3,000 people. That’s the kind of music I do. You know, we’re not stadium musicians; it’d be fun to do that, but it takes away from the personal effect of having people right in front of you. But it just gets to that point with anything; you know, sometimes people are married for 50 years and get sick of each other and divorce,” he added.
“It was time to just come out and say, ‘Look, man, thanks. If you think you’re upset, you think your feelings were hurt, man, mine were crushed. But now I know that we gotta bounce on to the next thing and make that as good at the last, or better.’”
Fan speculation that there was more to Ragweed’s don’t-call-it-a-breakup breakup intensified when Ragsdale returned to the road as drummer for LaRue’s band and The Departed never turned up on the lineup at Cross’ Yukon pub Grady’s 66, which often hosts red dirt bands. In a March interview with the Dallas Observer, Canada bluntly acknowledged that Ragsdale’s family situation was just one aspect of the split and what he now calls other “irreconcilable differences” were involved.
“I was getting a lot of hell. “There was a lot of people pointing their finger at me, and it was like, ‘You know, you people don’t know anything about anything.’ I mean, we let everybody in on a lot of our personal life and a lot of our musical life with music, with lyrics. But when it comes down to it, when the door shuts, not everybody knows how everybody feels and what’s going on. And everybody tried, you know, and it was just to the point of, man, it’s kind of outta gas. As much as it sucks to admit it, it’s not as rambunctious as it was. You know, you’re on the road for five weeks and everybody starts getting grouchy and that sucks,” Canada said.
“Randy, he’d called me and asked about coming back out on the road. And I was like, ‘Man, you know I’m a commitment person, and I’ve already committed to these fellas. And I’m not gonna turn my back on ‘em,’” he added.
“And Randy said, ‘Well, man, I can appreciate that and I can honor that. We were all committed to each other for 16 years and our music. I’m gonna go play with Stoney.’ It’s like, ‘Right on, man, go do it. Go do your thing.’” He thought that he was ready to be done and then once about 10 months set in of not playing music, it started getting to him. I understand it. I couldn’t go three months without doing it.”
Cody Canada & The Departed
The future of The Departed
The frontman added that Bowen basically came out of retirement to help The Departed get started and recently left because of chronic rotator cuff problems. The band is working with a new drummer, Chris Doege, as it forges ahead with its first album of original material.
“I really don’t have any days off here lately. We’ve been in the studio. When we get home (from tour dates), we’ll be home for just a few hours and then pack up and head to Austin and try to get a little bit further down the line on the record. As soon as that record’s done, I’m actually gonna have days off,” Canada said with a laugh.
“Really, for the last two years we’ve just been writing a lot. Once we got to the studio to start this thing … I don’t know if Seth did or not, but I didn’t realize that we had so many songs. I hadn’t really assessed how many we had written in the last two years; I knew we had a bunch of ideas. Then once we got in there and started recording stuff, it hit 12 songs and it was like ‘OK, cool,’ and then it hit 15 and it was like ‘Oh, wow.’ And you get to like 18 tunes, and it’s like ‘OK, we’re way, way, way ahead of the game.’ So this is a good place to be.”
The singer-songwriter said The Departed was planning to finish recording the as-yet-untitled album this week at Yellow Dog Studios in Austin, Texas, in the hopes of releasing it in fall.
“I think the people that are ready to accept it will love it, and I think the people that haven’t got over other things, man, that’s completely up to them,” he said. “If they have faith in the music that was made before, then they’ll have faith now, they’ll dig it now.”
In the meantime, he and his bandmates will make music and reminiscences Friday at the Bricktown Wormy Dog, with a set list that includes both Ragweed and Departed tunes.
“I remember the first time walking in there, (owner) Chuck (Thomson) asked me, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t think it’s anything like the original. It smells too good.’ He was like, ‘Well, give it about four years.’ And now you walk in, and it’s that same old beer-smoky smell. It finally became what it used to be in Stillwater,” said Canada, who is still a partner in the bar, along with his wife and Plato.
“It’s a trip to me. I’m starting to get to the age where it’s like ‘Wow, that was 20 years ago? Holy (expletive)!’ I used to go, ‘When was that? Like four, five years ago? Aw, I can’t remember.’ Now it’s like, ‘Oh, man, I’m 30-what?’”
GOING ON
Wormy Dog 20th Anniversary Party
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Doors open at 4 p.m.
Where: Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.
Friday lineup: Cody Canada & The Departed and Charlie Robison.
