March 18, three days past the Ides of March, was a pleasant day in 2002. I was driving down the highway toward San Antonio, Texas via Muskogee. It was there, on a ribbon of concrete, I was introduced to “Red Dirt”. The sky was clear, the smell of sweet grass was baring its seasonal aroma through the Oklahoma breeze, the radio was on and “Pearl Snaps” penetrated my ear drums. The tires seemed to keep time with the music as it popped in rhythm with each crack in the road. Driving at high rates of speed leaves little margin for error, so I quickly asked my copilot to jot down the song title so that I could look it up once we returned home from our trip. Little did I realize that this would permanently change my musical tastes.
Appalachia has the Smoky Blue Ridge Mountains. The Mile High City boasts about its Purple Mountains Majesty. But tucked away in the middle of it all, Oklahoma has more… it has Red Dirt. Red Dirt is not a specific location. Red Dirt is not a specific group. Red Dirt is not a specific sound. Red Dirt isn’t even a specific culture. Red Dirt is music. Red Dirt is multi-generational. Red Dirt is cross-cultural. Red Dirt music is Oklahoma. Derived from the color of the Oklahoma soil, Red Dirt music is real music for the common man. When the blue collar man works the crimson colored earth they bleed together to the shade of royalty. In an effort to keep feeling the music he had experienced in California, Bob Childers, known in many circles to be “The Godfather of Red Dirt Music” and “The Dylan of Dirt/Dust” came back home to Oklahoma and settled in Stillwater. Joe Mack quoted Childers in an article for The Current, “I found something in Stillwater that I just didn’t find anywhere else. And I looked everywhere from California to Nashville to Austin. I always came back to Stillwater.” It was here, on ‘the farm,’ musicians would come to find that sound many identify as Red Dirt music.
Unlike the “NashVegas” style of Nashville’s pop country, the Red Dirt musician isn’t pretty. Short, tall, hairy, and bald, they are real. Five o’clock shadows adorn most of them, while some could even pass for the homeless and probably have been at one time or another. You will quickly notice that wardrobe is not the nuts and bolts of their show. The Red Dirt musician dresses for comfort not for exhibition.
I identify most with the music of Jason Boland and the Stragglers. In a Waylonesque baritone, the Harrah, Oklahoma native belts out a new kind of Outlaw music. A biography found at MarsTalent.com put it like this, “If you didn’t know any better, you would swear that Jason Boland is linked to the Jennings’ gene…” Among members of the movement, the Stragglers are very popular. NuCountryTV in Victoria, Australia reported the Boland band’s success with “album sales beyond 100,000.” Independently speaking, that is a great deal of records sold. Other than Cross Canadian Ragweed, not many can eclipse their spot light. Pat Green and Kevin Fowler are some of their Texas Country contemporaries. Jason Boland, Cross Canadian, and Stoney LaRue are a few of the many in the second generation of the Red Dirt movement. Bob Childers, Red Dirt Rangers, Great Divide, and others established the genre and kept it alive for the next tier to take over. The Red Dirt musician sets himself apart from other artists by his ability to meld a multiplicity of down home variables without affecting the music. It actually enhances the experience.
Classifying music has always been a point of discussion, and at times a point of contention. Red Dirt music is not exempt from the call to categorize it. Red Dirt artists Cross Canadian Ragweed are more rock driven, while Jason Boland and the Stragglers are more country. Similar to the Oklahoma artists that developed the Tulsa Sound, Red Dirt doesn’t fit a specific musical profile like other music genres. J.J. Cale’s work was different from that of Leon Russell, but they both had that sound. Just like the Oklahoma music that came before it, Red Dirt is more of an attitude. It is an attitude, but you know it’s Red Dirt when you hear it. Bluegrass music, for example, has a specific style, but Red Dirt varies from artist to artist. Red Dirt can be rock infected, Delta blues motivated, country bred, folk inspired, bluegrass picked, or a mixed bag of all the above. “The Chinese don’t call it Chinese food, it’s just food. I’m just making music,” said Boland on the band’s website. In a review for Comal County Blue, PureCountryMusic.com said, “Whether it is called Texas [Country], Country, Americana, or Red Dirt, everyone can agree that Jason Boland is rightfully at the top of the movement…” John Wooley quoted Bob Wiles, founding member and former bassist of the Red Dirt Rangers, in his book The Colors of Oklahoma Music as saying, “Great Divide takes it to a national level. Jason Boland gets the honky-tonk revival going. The Cross Canadian Ragweed’s rockin’, and Stoney LaRue’s just kind of grown up on all of it, taking it all in.”
