Even if the calf fries don't call to you, the music will
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| Country star Pat Green will perform at the three-day Calf Fry festival. |
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By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
4/25/2007 7:11 AM
If you go to the Tumbleweed Calf Fry in Stillwater this week, you won't catch country star Pat Green munching a pair of the festival's pendulous namesakes.
There's not enough ketchup in the world for Green, who will perform Thursday at the festival, to choke those back.
"I think I might have (tried them) in college at the calf fry at Texas Tech, but no, I'd like to say no," Green said.
The festival is held each year on land behind the Tumbleweed, a now-closed honky-tonk. Despite the calf fries, the Fort Worth resident is stoked about playing and was a regular at Tumbleweed before it closed New Year's Day.
This year's Calf Fry starts Thursday at 5 p.m. with Reckless Kelly and Green performing later. Friday boasts former Tulsan Brandon Jenkins and Cross Canadian Ragweed, while acts including singer Johnny Cooper, No Justice and Jason Boland will perform Saturday.
Green was a regular at Tumbleweed and at the Calf Fry. The man whose album "Cannonball" has sold about 130,000 copies remembers opening for Dwight Yoakam at the bar a few years ago for an outdoor concert.
Stillwater's classically chaotic weather intervened though. A storm came through and forced the outdoor concert inside. Yoakam's three-tractor-trailer's worth of stuff was crammed onto Tumbleweed's small stage along with Green's.
"I don't think I was able to turn around with a guitar on without whacking either a mike stand or a drum cymbal or something," he said. "That was a fun night to watch that go off. It was the loudest thing I ever heard in my life."
Green, whose mother was born and raised in Tulsa, was working on his sixth album by the time he got a record deal. He's been on a major label since 2001. Now on BNA Records, the man who was once wary of what Nashville might do to him has embraced its radio sound while keeping his eclectic style.
He used to fear that Nashville would make him into something he wasn't.
"I couldn't have been more wrong, being completely frank with you. The truth is, if you wanna get your songs played on the radio, then you have to be playing songs that they're trying to get to play. It's a simple deal."
Now he has several years of hits, from 2003's "Wave on Wave" to "Feels Just Like It Should" off Cannonball.
He spent part of last year touring with Kenny Chesney and will rejoin him this summer, which is a chance for him to play for almost 20,000 people a night.
Performers often say that before a concert they're more excited about this one show than others. But Green says it about the Calf Fry with conviction.
"I can't even begin to tell you how fired up I am. And this isn't one of those things where I say that about every show. I guarantee there's a lot of shows where I'd just as soon not come out of the bus. This is one of those shows where you know what you're going to get and it's a great venue."
And if calf fries aren't your cup of tea, don't worry. Vendors at the festival also serve onion burgers and hot dogs.
Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com
Tumbleweed Calf Fry
Thursday
Gates: 5 p.m.
Reckless Kelly, 8 p.m.
Pat Green, 9:30 p.m.
Admission: $30 day of show.
Friday
Gates: 5 p.m.
Bo Phillips Band, 6 p.m.
Brandon Jenkins, time pending
Cross Canadian Ragweed, 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $35 day of show
Saturday
Gates: 5 p.m.
Johnny Cooper, 5:15 p.m.
No Justice, 6:30 p.m.
Kevin Fowler, 8:15 p.m.
Jason Boland, 10 p.m.
Tickets: $30 day of show
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
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