Artists

One of the most recognized names among the Oklahoma music culture, Cody Canada trails a 30-year music footprint stemming from the renowned music scene referred to as Red Dirt.  A road warrior and prolific songwriter, Canada was the frontman of Cross Canadian Ragweed, a wildly influential band that commanded the Red Dirt scene for more than a decade selling millions of albums while also dominating the live music circuit nationwide until their split in 2010. In 2011, Canada and bassist Jeremy Plato formed The Departed, a hard-edged power trio along with drummer Eric Hansen that has since carried on in that gritty and lyrically provocative style that keeps packed crowds hanging on every word.   The Departed has released 6 studio albums, several of those hitting 3 different Billboard charts. Since 2020, The Departed has released 5 standalone singles that were recorded at their own 36 B Studios. Their latest single “Elle” hit the Top 10 on the CDX chart.  Canada's music imprint is well noted; from several articles in Rolling Stone deeming him a legacy artist and a key influencer to a standing ovation at the iconic Ryman Auditorium, to tribute albums and songs about his significance to his own exhibit in his home state at the Oklahoma Pop Museum coming in 2025.  

For over a decade Cross Canadian Ragweed, a wildly influential indie country rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, dominated the touring circuit with sold out shows from coast to coast, amassing millions in touring revenue and sharing bills with some of the biggest names in music.  Their fan base grew vastly beyond all borders, genres and  to what might be considered a cult following that included rockers, cowboys, hippies, executives and college crowds. The onstage chemistry between Cody Canada, Jeremy Plato, Grady Cross and Randy Ragsdale was a recipe cooked up from childhood, a captured lightning bolt that shocked the system of every person in the crowd stunning them into a reverie. For the last 15 years those familiar stages have been void of that “thing” that only Ragweed could deliver, but their loyal bevy of fans and peers has continued to carry their torch.  That kind of love and loyalty for a band that has not been together for so many years could no longer be denied. Cross Canadian Ragweed is back with 4 sold-out stadium shows in Stillwater in April.  

Back in the late 90s and early aughts, The Great Divide helped set the Red Dirt scene: the band was playing 200 shows a year and released five albums together, they signed a record deal in Nashville, and Garth Brooks recorded one of their songs. To say they made a mark is putting it lightly–if you were to poll musicians making music in Oklahoma and Texas at the time, it’s likely The Great Divide was on their list of influences. Nearly 20 years after their last album together, the band is back with their new album Providence.  The band made their Grand Ole Opry debut in 2024 and performed at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. 

Veteran singer-songwriter and honky tonk luminary, Matt Hillyer, is at his finest on his new album Bright Skyline.  One of the many genuine articles that call Dallas-based State Fair Records home, Hillyer’s journey from rockabilly roots to western swing, outlaw country, and traditional honky-tonk country steal the show on these eleven vibrant tracks. If Hillyer’s voice sounds familiar, it should.  For 23 years, he fronted the legendary honky-tonk band Eleven Hundred Springs, touring the world and releasing more than a dozen albums. Bright Skyline is produced by John Pedigo (Vandoliers, Old 97's) and showcases a range fine-tuned over three decades playing Texas dance halls and listening rooms.

“Matt Hillyer may be the most unsung Texas singer/songwriter alive today that is that hidden treasure when people discover him and his music.” 
-Dale Watson

“Nobody else really plays that style of country as he fuses rockabilly and classic country guitar solos with heartfelt songs. And lately I’ve had the revelation that Matt is one of the best lyricists that I have ever heard.” 
-The Reverend Horton Heat  
 

It always piques people’s interest when a songwriter emerges on the scene packing timeworn observations that don’t quite match his years.  The curious among us imagine what kind of life nurtured such a mind. Where have they been? What have they seen? Who are they? Dustin Brown is that songwriter: a young man whose relatively short life story feels lived multiple times. From a childhood of solitude to time trekking around the globe, Dustin Brown isn’t solving the world’s problems, he’s just offering up dust-covered narrations wrapped in conversational tones that speak to the common man. Dustin's self-titled album comes out March 28th with advanced applause from American Songwriter magazine, the Bluegrass Situation and Galleywinter. 