Saturday lineup: Pat Green, Mike McClure and Kyle Park.
Information: www.wormydog.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on March 23, 2012: Hear Cody Canada & The Departed, Shooter Jennings and Uncle Lucius at Cain’s Ballroom
Cody Canada & The Departed
Today’s featured event:
TULSA – Hear Oklahoma/Texas county-rockers Cody Canada & The Departed with Shooter Jennings and Uncle Lucius at 8 tonight at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main.
Doors open at 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
BAM’s all-Oklahoma top 10 albums of 2011
A version of this column appears in Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
BAM’s top 10 albums of 2011
Column: Oklahoma recording artists from across the musical spectrum made beautiful music and reached impressive milestones in the year just past.
For fans of Oklahoma music, it’s hard to imagine a more exciting year than 2011.
Tulsa Sound pioneer Leon Russell finally made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then the Songwriters Hall of Fame for good measure, Owasso-based country star Garth Brooks joined Uncle Leon in the songwriters’ club, and Chockie ranch girl Reba McEntire and Pauls Valley native Jean Shepard were ushered into country’s hallowed hall.
Tishomingo denizens Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert squeezed in their wedding between his reality TV breakout on NBC’s “The Voice” and the release of his latest LP and her launch of side project Pistol Annies and work on not one but two albums. On the red dirt scene, Cody Canada & The Departed arrived to soothe those saddened by the breakup of Cross Canadian Ragweed, while The Great Divide reunited after more than eight years after the original lineup split.
Maud native and rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson teamed with White Stripe Jack White to make a barn burner of a comeback record, former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn made his solo debut after two decades with country duo Brooks & Dunn, and teenage Internet sensation Greyson Chance of Edmond and country duo Thompson Square, featuring Miami, OK, native Keifer Thompson, released splashy debut albums.
Oklahoma City-based rock ’n’ roll mad scientists the Flaming Lips experimented the year away, recording six- and 24-hour-long songs; releasing music on USB drives encased in gummy fetuses, $5,000 real human skulls and strobe-light gizmos; and finally inviting Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon to ring in 2012 at their fifth annual New Year’s Eve Freakout.
With all those milestones, the decision to make my top 10 albums list of 2011 an all-Okie affair was easy. Figuring out who would make the final cut, now that was hard.
1. Miranda Lambert “Four the Record” (RCA Nashville) and Pistol Annies “Hell on Heels” (Columbia Nashville)
The Texas native not only fired off a fourth solo album even better than its Grammy-winning, game-changing predecessor (2009’s “Revolution”) but also lit the fuse on a doozy of a side project with her all-girl trio Pistol Annies. Between the two albums, she wrote or co-wrote 14 songs and cut a total of two-dozen, matching her impressive output with prodigious quality.
On “Four the Record,” she confidently covers a wide range of topics, emotions and musical styles, from the blazing bad-girl anthem “Fastest Girl in Town” and the galloping breakup freakout “Mama’s Broken Heart” to the affectionate celebration of diversity “All Kinds of Kinds” to the gorgeous ode to her adopted home state “Oklahoma Sky.”
With their first effort as the Pistol Annies, Lambert and fellow singer-songwriters Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley ignited the country charts with their old-school sound, sharp songsmithing and take-no-prisoners attitude. They’re pretty, they’re smart, and they’re going to say and do whatever they want. And they’re coming for you.
2. Cody Canada & The Departed “This Is Indian Land” (Underground Sound/Apex Nashville)
I can’t think of a better entrance for a new band so rooted in Oklahoma’s red dirt scene than this homage to the state’s songwriting greats. The Departed — former Cross Canadian Ragweed singer/songwriter/guitarist Canada, ex-Ragweed bassist/singer Jeremy Plato, Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist/organist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen — tunefully pay tribute to the finely crafted story-songs of Tom Skinner, Bob Childers, Greg Jacobs and more with a debut that leaves you eager for more.
3. Wanda Jackson “The Party Ain’t Over (Nonesuch/ Third Man Records)
As he did with Loretta Lynn on her 2004 album, “Van Lear Rose,” producer/guitarist Jack White — the rocker best known for fronting The White Stripes — again demonstrates his masterful knack for celebrating a veteran performer’s storied past while still pushing her out of her comfort zone. This “Party” celebrates Jackson’s rock ’n’ roll trailblazing with smoking covers of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates’ “Shakin’ All Over” and Bob Dylan’s “Thunder on the Mountain” and recalls her country and gospel days with a funked-up version of “Dust on the Bible” and a stripped-down rendition of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel #6.” At 74, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is still “the sweet lady with the nasty voice.”