By the time I discovered the Stragglers on that Muskogee turnpike the band was already 3 years plus into their career. The Stragglers, just like their Red Dirt peers, carry across a wide spectrum of fans. In an interview for an electronic press kit released by Horne Media Productions promoting the Somewhere in the Middle record, Jason said it best, “The Jason Boland fan is from 2 to 80. Our fans are from all walks [of life].” At any given show you will find the frat boy standing next to the true grit cowpoke, the party girl in the same crowd as the girl comfortable in her jeans and t-shirt, father and son, grandmother and granddaughter. The JB&S crowds break the mold. He goes on to say in the same conversation, “There are automatically the type of people who seek [the music] out, but then once again, the people that just happen to stumble across us, if they get it, they’re hooked.” I experienced the latter, had I not been driving from a funeral in Muskogee, I’m not sure I would have ever found them. And true to form, I am hooked.
The first time I saw a Jason Boland and the Stragglers show they were honky-tonkin’ a small set at FishBonz in Tulsa. The shows at FishBonz were subdued compared to the concerts at Cain’s Ballroom. Watching a Stragglers show at the Cain’s can be like attending a wild, free-for-all party. So wild in fact, my best friend (who is a devoted Christian) told me he thought to himself, “Is this where I want to be when Jesus returns?” Fueled by their favorite spirits, the band works the crowd and the crowd works the band. Roger Ray rips through guitar riffs like a tornado tormenting a trailer park. By night’s end the beer saturates the floor and the smoke is thick enough to cut it with a knife. Some fans have had too much of a good time and need help from their friends to find the exit, while other folks can’t wait to find the nearest hotel room. When the show is over a sea of beer cans is the only thing that occupies the space where hundreds of people stood moments before.
Like the works of Michael Wallis, Jason Boland paints a picture with his words. His songs are the colors in the painting of our culture. The songs speak of gain and loss, love and vengeance, selflessness and racism, religion and debauchery, personal struggle and triumphant reward. The first time I heard the album Pearl Snaps, I instantly connected with the architecture of the lyrics. Outlining life experiences with the intensity of a cattleman stretching barbed wire to corral his cash crop and slicing through them with the ferocity of an outlaw blue devil making his way across the fence strewn plains. Like those who document history, Boland documents life with rhythmic beauty. It is the contradictions and controversies that sculpt a person. Our frailties and strengths make up our being. Boland is observant to those variations of the human spirit. In the song, “Backslider Blues,” Jason identifies with our personal struggle to do right and the temptations that sidetrack us. “From the wine of Holy Communion/To the liquor that’s left me the scar. From the Bible that sits on my dresser/To her clothes strung all across the floor.” Though each person relates to the emotion of the lyrics differently, the listener clearly understands the inner conflict.
In the Austin Chronicle article, “Beyond the Bourbon Legend,” Doug Freeman wrote, “Boland nearly joined the seminary out of high school…” I believe Jason’s strong sense of spirituality is evident in his writings. God and Oklahoma have been the backbone of its residents who have inhabited this land since it was settled after the land run. After the settlers built their dugout homes and established food and water, churches were first in line of societal needs. Religion plays underlying themes throughout many of the Stragglers’ songs.
Oklahoma, or at least the feeling of Oklahoma, is the foundation of many of the songs written or sung by Boland. “If I Ever Get Back to Oklahoma, Somewhere in the Middle, and Shot Full of Holes,” all represent parts of life we experience in the 46th state. The lighthearted mood of Cross Canadian Ragweed’s Boys from Oklahoma certainly puts the crowd in a buzz when the Stragglers play their rendition. “Outlaw Band,” the last song on Boland’s newest record and a Bob Childers’ creation, evokes symmetry with the path they took from Stillwater. Childers’ writing is able to capture the sentiment of chasing your dream and the life that comes with it. “He followed his vision/Set out on a quest. To find a way of life/ that suited him best. Well he found him some others/Who had the same dream. All of them loners/But somehow a team.”
