Buzz grows around Dancing Rabbit Red Dirt reunion
Jul. 21—Organizers say the buzz is growing for what's expected to be the biggest Dancing Rabbit Music Festival yet — the Red Dirt Reunion Special set for July 22, in downtown McAlester.
With major Red Dirt music artists and bands in the lineup for the free concert, music is set to start at 5:30 p.m. — a half-hour earlier than usual for one of the summer shows.
Included in the lineup are Red Dirt music luminaries Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Cody Canada and The Departed, Kody West, and the Red Dirt Rangers.
Those who are impressed with the slate of artists set to perform Saturday night include Josh Hass of the Dancing Rabbit Music Association, the group which put the event together.
"I'm really excited," Hass said. "We definitely couldn't have a better lineup."
He noted the excitement about the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival's final summer show on the outdoor stage extends to the performers themselves.
"These guys are just as excited to play as we are to have them," Hass said. "It still hasn't completely hit me how cool it is to have all of these guys coming."
He noted their ties to the origins of Red Dirt music — a type of rough-hewn country and rock music that began in Stillwater, made its way to Texas, then back to Oklahoma before extending across the nation and even into Britain and Europe.
"Jason Boland is a legend and so is Cody," Hass said, referring to Cody Canada, whose band Cross Canadian Ragweed continued mightily to the spread of Red Dirt music and continues today, with The Departed.
The Red Dirt Rangers, members of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, were in the movement from the first.
Kody West, who's also on the bill, is a newer artist and is already becoming a favorite.
"It's a legendary lineup," said Hass.
Even the weather is cooperating, Hass noted. Following some days earlier this week where the mercury hit 100 degrees or higher, the forecast for Saturday called sunny skies, with a high near 87.
"I tell everybody this is God's country and this is proof of it," Hass said.
A number of out-of-town and out-of-state Red Dirt music fans are expected to join the locals for the event.
Once again, the Dancing. Rabbit Music Festival will be presented along Choctaw Avenue, between Third Street and Fifth Street. Music will be presented from the outdoor stage set up at the intersection of Third and Choctaw.
While the concert is presented free to festival-goers, they have the option of purchasing a $10 pit pass to get closer to the onstage action. Other packages are also available.
Along with the music, other outdoor activities will be under way during the event, including a pickleball tournament set to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday on the parking roof of the First National Bank.
A cornhole tournament is set to begin at noon.
Food and beverages will be available, with several food trucks and other vendors set up along the festival site, organizers said.
Still, music is the main attraction.
"People don't want to miss this," said Hass.
