Evan Felker Says The Turnpike Troubadours Became A “Quintessential Red Dirt Band” Once Cross Canadian Ragweed Wasn’t Playing Anymore

The Turnpike Troubadours are undoubtedly a household name when it comes to Red Dirt music these days. But it was a long, hard road for the Oklahoma-founded band to get to that point.

When I was first introduced to Red Dirt country music while attending college in Oklahoma, the Turnpike Troubadours was the first band I was exposed to, thus starting my addiction to the subgenre of country music. And that’s not a bad addiction to have if you ask me.

The Turnpike Troubadours released five albums before taking their indefinite hiatus in 2019. Red Dirt fans were heartbroken about never hearing “Good Lord Lorrie” or “7&7” live again; however, once it was revealed that Evan Fellker was addressing his addiction, fans understood that this separation was necessary. In 2021, the triumphantly reunited, with Felker looking healthy and lively back on stage. The group began slow, performing a few shows then rolling out a tour. After the tour went well, they hit the studio and started working on their record, A Cat In The Rain.

When the group rebanded, they came back bigger and better than ever. More mainstream country listeners took notice of Turnpike when they toured with Zach Bryan, making them a more familiar name among country listeners of all kinds. During a recent conversation with Robert Earl Keen on his Americana Podcast, he honored the band by calling them a “quintessential Red Dirt band.”

Frontman Evan Felker took the praise on the chin:

“I’ll take it.”

Felker noted that it was a long road to get there, and when Cross Canadian Ragweed took their hiatus, he felt like that opened a space for them to rise to the level of fame they are at now.

“We definitely got to that, especially once Ragweed wasn’t playing, you know? It was amazing, so we did that big show with them up in Stillwater. That’s where they got started, part of where we got started, and it was suddenly like that band was back, and they brought everyone together, and it felt like this big family. And you’d forgotten they were the thing kind of holding us all together at that point in time. They’ve always been our biggest champions and always helped us out. We sure love them.” 

Keen then says that he loves Cross Canadian Ragweed’s frontman, Cody Canada. Felker shares the same sentiments, noting that he, too, is good friends with Canada and that he’s always supported him.

“He’s always positive. He’s been there for me good times and bad, he’s a good influence and just a good guy.”

But Canada is more than a friend to Felker; he’s served as a musical inspiration for Felker. He opened up to Keen that when Ragweed was getting started in Stillwater, he was still a little too young to be fully plugged into that scene, but when his older friends came back to his hometown in Southeast Oklahoma and shared the music being created in Stillwater, he was instantly in love with Ragweed’s music.

“I was just kind of a lump of clay at the time that they came out, you know? I didn’t really know who or what I wanted to be creatively. And then that happened. My friends were coming back from college in Stillwater, who were a little older than me, and they were bringing back that stuff. I was like, ‘This is it for me.’ You know? I want to do this.

The cool thing about them is that they opened so many doors to all this other great music. Like I wouldn’t have known who Townes Van Zandt was, or really deep dived into your (Keen’s) music, or Lyle Lovett, or you know Charlie- a million great artists that were just out there to be listened to. They were the door for that.”

Cross Canadian Ragweed is the glue that brings all of Red Dirt together and was the foundation that inspired many of today’s artists. Robert Earl Keen is correct in his statement that the Turnpike Troubadours are a quintessential Red Dirt band, and Cross Canadian Ragweed is the blueprint for Red Dirt bands.

Check out the entire American Podcast episode while you’re here. It’s a great conversation between two musical geniuses.

The post Evan Felker Says The Turnpike Troubadours Became A “Quintessential Red Dirt Band” Once Cross Canadian Ragweed Wasn’t Playing Anymore first appeared on Whiskey Riff.