4. The Damn Quails “Down the Hatch” (598 Recordings)
After just two years of making music as a duo, Norman-based singer-songwriters Bryon White and Gabriel Marshall earned national and international acclaim with their debut album, which features a rootsy sound both distinctly Oklahoman and uniquely their own. As each of the 14 earthy tracks comes “Down the Hatch,” it becomes increasingly clear the fertile Oklahoma music scene has nurtured a pair of exceptionally talented country-folk performers. Get the binoculars; you’re going to want to watch these birds.
5. Broncho “Can’t Get Past the Lips” (self released)
Here’s what I love about Oklahoma music: It turns out The Damn Quails weren’t the only Norman-based upstarts who released a standout debut record in the year just past. Broncho, the side project for Starlight Mints keyboardist Ryan Lindsey, forcefully declared that punk was not dead with its brawny, frenetic “Can’t Get Past the Lips.” As a bonus, the manic standout track “Try Me Out Sometime” deservedly made NPR’s list of five garage rock favorites from 2011.
6. Stoney LaRue “Velvet” (B Side Music Group)
Warm, smooth and surprisingly mellow, the red dirt star’s long-awaited second studio album fulfilled the promise of its luxurious title. The follow-up to “The Red Dirt Album,” the Edmond resident’s 2005 debut studio effort, “Velvet” was more than worth the wait, showcasing a more mature, finely crafted sound that maintains its rootsy authenticity.
7. Other Lives “Tamer Animals” (TBD Records)
After 14 months of painstakingly sculpting their sophomore album in their Stillwater studio space, the orchestral pop-rockers were richly rewarded for the elegantly lovely fruits of their labor: The band toured with Bon Iver in 2011, and they are joining none other than Radiohead on the road in February. Catch them in concert Jan. 26 at Tulsa’s Fassler Hall or Jan. 27 at Oklahoma City’s Blue Note Lounge because we will soon be forced to love Other Lives and their evocative music from afar.
8. Colourmusic “My __ is Pink” (Memphis Industries)
Like Other Lives, experimental rock quartet Colourmusic spent months in its Stillwater recording lab conjuring up its second album. With “Pink,” the neo-psychedelic wizards tried out a distinctively different sonic formula from their fantastic 2008 debut “F, Monday, Orange, February, Venus, Lunatic, 1 or 13.” Although their sophomore effort featured a much tougher and more aggressive sound, it maintained those beautifully mesmerizing melodies. I still get goose bumps on my goose bumps hearing their 10-minute epic “The Little Death (In Five Parts).”
9. Vince Gill “Guitar Slinger” (MCA Nashville)
The Country Music Hall of Famer was never going to match the scope and audacity of his four-disc, 43-track box set “These Days,” which won the 2006 Grammy for best country album and earned an overall album of the year nomination. But the Norman-born, Oklahoma City-bred singer/songwriter/guitarist didn’t disappoint with his 12-track follow-up, which channeled Motown with “Tell Me Fool,” memorialized Billie Holiday on “When the Lady Sings the Blues” and passionately pondered life and mortality on the Grammy-nominated first single “Threaten Me With Heaven.”
10. St. Vincent “Strange Mercy” (4AD)
The Tulsa-born singer/songwriter/guitarist also known as Annie Clark continues to make music reminiscent of a diamond-bladed scalpel: The otherworldly vocals and lush melodies possess a delicate beauty, but St. Vincent’s pointed lyrics and finely honed guitar hooks will cut you open as ruthlessly as the “Surgeon” she pleads with on her third album.
-BAM
OklahomaRock.com continues top 100 Oklahoma country songs countdown; BAM’s Blog reveals its top 10
Stoney LaRue
A version of this column appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To see Nos. 21-11 on my list of top 21 Oklahoma country songs, click here.
OklahomaRock.com counts down the top 100 country songs with state ties
BAM column: Website is revealing the list throughout the month of August.
From mainstream mega-stars and red dirt rebels to singing cowboys and sharp-penned songwriters, Oklahoma has birthed, bred or nurtured numerous influential country music makers.
Throughout August, OklahomaRock.com is counting down the top 100 songs from our fair state’s many and varied country artists.
