The Daily O’Collegian

Stillwater has a rich tradition of fostering artistic creativity, and the music scene is one of the major benefactors of this tradition.

For years, artists have mixed and matched genres and styles to achieve a sound that is unique to this area: Red Dirt music.

Few people can give a definitive definition of this hybrid.

Some call it hard country, others rock with a twang, but one band, The Red Dirt Rangers have mastered the “gray area” genre throughout their 20-year tenure on the live music circuit.

There are three original members of the Red Dirt Rangers.

John Cooper plays a mean mandolin and sings; Ben Han sings and plays electric guitar; and Brad Piccolo plays an acoustic electric guitar and adds his vocals to the mix.

Cooper, Han and Piccolo take turns singing the verses of different songs, but they all chime in when it comes to the chorus.

“We feel like harmony is one of our strong suits,” Cooper said.

The three original members of the Red Dirt Rangers played their first show at Willies more than 20 years ago. For the Rangers, Willies is not just any bar.

“Willies is the most important live music venue in Stillwater,” Cooper said. “So many people got their starts there.”

Those familiar with red dirt music might recognize the name Jimmy LaFave. He used to jam with the Rangers before getting them the gig at Willies.

LaFave, and the late Bob Childress (“the Dillon of the dirt”), were major influences for the Red Dirt Rangers and encouraged them to pursue their musical goals.

This kind of mentorship is what makes Stillwater so good for young musicians, Cooper said.

Rather than being competitive, established musicians in the area were quick to offer support and advice to the Rangers.

Before the Rangers’ show outside of Eskimo Joe’s on Friday night, Han talked about Childress’ influence on the Rangers’ songwriting.

“He was our mentor, he saved our lives,” Han said.

The tradition of mentorship is not lost on The Red Dirt Rangers, Cooper said.

He is excited about the rise of new bands over the last seven to eight years.

Bands like the Turnpike Troubadours and The Flat-grass Boys are all young bands that have adopted the red dirt sound in their own music.

Despite touring on both coasts, the Red Dirt Rangers are still susceptible to the pull of mentorship that seems to emanate from the Stillwater area.

“I feel like we skipped a career and went straight to being an influence,” Piccolo said.

But, the give and take of the Stillwater music scene is what made the Red Dirt Rangers’ success possible, Cooper said.

“I don’t know that it could’ve happened anywhere else,” Cooper said.

Teaching is nothing new to Cooper, who graduated from OSU in 1982 with a degree in education. He taught biology and coached baseball and football for six years in Oklahoma City before turning to music as a fulltime career.

“I quit my day job in 1993 and never looked back,” said Cooper, who learned to play the mandolin while attending OSU.

Han, who is from Malaysia, is a big country fan.

He said the camaraderie of various artists is something that was always enjoyable to him and the Rangers.

“The Farm” is a place out on Sangre Road that the Rangers, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Stoney Larue used to go to jam and party, Han said.

Anyone outside Eskimo Joe’s last Friday would have witnessed the beauty of musical camaraderie.

After a nice opening set from the Turnpike Troubadours, Cooper, Han, Piccolo and Randy Crouch also of the Rangers, teamed with three members of Jason Boland and the Stragglers.

Boland did not play because of recent throat surgery, but the group, which last played together three years ago did not fall short of the project’s entertaining title, “Crouching Ranger, Hidden Straggler.”

Cooper warned that the group had not practiced prior to the show, but as the show wore on, it was clear that you could not achieve such organic musical fusion through practice alone.

“Good vibes will always be there, it’s in the blood,” Han said.

The members of both bands seemed to enjoy the youthful vibe that captured the stage and the crowd.

When the band was in full swing, everybody on stage moved like they were in college again.

“Music keeps me young, man,” Cooper said. “It’s the best fountain of youth I’ve found.”

The Red Dirt Rangers’ drummer, Jimmy Karstein, knows about the fountain of youth that Cooper talked about.

With more than 50 years of professional experience including stints with JJ Cale and Taj Mahal, Karstein knows red dirt music when he hears it.

Karstein has played everywhere from California to Nashville and Memphis, and although he credits former Taj Mahal guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, who wrote “Red Dirt Boogie Brother,” with the advent of red dirt, he agrees that Stillwater and the Red Dirt Rangers provide a heavy dose of the genre.

In describing red dirt music, Karstein said:

“If we played at a country juke joint, they would say we were playing rock n’ roll.

“If we played our style at a real hardcore rock club, they’d say we were playing country.”