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STILLWATER — At this particular event on Oklahoma State University’s campus, everyone gets to major in music history.
“This is a historic concert in Oklahoma,” Cody Canada of Cross Canadian Ragweed reminded music fans who packed Boone Pickens Stadium on Thursday for the first of four sold-out shows. “This is the biggest thing for our genre that has ever happened.”
The genre is Red Dirt, and if you’re still one of those people who doesn’t know exactly what Red Dirt music is, maybe you’ll have a better grasp if you let Mike Quesenberry of Wentzville, Missouri, explain why he digs it.
“I like classic country, and I like classic rock,” Quesenberry said while watching from a stadium suite. “Red Dirt, to me, is a mix of country and rock. It’s not either one. It’s totally different. But I like the Red Dirt that tells the stories of the places and people from Oklahoma.”
Red Dirt is a born-in-Stillwater genre, and it came home — bigger and with more swagger than ever — for The Boys of Oklahoma, a concert event staged at the home of OSU football to benefit the athletic department’s NIL (name, image and likeness) treasure chest. Unofficially, the concert event also raised money for the many part-time entrepreneurs who dotted the landscape with pay-here-to-park signs.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
The biggest drawing card for The Boys From Oklahoma concert event was a Cross Canadian Ragweed Reunion. The group had been dormant for 15 years and roared back with a marathon set that started one day (10:14 p.m. Thursday) and finished the next (after the clock struck midnight).
Like the Turnpike Troubadours, who reunited following a (shorter) hiatus and are co-headlining The Boys From Oklahoma concerts, Cross Canadian Ragweed got more popular while off the grid. So many ticket-buyers hungered to see a Ragweed reunion that The Boys From Oklahoma, originally planned as a one-day concert, turned into four concerts in four nights. The shows continue through Sunday with Stoney LaRue, The Great Divide and Jason Boland & The Stragglers joining Ragweed and the Turnpike Troubadours on the bill.
“It’s unprecedented,” Jess Barnes said while attending Thursday’s shows. “And I have been here in Stillwater for a very long time, and this eclipses everything that has ever happened as far as music goes.”
Dare you to find a more populous concert event in Oklahoma history.
Pryor’s inaugural Rocklahoma festival in 2007 drew a crowd estimated at 100,000, though announced “record” crowds since have been less than 80,000. In 1977, country music outlaws Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings attracted a crowd estimated as low as 60,000 and as generous as 77,000 to a Fourth of July Family Picnic concert at the Tulsa Speedway. (Peter Frampton drew more than 35,000 fans to the Tulsa Speedway at the height of his Frampton-ness in 1976.) In 1997, Garth Brooks played five shows at Drillers Stadium that attracted 80,000 total fans. In 2015, Brooks sold out seven shows at BOK Center and moved 137,120 tickets.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
What it all means is Blake Champion, when she’s able to talk, will be able to tell people her first concert launched the biggest concert event in Oklahoma history. Blake is 8 weeks old. Wearing a shirt branded with the words “her first rodeo,” Blake was being held by her father, Bryan Champion, outside a stadium suite between opening night sets. Blake’s mom, Carley Champion, stood beside them.
“Cross Canadian, seeing the first time they came back, couldn’t miss ’em,” Bryan said.
The Champions reside in Edmond, but Bryan said Ragweed’s music video for the song “17” was shot in his hometown.
“It was filmed in Perkins at an old gas station that is not there anymore,” he said.
So Bryan grew up loving Ragweed — and the other Boys From Oklahoma bands, too.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
Attendee Mallory Ball said The Boys From Oklahoma opening night concert felt like it had a festival vibe.
You can call The Boys From Oklahoma concert event Red Dirt’s Woodstock if you want, but Woodstock took place on a farm, and Red Dirt sprang from The Farm, a steeped-in-lore songwriter hangout in Stillwater. The Boys From Oklahoma earned followings while gigging in small Stillwater venues, and who knew it would all lead up to this?
“I’ve had a lot of great nights in my life, but this is the best thing I have ever gotten to be a part of,” Turnpike Troubadours’ frontman Evan Felker of the Turnpike Troubadours told the crowd Thursday.
“Tonight was a dream come true for us,” RC Edwards of the Turnpike Troubadour said afterward. “All the bands that played tonight are a big part of why we play music. They made it cool to write and play your own music. They made it seem possible for some kids from Oklahoma to start a band and do this. Now, here we are.”
The Red Dirt Rangers joined LaRue on stage at Boone Pickens Stadium for "Idabel Blues" and returned to the stage with Cross Canadian Ragweed for "Boys From Oklahoma." Said John Cooper of the Red Dirt Rangers: "I told Cody Canada, 'It's a seven-minute ride from The Farm to the football stadium. It just took us 40 years to get there.'"
Cooper said it was "quite a night for all of of us" and he used the word "reunion" to describe the backstage scene. "It's all family," he said.
Epic concert series in Stillwater launches with Cross Canadian Ragweed reunion
- Apr 11, 2025 Updated 11 mins ago
Jimmie Tramel
Tulsa World Scene WriterSTILLWATER — At this particular event on Oklahoma State University’s campus, everyone gets to major in music history.