“Hopefully, it’ll open up some people’s eyes to how rich our musical history is. People know about Reba and Vince and Garth, but they don’t necessarily know about some of the ‘smaller’ artists or ones that have been forgotten about,” said Ryan LaCroix, intrepid founder/owner/editor of OklahomaRock.com, who is releasing the top 100 countdown in conjunction with state magazine Oklahoma Today’s September/October issue, which will focus on country music.
“It’s more or less a showcase, and that’s kind of what OklahomaRock does. We try to showcase more of the up-and-coming artists, but we try to just keep a pulse of what’s going on in Oklahoma and with Oklahoma artists. And this will be a little bit of what’s going on now and a lot of what has gone on in the past that people might not know about,”
To compile the list, LaCroix consulted with state experts such as disc jockeys, musicians and journalists, including yours truly; polled the public on Twitter and Facebook; and consulted chart rankings and non-Oklahoma-specific greatest country songs lists.
At LaCroix’s request, I developed a list of my 21 favorite Oklahoma country songs. Last week, I unveiled Nos. 11 to 21, and here is my top 10:
Toby Keith (AP file)
10. “How Do You Like Me Now?!” recorded by Toby Keith, written by Keith and Chuck Cannon.
Be honest, we’ve all wanted to smugly crow this question to at least one person who gave us short shrift, and Keith’s bravado and brashness are perfectly suited for such vicarious vengeance.
9. “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” recorded by Mel McDaniel, written by Bob McDill.
Heaven help us, but this catchy number gets stuck between your ears tighter than those blue jeans. Nah, it can’t help it.
8. “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” written and recorded by Vince Gill (with Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless).
It’s hard to overstate Gill’s talents as a songwriter, singer and musician, and he’s certainly crafted a bumper crop of great songs. But this majestic ode to a lost loved one soars high above the rest.
7. “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma,” written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Larry Collins and Sandy Pinkard; recorded by David Frizzell and Shelly West; covered by Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
This ballad from the 1981 movie “Any Which Way You Can” is quite possibly the best country song with an Oklahoma reference in the title. which is saying something if you really think about it. When the future Mr. and Mrs. Shelton performed it on a TV special, their chemistry was apparent, and they gave the original version a run for its money.
6. “Skyline Radio,” recorded Cody Canada & The Departed, written by Tom Skinner.
Since I so dig the red dirt, I couldn’t imagine this list without a contribution from Cross Canadian Ragweed or new iteration The Departed, and I considered Ragweed favorites like “Alabama” and “Sick and Tired.” But This track from The Departed’s Oklahoma songwriters tribute “This Is Indian Land” gives you the fine songwriting of Skinner with the appealing vocals of Canada. Just try not to smile when you hear it.
5. “Kerosene,” recorded by Miranda Lambert, written by Lambert and Steve Earle.
Miranda Lambert (AP file)
We learned later on that she was made of “Gunpowder & Lead” and got to hear her softer side while touring “The House That Built Me,” but this scorching revenge yarn established the future Tishomingo resident as country music hottest firebrand.
4. “If You See Me Getting Smaller,” written by Jimmy Webb, recorded by Waylon Jennings, also recorded by Webb with Willie Nelson.
Elk City native Webb wrote a slew of great country hits in the 1960s and ’70s, but “If You See Me Getting Smaller” remains my favorite. I used to think it was because I prefer the vocal stylings of Jennings to those of Glen Campbell, who cut Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston.” But when I heard Webb’s 2010 retrospective album “Just Across the River,” I still preferred “If You See Me Getting Smaller.” to the others. The wistful song just speaks to me.
3. “Fancy,” recorded by Reba McEntire, written and originally recorded by Bobbie Gentry.
There’s a reason that Reba has used this song as the encore for her shows for years. This Southern gothic tale of a white-trash girl determined to become a lady by any means necessary crackles with power, especially with the Chockie-bred belter’s mighty drawl behind it. Dress Reba in a floor-length spangled red gown and play the memorable video, and it’s an epic encore.
2. “Friends in Low Places,” recorded by Garth Brooks, written by DeWayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee. (with a third verse penned by Brooks).
Not only is “Friends in Low Places” one of the biggest country songs ever by THE biggest country artist ever, it’s one of the songs that brought me back to country music in the 1990s
1. “Oklahoma Breakdown,” recorded by Stoney LaRue, written by Mike Hosty.