The Pleasures is fronted by renowned singer-songwriter Catherine Britt and modern-day troubadour Lachlan Bryan. Together they produce a sound that is raucous and blues-inspired, interrupted by delicate moments of sublime country folk. They bring all their experience and humanity to this band, as well as two of the most authentic and character-filled voices you'll hear this or any other year. Their debut album The Beginning of the End spent three months on the Americana Album Chart and The Pleasures toured in the US and the UK to a rapturous reception in 2023.  The made their official show case at Folk Alliance International in 2023 and will make their official Americana Music Festival showcase in 2024. 

Folking.com

“They might get labelled ‘country’, but there’s as much Jack White influence here as there is George Jones (in fact there’s plenty of both), alongside the plethora of mythologized girl-boy country acts with whom they will inevitably draw comparison”  

Americana UK

“Each song is most definitely a performance in itself with Britt and Bryan duetting well together and creating musical-theatre-like imagery.  Britt demonstrates her powerhouse of a vocal which is underpinned by Bryan’s measured accompaniment.” 

Bernard Zuel

“A classic duets album where love isn’t merely dangerous, but it should be illegal in every state: a mess of fireball, spitball and vitriol that makes Tammy and George look like romantic softies!”  

Multi award winning singer/songwriter/entertainer, Dallas Moore, has fittingly earned a reputation as “the hardest working man in honky tonk.”  Performing an astounding 300 plus dates a year, every single year without fail, this hardcore troubadour has been applauded by significant outlets like Saving Country Music, No Depression, Holler Country, Glide Magazine, Americana UK and Country Music People Magazine.  With a career spanning over 25 years and plenty of gas still in the tank, Dallas Moore returns with his 18^th full length album Gems & Jams (Sol Records) on August 9th, 2024. Gems & Jams features a unique mix of newly written originals along with newly arranged acoustic versions of deep catalog cuts which have been out of print for many years. This collection of 15 songs are in their most raw, pure and authentic forms, perfect in their imperfections cultivated from minimalistic production and without overdubs.  Over 600k Spotify listeners, over 6 million streams, and one of the most heavily played artists on Sirius/XM’s “Outlaw Country” channel, this iconic artist has garnered the reverence of multiple generations who consider him to be the torchbearer for the outlaw country flame. 

Saving Country Music

“Dallas Moore is one of the most legit guys out there.  He’s the kind of country music outlaw many want to imitate, but few have the fortitude to emulate. He went from being one of the young whipper snappers out there trying to keep the legacy of the ol’ country music alive, to someone who’s carved out his own legacy, and now has the younger guys looking up to him.”  

No Depression

“I went to his show with intentions of interviewing Dallas and taking notes to write a review of the show.  What happened is I also became a fan. I was blown away by his finger bleeding, masterful guitar skills. Me and the audience was glued to him like everyone with a television set was when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.”  

Waves is comprised of five friends who met through School of Rock New Braunfels, a special kind of music school that holds “live performance” as the pinnacle of academic excellence.  Peyton Glasco (18), Elysha LeMaster (17), Luke Wilson (16), Willy Canada (13) and Dierks Canada (16) started their journey together in 2019. Their debut EP “Take It Or Leave It” produced by AJ Vallejo features 6 songs written exclusively by the band and gives off sparks of punk, pop and alternative metal set alight by the R&B influenced vocal stylings of Elysha LeMaster.   In only 3 years Waves has snagged shows at some very reputable venues and festivals including Mile 0 Fest in Key West, Florida. Two of the band members represented the New Braunfels branch of School of Rock with a performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Portugal in 2022 with some of the biggest names in rock and pop music like Black Eyed Peas, Liam Gallagher, Post Malone, The National, and Muse.