Bob Childers, who passed away in 2008, had an immeasurable effect on the core of the band. In an interview for LoneStarMusic.com, Richard Skanse quoted Boland saying, “We always put a Bob Childers song on every album.” I had the opportunity to interview the four original members of the band. When I asked each band member about their influences, Childers often came up in conversation. While we were on the subject, it was interesting to hear the diversity of people who inspired the band. Drummer Brad Rice listed Buddy Rich, John Bonham, and Dave Weckl as some who had an effect on his style of keeping time. Fellow bottom end beat keeper, Grant Tracy couldn’t easily choose a single musical motivator. “God gave us music to relax. Don’t let it be work.” He went on to say if it’s good music he likes it. Eventually the bassist listed Bella Fleck, Tony Rice, and Bluegrass as strong influences. Roger Ray, axe wielder and pedal steel extraordinaire, quickly said Doyle Ray, his father, was the biggest influence on his musical career. A distant second was “Take It Away” Leon McAuliffe, steel guitar man for Bob Wills. Roger said his dad took him to watch Leon play with the original Texas Playboys. Ray went on to tell me he met Leon when he was a kid and he was the reason he chose to play the pedal steel. Roger was already playing guitar, but Leon did his bit to further encourage him, “Anyone can play guitar, you want to play the steel.” As stated before, Jason Boland listed Bob Childers as a major inspiration. Boland said Bob’s influence was, “more than just music. It’s the message, but what message? They all have a message. Everyone has their own art.” Steve Earle after Copperhead Road also had a big impact on Boland’s music portfolio. Jason went on to say he has many influences from many music genres.
I asked Brad Rice if being from Oklahoma influences the Stragglers music, he emphatically gave me an, “Absolutely.” Brad compared the music of Oklahoma, to those who follow football. “Where you come from, is who you are.” Roger Ray put it simply, “From Woody Guthrie to Garth Brooks, it proves it.” Boland put it this way, “[Oklahoma was] one of the last places settled.” It is where his ancestors lived in a sod home. “[In Oklahoma] we’re not overly distracted.” Not being distracted has its benefits; it ends up finding its way into the music.
Rice talked to me about how being from Oklahoma has shaped his career. “You become a rural, agrarian authority because you see it growing up.” Just like it influences the music, it inevitably sculpts a career. Grant Tracy told me, “It’s the guys we get involved with. We’re from the same areas. We’re around good musicians like the Red Dirt Rangers and the Great Divide.” Jason went on to say his career has been shaped in many ways. “It’s the people you meet. The coasts follow trends faster than we do. That helps foster originality. [Being from Oklahoma] teaches you how not to be afraid–[and not to] think about it.” Three out of the original four told me they did not think their music would be the same if they would have lived somewhere else besides Oklahoma. Grant Tracy subscribes to the roots of the music. He prefers the music that gets back to the basics. “Real love, real life.” Boland said he did not think the music would be the same, but “would hope to find an honest outlet” wherever he was.
Oklahoma has influenced their music, shaped their career, modeled their music’s sound, and shaped what they write and sing about. Jason gave a predictable answer to Oklahoma’s effect on his song writing, “You write what you know about.” As Roger Ray put it, “We’re in Texas’ backyard. There is no stigma attached to being from Oklahoma.”
I asked the band to tell me the differences between the Okie crowds versus all the other places they play. Roger compared playing in front of Okies to college football. “You love to play for the home town crowd.” As he leaned back on the couch backstage at Cain’s, Jason recalled the times he has played for the fans at home, “With Okie crowds, you can see the pride in their faces. There is a gleam in their eyes saying, ‘They are us.’”
Texas and Tennessee, Nashville particularly, seems to adopt our musical brethren once they become somebody. 3/5ths of Boland’s troop now call the Lone Star State home. In an article in the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, reporter Lana Sweeten-Shults wrote what I have felt about Oklahoma for a long time. “With music to be had and delivered, but little infrastructure in Oklahoma on which to build a music career–many Oklahoma musicians like Boland made their way to Texas to keep their careers flourishing.” Sometimes Oklahoma can’t get out of its own way. Along with Jason Boland, Roger Ray and Boise, Idaho native and resident fiddler, Noah Jeffries have nestled down in the same state our 43rd U.S. President calls home. Country music concert photographer Jeff Dykhuis said in his blog, “The song ‘The Party’s Not Over’ seems to be about how the red dirt scene has migrated over the border of Oklahoma in to Texas…” A couple of the Stragglers have stayed in Indian Territory, Brad Rice has chosen to call Tulsa home and Grant Tracy lives in his hometown of Vian, Oklahoma. In a conversation from one of those first shows I saw, I talked to Jason about being a musician from Oklahoma. The band was very approachable, and they still are today. In bib overalls and a cream colored summer cowboy hat he told me, “Though I don’t live in Oklahoma anymore, Oklahoma will always be my home.”