“This is a historic concert in Oklahoma,” Cody Canada of Cross Canadian Ragweed reminded music fans who packed Boone Pickens Stadium on Thursday for the first of four sold-out shows. “This is the biggest thing for our genre that has ever happened.”
The genre is Red Dirt, and if you’re still one of those people who doesn’t know exactly what Red Dirt music is, maybe you’ll have a better grasp if you let Mike Quesenberry of Wentzville, Missouri, explain why he digs it.
“I like classic country, and I like classic rock,” Quesenberry said while watching from a stadium suite. “Red Dirt, to me, is a mix of country and rock. It’s not either one. It’s totally different. But I like the Red Dirt that tells the stories of the places and people from Oklahoma.”
Red Dirt is a born-in-Stillwater genre, and it came home — bigger and with more swagger than ever — for The Boys of Oklahoma, a concert event staged at the home of OSU football to benefit the athletic department’s NIL (name, image and likeness) treasure chest. Unofficially, the concert event also raised money for the many part-time entrepreneurs who dotted the landscape with pay-here-to-park signs.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
The biggest drawing card for The Boys From Oklahoma concert event was a Cross Canadian Ragweed Reunion. The group had been dormant for 15 years and roared back with a marathon set that started one day (10:14 p.m. Thursday) and finished the next (after the clock struck midnight).
Like the Turnpike Troubadours, who reunited following a (shorter) hiatus and are co-headlining The Boys From Oklahoma concerts, Cross Canadian Ragweed got more popular while off the grid. So many ticket-buyers hungered to see a Ragweed reunion that The Boys From Oklahoma, originally planned as a one-day concert, turned into four concerts in four nights. The shows continue through Sunday with Stoney LaRue, The Great Divide and Jason Boland & The Stragglers joining Ragweed and the Turnpike Troubadours on the bill.
'This eclipses everything'
It is said that music can move people, but this is mass transit: The Boys From Oklahoma will be responsible for moving 180,000 people to Boone Pickens Stadium by the time the fourth show arrives.“It’s unprecedented,” Jess Barnes said while attending Thursday’s shows. “And I have been here in Stillwater for a very long time, and this eclipses everything that has ever happened as far as music goes.”
Dare you to find a more populous concert event in Oklahoma history.
Pryor’s inaugural Rocklahoma festival in 2007 drew a crowd estimated at 100,000, though announced “record” crowds since have been less than 80,000. In 1977, country music outlaws Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings attracted a crowd estimated as low as 60,000 and as generous as 77,000 to a Fourth of July Family Picnic concert at the Tulsa Speedway. (Peter Frampton drew more than 35,000 fans to the Tulsa Speedway at the height of his Frampton-ness in 1976.) In 1997, Garth Brooks played five shows at Drillers Stadium that attracted 80,000 total fans. In 2015, Brooks sold out seven shows at BOK Center and moved 137,120 tickets.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
What it all means is Blake Champion, when she’s able to talk, will be able to tell people her first concert launched the biggest concert event in Oklahoma history. Blake is 8 weeks old. Wearing a shirt branded with the words “her first rodeo,” Blake was being held by her father, Bryan Champion, outside a stadium suite between opening night sets. Blake’s mom, Carley Champion, stood beside them.
“Cross Canadian, seeing the first time they came back, couldn’t miss ’em,” Bryan said.
The Champions reside in Edmond, but Bryan said Ragweed’s music video for the song “17” was shot in his hometown.
“It was filmed in Perkins at an old gas station that is not there anymore,” he said.
So Bryan grew up loving Ragweed — and the other Boys From Oklahoma bands, too.
Daniel Shular, Tulsa World
'A dream come true'
“All of these bands hold a special place in my memory,” Barnes said. “Every one of these bands had a few songs that, to me, are classics. And this is great for the community. I think there are so many people from OSU and Stillwater who these bands hold a special place in their hearts as far as memories of college and after college.”Attendee Mallory Ball said The Boys From Oklahoma opening night concert felt like it had a festival vibe.
You can call The Boys From Oklahoma concert event Red Dirt’s Woodstock if you want, but Woodstock took place on a farm, and Red Dirt sprang from The Farm, a steeped-in-lore songwriter hangout in Stillwater. The Boys From Oklahoma earned followings while gigging in small Stillwater venues, and who knew it would all lead up to this?
“I’ve had a lot of great nights in my life, but this is the best thing I have ever gotten to be a part of,” Turnpike Troubadours’ frontman Evan Felker of the Turnpike Troubadours told the crowd Thursday.
“Tonight was a dream come true for us,” RC Edwards of the Turnpike Troubadour said afterward. “All the bands that played tonight are a big part of why we play music. They made it cool to write and play your own music. They made it seem possible for some kids from Oklahoma to start a band and do this. Now, here we are.”
The Red Dirt Rangers joined LaRue on stage at Boone Pickens Stadium for "Idabel Blues" and returned to the stage with Cross Canadian Ragweed for "Boys From Oklahoma." Said John Cooper of the Red Dirt Rangers: "I told Cody Canada, 'It's a seven-minute ride from The Farm to the football stadium. It just took us 40 years to get there.'"
Cooper said it was "quite a night for all of of us" and he used the word "reunion" to describe the backstage scene. "It's all family," he said.
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