The Cross Canadian Ragweed comeback is expanding to Texas.
The Red Dirt pioneers, along with co-headliners Turnpike Troubadours, are bringing their Boys From Oklahoma showcase to McLane Stadium in Waco, on the campus of Baylor University, on August 23. Ragweed and Turnpike — who confirmed the details to Rolling Stone — will be joined by Shane Smith and the Saints, Wade Bowen, and American Aquarium for the concert.
After Ragweed sold out four reunion shows in Stillwater, Oklahoma, set for April 10 through 13, frontman Cody Canada tells RS that the combination of band excitement and fan demand made more Ragweed concerts inevitable.
“I said in October that if things go right, we will consider other shows,” Canada says. “Well, selling 183,000 tickets made it really easy to consider more shows.”
Fans looking to attend the Waco concert can register for presale access starting at 10 a.m. CT today at theboysfromoklahoma.com. Pre-sales open on February 18, with the public sale of any remaining tickets set for February 21. The demand for April shows in Stillwater was such that the original plan for a one-off show expanded to four nights. The one-two of Ragweed and Turnpike headlining in Texas for the first time, plus the soaring popularity of Texas native Shane Smith, offers plenty of reason to expect a similar demand for tickets in Waco.
While Ragweed claims Red Dirt roots, the band’s mid-2000s heyday was spent atop the world of Texas Music, and their unpolished, rock-edged live show heavily influenced today’s Lone Star State barnstormers like Smith and Koe Wetzel. Canada says Waco’s location — roughly halfway between Dallas and Austin — made it a natural choice for the band’s return to Texas.
“The main reason for Waco is that it’s in Central Texas. It’s right in the middle of our fan base, and it is going to be central for everybody,” Canada says. “We can have Oklahoma come see us, Louisiana come see us, and Arkansas come see us, along with Texas, of course.”
Editor’s picks
In January, the four members of Ragweed — Canada, Jeremy Plato, Randy Ragsdale, and Grady Cross — performed six songs together at the Mile 0 Fest in Key West, Florida, marking their first time on stage as a band since October 2010. It was a watershed moment for the festival and the band, even if it caused a minor outcry on social media among fans who wanted the band to stay offstage until its April shows, ultimately prompting a message from Canada to what he calls “the two percent of fans who we can’t make happy.”
“This is also a statement to the two-percenters — If Waco goes well, we’re going to keep going until it doesn’t,” Canada says. “I might get in trouble for saying that, but at some point, people will have to realize that this is a decision that we made, and it took us a long time to make that choice. So if we say yes, and the crowd says yes, we’re gonna do it again, too.”
Since announcing plans to reunite in October, Ragweed held steady practice time in a Fort Worth rehearsal studio called the Loop, founded by Toadies frontman Vaden Todd Lewis. The band was also introduced to the crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium in November before Oklahoma State’s homecoming football game and received a standing ovation. In late December, Ragweed took in a Wetzel concert, followed by a Toadies concert, in Fort Worth, on the same night. Canada says the time spent together has served to remind the band members that they were as close as family during Ragweed’s heyday and patched up the hard feelings that led to their 2010 split.
“Everybody just grew up, and everybody’s having fun,” Canada says. “We all went together to that Koe Wetzel show and then to the Toadies at Billy Bob’s in December. And, man, we had such a good connection. I don’t have any anxiety about it now. I don’t feel any animosity. I don’t feel like I have any worries. The only thing, maybe, that I really kind of worry about is making the setlists correctly.”
Related Content
Canada says he is attempting to capitalize on those good feelings by going sober until the April concerts. He has an Oklahoma show on the books with his primary band, Cody Canada and the Departed, set for March 1 at Cain’s Ballroom, and he wants to make that a memorable night, which has resulted in a renewed focus on both of his bands at the moment.
Along with Turnpike, whose own 2022 comeback after a three-year hiatus revealed a heightened demand for Red Dirt artists, the Waco lineup is filled with bands who Canada says have supported him in the decade and a half since Ragweed split. Smith, in particular, has enjoyed a rise in profile over the past two years, including multiple sold-out shows at Colorado’s Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. Canada is routinely invited onstage to sing or play guitar during Smith’s concerts and Ragweed’s Mile 0 reunion followed Smith’s headlining set.
“They paved the way, in a massive way,” Smith says of Ragweed. “Generationally, I feel like you have greats in any genre, and Ragweed is one of those that are gonna just be forever remembered as some of the greatest, who opened the door for Red Dirt and independent music.”
Canada says he still struggles to view Ragweed as pioneers or influences, but that he is learning to roll with the feeling.
“The way I’m built, I don’t feel like people are influenced by us,” Canada says. “When they say they are, it’s a ‘holy shit’ moment for me. So, all the love that Shane has given to us over the past 10 years, I’ve gotta give it back.”
Canada pushed hard for Bowen to be on the lineup in Waco. The two artists are brothers-in-law, and Bowen’s family resides in Waco. Likewise, Canada sees the inclusion of American Aquarium as a token of appreciation for years of support from Aquarium’s BJ Barham.
“He’s done nothing but be my friend, and done nothing but champion anything the Canadas have done,” Canada says of Barham. “One of our first big runs with the Departed, like a 35-day run, we had Aquarium opening for us. I had heard them on KNBT radio in New Braunfels, and I texted Mattson Rainer, the station owner, and asked who it was. He said, ‘American Aquarium out of Raleigh,’ and then I texted my agent and said, ‘Book them.’”
A year ago, Canada said a Ragweed reunion was off the table. In October, he spoke with caution as he detailed plans for the April concerts. Now, however, Canada is content. Ragweed’s comeback has instilled some peace for him that he says he had been missing.
“Practices have been great, and the Key West show was awesome,” he says. “I honestly couldn’t ask for anything better. My mother-in-law just told me that she sees something different about me, and it’s that I’m not carrying anything. I don’t have any weight on my shoulders right now. It’s just a really good spot to be in. This last month-and-a-half has been the shit.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose third book, Red Dirt Unplugged, was released on December 13, 2024, via Back Lounge Publishing.