I asked each band member to tell me their favorite venue. They all said Cain’s Ballroom. That is a strong statement considering they have played all over the United States, as far as Los Angeles, and all the way across the big pond to play a spell in Greenland. Individually they wanted to make sure I understood it wasn’t just because we were inside this historic cathedral of music, but because of its history and the opportunity to play in front of the hometown crowd. Rice made the statement, “Where else on Earth can you play where both Bob Wills and The Sex Pistols played on the same stage?” “All bullshitting aside,” said Roger Ray, “this is the best place in the world to play.” Boland answered simply, “Cain’s, and that’s not just lip service.”
The Stragglers have seen a great deal of crowds over the years. Last year they went to Thule, Greenland to play for our troops. The Times Record News reported Jason saying, “We told the USO people that we wanted to go play for the troops, so we went to the dark, cold, frozen north.” Jason Boland and the Stragglers seem to have a strong sense of nationalism, yet they are not blinded by it. A heartfelt tune, “Sons and Daughters of Dixie,” expresses its dismay with our government’s reaction to hurricane Katrina. “The one thing I can’t stomach/Is how the hill watched it bleed/You bet they’d sang a different tune if a flood had hit D. C.”
On September 23, 2009 in true commonwealth fashion, Jason Boland and the Stragglers put together a last minute tribute show to the works of Don Williams. All proceeds went to the Red Cross. The legendary Cain’s Ballroom provided the backdrop for an intimate concert with a few hundred fans. The show broke tradition to the rowdy, beer soaked shindigs that usually come along with a JB&S gig. With the neon star burning its amber haze and the disco ball reflecting splinters of light like a merry-go-round across the newly refinished dance floor, the mood was set for slow dancing. 27 portraits of musical legends watched in silent approval. Jackson Taylor warmed up the audience. Jarrod Birmingham and Cory Morrow were scattered in the mix. Brandon Jenkins primed us for the next act. Throughout the night, in proper Red Dirt fashion, various musicians played in various bands. Randy Crouch sawed on the fiddle a good part of the night for most of the acts. Wade Bowen’s band played a great interpretation of The Gentle Giant’s, “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good.” Red Dirt Rangers brought the dog days to an end by singing a lament about summertime. Stoney LaRue prepped us for the main event. He joked about wanting to sing a certain Don Williams song, but was continually told, “No that one’s taken.” Stoney said what many of us often feel. He told how he could sing along with many of Don Williams’ songs if Don is singing them, but when the music stops, you suddenly don’t know the words.
When Jason Boland and the Stragglers took the stage they did not disappoint. He spoke of Williams being an influence on him when he was young. He played the title track to their newest release, Comal County Blue, as a Williams-inspired piece. The finale of the show was epic. Just like a family reunion, nearly all the musicians took the stage to close out the show. With a powerful pick of the guitar Roger Ray rocked the opening riff for “Tulsa Time.” Brad Rice followed with a thunderous drum beat that screamed, “Turn it up!” When Don Williams’ song about our Central Standard Time Zone is mentioned, Red Dirt usually isn’t the first thing to come to mind, but after hearing the Stragglers’ version it will make anyone think twice.
The majority of the audience was gone within minutes after the encore ended, but a few “straggled” behind for photos and autographs. As the cleanup crew began to round up the aluminum cans that made their way to the floor, Roger Ray’s parents were there to congratulate him on another great show. Roger answered all my questions I had about his music and career. Hoping to be able get the front man’s take on my battery of questions, I made my way to Jason to finish up my interviews. He posed for pictures, signed some concert tickets and t-shirts while carrying multiple conversations at one time. I asked him if he had time to answer a few questions for me and in one fell swoop he took me backstage to do the interview in comfort. We made our way through the slender, graffiti marked plywood clad hallway, the same hall so many legends have walked down before, down a few steps and we were in the famed Cain’s Ballroom green room. An “organic” fragrance permeated the air. The natural stone walls with their high ceiling bear signatures and primitive art from the hundreds of performers who have come and gone. On a plush red velour sectional couch, Jason and I got down to the details of the interview. Dressed in common attire, a gray t-shirt with a semi-automatic pistol that decorates the front, ball cap, light blue bib overalls under his t-shirt, and dark brown cowboy boots, Boland comfortably answered all the questions. Boland is an educated, philosophical man. He preaches that the many things we shackle ourselves down with are the same things that Jesus wants to deliver humanity from. Nearing the end of our interview Jason and I stood up and with strong emotion Jason said, “Jesus came to set us free, not bog us down.” With deep subjects to ponder we concluded our conversation. The constant lullaby of the diesel engine just beyond the back wall beckoned Jason to move on. With a handshake and a hug we parted ways.
