The boys from Oklahoma are back.
I cant wait to do this, frontman and lead guitaristCody Canadasays.
The public on-sale gets underway Oct. 11.
Cross Canadian Ragweed in 2009, a year before the Red Dirt country band acrimoniously split. Against all odds, they’re reuniting.Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
The bill will also include the Great Divide, Stoney LaRue, and Jason Boland and the Stragglers.
Its like that for most people that go there.
Thats where they start their life.
The whole damn movement got going there.
I dont want to sound cheesy, but its kind of like the motherland.
Ragweed broke up in October 2010 after a final concert at Joes on Weed Street in Chicago.
The split was not amicable, and hard feelings lingered.
Seven months ago, Canada told me Ragweed would never reunite.
When that conversation became aRolling Stonestory, Canada regretted it almost immediately.
Hed harbored bitterness in the 15 years since Ragweed fractured.
I should not have said Id never do it.
When I told you that, I thought, What if we do [reunite]?
Ill have to eat my words, he says.
Now, Im sitting right here with a mouthful of my words.
You really never know, and you should never say never.
Cross Canadian Ragweed are Canada, Ragsdale, Plato, and rhythm guitarist Grady Cross.
Founded in 1994 in Yukon, Oklahoma, the band gained a foothold playing the college bars in Stillwater.
And I think about how loyal our crowds were.
They landed a deal with Universal South in 2002 and released most of their music on the label.
Their 2004 album,Soul Gravy, hit Number Five on theBillboardcountry chart and Number 51 on theBillboard200.
McClure believes a similar triumph awaits Ragweed.
Ive seen firsthand what forgiveness and personal growth can do, McClure says.
On the other side of all that anger and animosity awaits joy.
Cross Canadian Ragweed coming back in 2025 is going to bring so much joy to so many people.
It will be healing across the board.
Ragweeds reputation was built around a high-energy live show.
Constant fan requests for both tunes frustrated Canada even before Ragweed broke up.
Canada says hes also had a change of heart about that.
Its gonna be arush, Canada says.
I cant wait to play it.
Hes not the only one.
Canada and his wife, Shannon, were moved enough to name their oldest son Dierks.
At the peak of her career, Lee Ann Womack sang on a Ragweed ballad called Sick and Tired.
Ragweeds management would manage the Randy Rogers Band when it releasedRollercoasterin 2004.
I just felt like it was time.
And, honestly, I got tired of harboring hard feelings.
I had a lot of those back in the day, and I dont want to have them anymore.
Lets see what we can do.
And we got everybody on the phone.
We talked it through, and everything was cool.
So, were gonna give it a go.
Folk also books Turnpike and coordinated the bands 2022 comeback from anextended hiatus.
But ultimately, it was a wiseass superhero who sealed the reunion deal for Canada.
I had been watching the trailer forDeadpool & Wolverineand thinking, Look at them out there making everybody happy.
Lets make everybody happy.
Lets make our parents happy.
Lets make our kids happy.
And lets be happy.
Im very, very happy with the Departed, Canada says.
Were still making music.
We dont have to answer to anybody but ourselves.
For fans, that means a full-scale return of Ragweed is unlikely.
Currently, the Stillwater show is the only concert the band has booked.
