by: JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Saturday, June 20, 2009
6/20/2009 6:44:33 AM
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PRYOR — It's 91 degrees outside, and it feels more like 102. But at Country Fever, thousands of people have hundreds of acres on which to stretch out, chill out and spend a weekend rocking with some of Red Dirt music's biggest stars.
The Country Fever music and camping festival runs through Sunday on farmland just north of Pryor. Think of it as Woodstock for alt-country rockers.
"The first night is always the roughest," said Brandon Hadnot of Yukon. He and friends April Zeien and Chad Stogsdill came in Thursday afternoon and are staying through Sunday night, they said.
The 27-foot travel trailer they rented will make things a little easier, though, Zeien said. "And tonight we're cooking out — steaks and potatoes," she added.
Stogsdill said the friends are huge Red Dirt music fans and have seen every band that's performed since the festival opened Thursday, including Jackson Taylor, Robert Earl Keen and Wade Bowen.
Red Dirt music is often confused with "Texas country," but it is an Okie-born, eclectic mix of country, classic rock, folk and rock 'n' roll that originated around Stillwater. Country Fever took a risk in the weakened economy and shifted this year's performers from its past lineups of "slick Nashville country" to Red Dirt.
Barry Sicks from Broken Arrow, Billy Palmer from Bartlesville, and Betsy and David Stewart from Ponca City slung out their lawn chairs in the afternoon heat, using a hand-held fan and spray bottle to stay cool.
They've been friends for decades, but the group gets to see each other only a couple of times a year, usually when they make the trek to Winfield, Kan., for an annual bluegrass festival. "This is the best time to see each other, because we're all here to have fun," Betsy Stewart said.
They all said the Red Dirt lineup brought them to Pryor this year. "We've never been before," said Sicks. The music format change this year piqued their interest, they said.
Palmer is the only one braving the elements to camp. "The rest of us are roughing it at a hotel," Betsy Stewart said.
As Texas countryman Billy Joe Shaver performed a mid-afternoon set in a long-sleeve denim shirt and dungarees, Sicks admitted that he came "mainly for Billy Joe." He also thought this year's lineup was the most interesting he's heard about in years.
Friday's acts also included Brandon Jenkins, Mike McClure, Jack Ingram, the Randy Rogers Band and Stoney LaRue on the main stage, with a bevy of smaller acts on side stages. They included Tulsa's own Susan Herndon Band, Travis Kidd and more.
"Susan played last year and invited me to play with her this year," said David White, a longtime Tulsa bassist. The band played between main stage acts all day and most of the evening Friday.
"Yeah, we're the meat between the bread," joked drummer Michael Steed. "Really, though. It's been great. Everybody's really nice."
Here, everybody's a family.
White agreed. "Food, beer, friends. What more could anyone ask for?"
Many festival-goers called their campsites "communes," with newfound friends sharing cookers, inflatable pools, food and memories.
In the Red Dirt community, it seems that even festival vendors know the headlining acts, too.
Cowboy Jack Owens drove in from Colorado Springs, Colo., to sell straw cowboy hats to Country Fever patrons.
It's something he's been doing at festivals all over the place for 22 years, he said. He's been at Country Fever for five years now and plans to branch out to Dfest in downtown Tulsa this summer.
Close to 70 years old, his belly-length white beard, red cotton shirt, oversized hat and well-worn dungarees make him a festival standout among pink and brown spray-painted hats and more traditional "natural" fare.
He estimates that about one in 60 people buy his hats. "Most of 'em come out after 7 p.m., and I get the heaviest traffic through midnight," he said.
"The recession hasn't changed anything. We just refuse to participate in that."
It helps that "I've known all these guys (the performers) for years. We all know each other. That's just how it works out here."
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