This past weekend, Cross Canadian Ragweed capped the final Boys From Oklahoma show of their 2025 reunion in front of 40,000 sweaty fans inside McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, with frontman Cody Canada promising, “We will see you guys next year.” Days later, the Red Dirt torchbearers are making good on their word.
Ragweed and the Turnpike Troubadours will return to Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on April 11 for round two of the Boys From Oklahoma series, Rolling Stone has confirmed. Wyatt Flores, a Stillwater native, will also feature on the lineup, as will Shane Smith and the Saints. The Great Divide will round out the show. An official announcement with pre-sale and ticketing information is expected Thursday morning.
“Of course, we will go back to Stillwater,” Canada tells Rolling Stone. “If we sold that many tickets, and had that much fun, and it was that peaceful, then we should keep doing it over and over again. And, it’s our home.”
Ragweed ended a 15-year hiatus by headlining the 2025 version of the Boys From Oklahoma, which was announced as a single show before ballooning into four sold-out nights with nearly 180,000 tickets sold. Russell Doussan, whose Doussan Music Group is organizing the event, says of the return to Stillwater, “I saw people creating memories. Going back helps them re-live what they created last year.”
Similar memories were made in Waco when Ragweed performed in Texas for the first time since 2010. The band may be a Red Dirt icon, but it also spent its mid-2000s heyday atop the crowded Texas Music scene. Ragweed’s support was key to the growth of major Lone Star State artists like Randy Rogers — who joined Ragweed on Saturday night to sing “This Time Around,” which he and Canada co-wrote — and Waco native Wade Bowen.
Canada played into Texas fans’ state pride late in Ragweed’s 22-song, two-hour set. He asked the crowd to sing as loud as possible and upstage the April crowd in Stillwater. “I know how you guys feel about Oklahoma,” he said. “It’s a football situation, I get it. But,I need you to be louder than Oklahoma State University was right now.”
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During Turnpike’s 90-minute set ahead of Ragweed, Felker told the crowd. “These guys got back together, and we got to play the first couple of shows with them. And I swear to you, it just felt like everything was right with the world, to be opening for Ragweed.”
Shane Smith and the Saints, Bowen, and American Aquarium played before sundown, powering through a sweltering August day in Central Texas. Aquarium frontman BJ Barham returned during Turnpike’s set to sing on “Long, Hot Summer Day.” Smith, Bowen, and Barham also featured during Ragweed’s set, along with a handful of high-profile guests.
Robert Earl Keen sat in and sang lead on a cover of “My Hometown” by the late Charlie Robison. Pat Green contributed a verse to “Boys From Oklahoma.” Jamie Lin Wilson traded verses with Canada on “17.” The night ended with Django Walker, Barham, and Felker joining Ragweed for a cover of Guy Clark’s “L.A. Freeway” after Canada’s tease of the Stillwater show.
Bands and fans aside, the concert served a business purpose for its host, Baylor University — part of a trend of college campuses hosting major concerts to benefit their athletics’ name, image, and likeness programs.
Chad Weiberg, Oklahoma State athletic director, tells Rolling Stone the payoff alone from the 2025 event made a return a no-brainer to the school.
“At a time when finding new ways to generate revenue is important to all athletic departments, last year’s Boys From Oklahoma concerts were more successful than anyone imagined,” Weiberg says. “Not only did it generate new revenue for OSU Athletics, but the shows had a significant economic impact on Stillwater and the region — and exposed thousands of people to OSU and the home of Red Dirt music for the first time. As soon as the shows ended, we were repeatedly asked if we would do them again.”
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Jon Folk, agent for both Ragweed and Turnpike, was the person doing the asking. When Ragweed’s comeback was announced a year ago it was filled with uncertainty after the band spent a decade-and-a-half apart. Now, Ragweed is intent on making the reunion permanent, and Folk sees a Stillwater return as the catalyst for that — as well as a chance to continue basking in the band’s 2025 homecoming.
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“Stillwater was a love-fest,” Folk says. “It was like a Red Dirt Woodstock.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose latest books, Never Say Never and Red Dirt Unplugged are available via Back Lounge Publishing.