I’m a red dirt girl at heart, and this foot-stomping tribute to making romance country-style never fails to make me smile. I could listen to it all day; truth be told, I probably have put it on a daylong loop at least once or twice.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Cody Canada & The Departed’s “Ballad of Rosalie” tops Texas Music Chart
Red dirt rockers Cody Canada & The Departed have topped the Texas Music Charts with “The Ballad of Rosalie,” the lead-off single from the their debut album, “This Is Indian Land.”
After Oklahoma-rooted red dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed announced last year an indefinite hiatus, singer/songwriter/guitarist Canada and singer/bassist Jeremy Plato formed The Departed with Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen. For their first project, their frontman proposed they showcase their Oklahoma music heroes.
“This Is Indian Land” is an 18-track salute to top Sooner State songwriters, from Leon Russell and J.J. Cale to the Red Dirt Rangers and Tom Skinner. “The Ballad of Rosalie” was written by Randy Pease.
Click here to read my recent interview with Canada.
In addition, my fine colleague Jennifer Palmer recently interviewed guitarist Grady Cross about his post-Ragweed venture, Grady’s 66 Pub in Yukon. Cross bought and opened the pub in the former 50 Yard Line Club downtown on Route 66, the bar that was the very first venue Cross Canadian Ragweed performed in 1991.
Click here to read Jennifer’s interview with Grady.
-BAM
CD review: Cody Canada & The Departed “This Is Indian Land”
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To read my recent interview with Cody Canada, click here.
Country
Cody Canada & The Departed “This Is Indian Land” (Underground Sound/Apex Nashville)
Cody Canada & The Departed dig deep into Oklahoma’s fertile musical soil and unearth an diverse collection of gems on their debut album “This Is Indian Land,” due out Tuesday.
The newly formed red dirt quintet — former Cross Canadian Ragweed singer/songwriter/guitarist Canada, ex-Ragweed bassist/singer Jeremy Plato, Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist/organist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen — shines a bright spotlight on the Oklahoma songwriters who influenced them with the 15-song collection.
For Ragweed fans, “This Is Indian Land” sonically represents both a familiar homecoming and a visit to a strange but appealing alien planet. While Canada’s distinctive drawl is still the voice of the band, Littleton’s skillful mastery of the keys and James’ smooth but aggressive guitar work quickly emerge as driving forces.
Like Ragweed, The Departed is clearly rooted in the red dirt sound, but the new band is far more willing and able to stretch the boundaries of the eclectic sub-genre. The album opens with an enigmatic sing-songy voicemail from songsmith Randy Crouch, an appropriately trippy preface to his otherworldy rocker “Face on Mars.” It closes with Medicine Show’s sprawling psychedelic rock anthem “Hold on Christian.”
In between, Canada and Co. delve into the folksy side of red dirt with Bob Childers and Brad James’ “Make Yourself Home” and Greg Jacobs’ “A Little Rain Will Do,” get funky with Kevin Welch and Gary Scruggs’ “True Love Never Dies,” and tell a country-rock tale of lost love on Randy Pease’s “Ballad of Rosalie.” The band respectfully and firmly puts its own stamp on the fabled Tulsa Sound with its covers of J.J. Cale’s “If You’re Ever in Oklahoma” and Leon Russell’s “Home Sweet Oklahoma.”
Well-crafted story songs like Tom Skinner’s “Skyline Radio,” the Red Dirt Rangers’ “Starin’ Down the Sun” and joint effort “Years in the Making” showcase not only the skill of their Sooner State writers but also of Cody Canada & The Departed, who hopefully won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
— BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Behind the scenes of Cody Canada & The Departed’s “This Is Indian Land”
Red dirt rockers Cody Canada & The Departed take fans behind the scenes of the making of their debut album, “This Is Indian Land,” in this mini-documentary.
Released Tuesday, the pays tribute to some of Oklahoma’s great songwriters. The video includes snippets of the band performing Leon Russell’s “Home Sweet Oklahoma,” the Red Dirt Rangers “Starin’ Down the Sun,” Tom Skinner’s “Water Your Own Yard” and Randy Pease’s “Ballad of Rosalie.”
As listed in today’s “What to do in Oklahoma” here on BAM’s Blog, The Departed are celebrating the release of the new album tonight with a concert at historic Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
They will play another CD release show Thursday night at Oklahoma City’s Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan. Doors open at 6 p.m. Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
To read my recent interview with frontman Cody Canada, click here. And look for my review of “This Is Indian Land” in the coming days.
-BAM