As I made my way back through the historical venue, I saw the neon haze in a different light. This building had a more intimate feeling than it did before. I walked across the dance floor one last time, for now, to the tick tock of my lizard skin boots on the hardwood floor. By the time I reached the car I felt I had a new understanding of the group I stumbled upon 7 years ago. They love to play music. They are in the music career for the right reasons. Playing abroad is great, but playing at home is the best. Grant Tracy said, “If [musicians] are saying they are over worked, they are forgetting what it’s about. You could be diggin’ ditches, or working out in the rain, or in the hot sun. You’re playing music. That’s a blessing!” Bob Childers told The Current in one of his final interviews about his songwriting skills, “I just keep it honest and keep it simple.” If that is the recipe, Boland is a master chef. For over a decade now, Jason Boland and the Stragglers have managed to keep the music real without selling out on their principles and have become successful in the process. They have kept it real, as real as the fiery colored Oklahoma earth that provided the nourishment to the roots of their music.
In the Oklahoma hills–the same hills Woody wrote about–a crisp night sets the mood. Dew has now fallen and the show is over. Mercury Lounge is a pit stop for the after party and it is now another day. Tomorrow is today and today is Kansas City. The band is loaded up and the caravan is back on the road. As white lines dance off the ebony reflection of the tour bus in the dead of night Oklahoma is in the rear view, but Oklahoma will always be in them. Whether they are playing in Austin, Los Angeles, or Greenland, the values of their upbringing seep out in every song.
Sources
“I found something in Stillwater…” The Current, A Final Farewell to the ‘Rainbow Rocker’ by Joe Mack
“Jason Boland is linked to the Jennings’ gene…” www.MarsTalent.com, Biography
“…album sales beyond 100,000.” NuCountryTV Victoria, Australia Dave’s Diary -29 August 2007- Jason Boland by Dave Dawson
“The Chinese don’t call it Chinese food…” www.theStragglers.com Biography
“Whether it is called Texas [Country], Country, Americana, or Red Dirt…” http://www.PureCountryMusic.com, Review of Comal County Blue
“Great Divide takes it to a national level. Jason Boland gets the honky-tonk revival going…” The Colors of Oklahoma Music by John Wooley
“The Jason Boland fan is from 2 to 80…” Horne Media Productions, Electronic Press Kit www.youtube.com, Jason Boland and the Stragglers – EPK
“There are automatically the type of people who seek [the music] out…” Horne Media Productions, Electronic Press Kit www.youtube.com, Jason Boland and the Stragglers – EPK
“From the wine of Holy Communion/To the liquor that’s left me the scar…” Backslider Blues, Pearl Snaps, Underground Sound 1999
“Boland nearly joined the seminary out of high school…” The Austin Chronicle, Beyond the Bourbon Legend by Doug Freeman
“He followed his vision/Set out on a quest…” Outlaw Band, Comal County Blue, Apex 2008
”We always put a Bob Childers song on every album.” www.LoneStarMusic.com, Jason Boland Q&A by Richard Skanse
Band interview by Jake Cornwell: Brad Rice; Grant Tracy; Roger Ray; Jason Boland at Cain’s Ballroom, September 23, 2009
“…many Oklahoma musicians like Boland made their way to Texas…” Times Record News, Jason Boland ‘Straggling’ Back Home by Lana Sweeten-Shults
“The song The Party’s Not Over seems to be about how the red dirt scene has migrated…” American Music Photography, Jason Boland & the Stragglers @ Country Fever by Jeff Dykhuis
“We told the USO people that we wanted to go play for the troops…” Times Record News, Jason Boland ‘Straggling’ Back Home by Lana Sweeten-Shults
Sources continued.
“The one thing I can’t stomach/Is how the hill watched it bleed…” Sons and Daughters of Dixie, Comal County Blue, Apex 2008
“I just keep it honest and keep it simple.” The Current, A Final Farewell to the ‘Rainbow Rocker’ by Joe Mack
The Horsehide Historian - W. Jacob Cornwell, M.A. 