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GIRARD —
Last year the Crawford County Fair Board decided the tough trucks rally the fair usually featured on Friday nights was becoming a bit dated and decided to put on a Red Dirt/Texas Country concert.
Tired of canned, bubble-gum country music, that’s exactly what many of the audience members said they were looking for. The crowd loved local band Conway Jackson and national Red Dirt Country act Jason Boland and The Stragglers so much that the board decided to do it again this year.
At Friday’s Red Dirt Country concert, the crowd rocked out to Texas based alt-country rockers the Bart Crow Band and No Justice, a Red Dirt Country band from Stillwater, Okla.
Red Dirt Country fans are, well, fanatical about the artists they love, and as Bart Crow and his band took the stage a great roar hog calls and whoops rose up from the 100 or so young audience members who were standing near the stage in Bill Peak Arena — various other people were scattered about the arena in lawn chairs or in the grandstand.
There was Talia Juiliano, a Pittsburg resident who won tickets to the show for her birthday. Aside from the free birthday entertainment and, of course, beer, Juiliano said it was nice to see bands with Texas Top 25 hits that aren’t too good to play smaller venues so people could get a chance to see them.
“You can go to a bar in Joplin or go to another fair to see them,” Juiliano said. “That's pretty cool.”
Bobby Tracy came from Coffeyville with his wife to see the bands. He said he was tired of cupcake country that confines artists to certain “friendly” topics.
“It’s got more twang to it,” Tracy said. “It’s not as conventional and it’s way more expressive than traditional country. It’s definitely a different type of music.”
There also was Mick Zahn Jager, who said he came from Weir with his son, Josh, with whom he often attends concerts. The 56-year-old Jager had just recovered from neck surgery and was sporting a neck brace. But dancing, he said, is his heaven, and a few stitches and a brace weren’t going to stop him from dancing enthusiastically dancing around the arena and continuing 30 years of fun with his family at the fair.
“I want to be the man I am, and this is the best place in Crawford County,” Jager said. “I’m a country rocker and my son’s a country rocker, and we love it together, man! I love it!”
Last year the Crawford County Fair Board decided the tough trucks rally the fair usually featured on Friday nights was becoming a bit dated and decided to put on a Red Dirt/Texas Country concert.
Tired of canned, bubble-gum country music, that’s exactly what many of the audience members said they were looking for. The crowd loved local band Conway Jackson and national Red Dirt Country act Jason Boland and The Stragglers so much that the board decided to do it again this year.
At Friday’s Red Dirt Country concert, the crowd rocked out to Texas based alt-country rockers the Bart Crow Band and No Justice, a Red Dirt Country band from Stillwater, Okla.
Red Dirt Country fans are, well, fanatical about the artists they love, and as Bart Crow and his band took the stage a great roar hog calls and whoops rose up from the 100 or so young audience members who were standing near the stage in Bill Peak Arena — various other people were scattered about the arena in lawn chairs or in the grandstand.
There was Talia Juiliano, a Pittsburg resident who won tickets to the show for her birthday. Aside from the free birthday entertainment and, of course, beer, Juiliano said it was nice to see bands with Texas Top 25 hits that aren’t too good to play smaller venues so people could get a chance to see them.
“You can go to a bar in Joplin or go to another fair to see them,” Juiliano said. “That's pretty cool.”
Bobby Tracy came from Coffeyville with his wife to see the bands. He said he was tired of cupcake country that confines artists to certain “friendly” topics.
“It’s got more twang to it,” Tracy said. “It’s not as conventional and it’s way more expressive than traditional country. It’s definitely a different type of music.”
There also was Mick Zahn Jager, who said he came from Weir with his son, Josh, with whom he often attends concerts. The 56-year-old Jager had just recovered from neck surgery and was sporting a neck brace. But dancing, he said, is his heaven, and a few stitches and a brace weren’t going to stop him from dancing enthusiastically dancing around the arena and continuing 30 years of fun with his family at the fair.
“I want to be the man I am, and this is the best place in Crawford County,” Jager said. “I’m a country rocker and my son’s a country rocker, and we love it together, man! I love it!”
