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Ten Questions for the Red Dirt Rangers about their new CD, "Ranger Motel."
Your new CD “Ranger Motel” was recorded at The Church Studio in Tulsa, with Steve Ripley producing -- the same studio and producer as your last CD “Starin’ Down The Sun”. How do the two records differ?
- John Cooper:
"Starin'" was done with the whole band in the studio playing together and
singing all at the same time. It was to save time and money as well as
trying to capture a "live" feel in the studio without much overdubbing. We
wanted to make "Motel" more like a real record, as Ripley put it.
We started with Pic , Ben and myself playing acoustic and singing around 1 mic with a click track (fake drums). We recorded around 23 songs that way.
Next, we pared them down to the 14 songs on the record by some kind of
process (I'm not sure what kind).
We brought Jimmy Karstein in next for his drum parts and he played beautifully to the click track. Jimmy is one of the best drummers around anywhere. Don Morris on bass was brought in next, then Randy Crouch on fiddle. We flew Augie Meyer in for his keyboard parts which he knocked out in two days. Lastly was Jimmy Markham for his harp part on "Under the Radar". Steve Ripley, with Pic and myself, then spent a lot of time in the mixing area at his new place. The whole thing took about a year.
“Ranger Motel” was Ripley’s last project at The Church, we’re told. Do you know what’s going to happen to the place now that Steve’s gone?
- John Cooper:
The Church Studio was purchased by a lawyer in Tulsa for his office and a living space. Steve says he has a great deal of respect for what that building means.
Are you planning an assault on the Texas airwaves?
- Brad Piccolo:
Yes, we’ve sent out nearly 100 CDs to Texas Music Chart reporters and various Texas music publications. So far, the response has been very good.
John Cooper:
It'll be interesting to see if we get any play. We won't be hiring any "record pushers"-- people to bug the stations into playing your record. But we're known in Texas and we'll see if anybody takes the time to listen.
No one would mistake The Rangers’ distinctively laid-back sound for any of the other Red Dirt bands currently out there playing and recording, such as Jason Boland, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stoney Larue, Mike McClure, and Brandon Jenkins, so just what the heck is the shared quality that makes you all Red Dirt musicians?
- John Cooper:
I think it's about lineage. Steve Ripley and Chuck Dunlap inspired Bob Childers and Tom Skinner and Jimmy La Fave, who inspired Garth Brooks and Greg Jacobs, who inspired Red Dirt Rangers and Medicine Show, who inspired
Great Divide and Brandon Jenkins, who inspired Cross Canadian Ragweed and Jason Boland and the Stragglers, who inspired Stoney La Rue and No Justice. All the while the younger guys are inspiring the older guys. I know I'm leaving some folks out, forgive me, but that's pretty damn close.
- To me, it's the really beautiful thing about Red Dirt music. We're all friends, know and play each others songs, and like hanging out together. Also, none of those people really sound alike. We all have a distinctive sound but it's based on the same things.
I think Mike McClure had it right when he said Red Dirt is more of a time frame than a music scene. There was about a 20-25 year period when all this music came rushing out of Stillwater. The conditions were just ripe for it to happen. Then you throw in a place for everybody to hang out, that being The Farm for 20 years and the Yellow House for about 7-8 years, and magic happened and is still happening to this day.
Brad Piccolo:
First of all, we all honed our craft in Stillwater where we would all hang out together and toss songs and ideas around. Also, being from Oklahoma gives you a populist point of view as well as an eternal optimism. We all tend to sing for and about the common man (and woman).
How many cuts does the legendary Augie Meyer play on?
- John Cooper:
Augie played on 11 of the 14 cuts. What an honor and thrill for us to have him on the record. He was sensational!
In addition to Augie’s keyboard work, your song for “Sir” Doug Sahm, “Psychedelic Cowboy” has some great psychedelic fiddle by Randy Crouch, especially toward the end. How did that ending come about?
- Brad Piccolo:
I’d have to give Ripley credit for that. He had the idea to multi-track Crouch playing the same fiddle note over and over until it had a trippy orchestral feel. Kind of Beatle-ish, wouldn’t you say?
John Cooper:
Give it a listen on some headphones. It's a mindblower.
Your tour schedule in May has you sticking pretty close to home, here in Oklahoma. Do you plan to tour more widely over the summer?
- Brad Piccolo:
As Crouch says in one of his songs, “…we’ll play on any planet, no matter how near or far, as long as we get free drinks at the bar…” Seriously, we have a few trips planned outside the state, but we already average 150 to 200 gigs a year so that doesn’t leave a whole lot of extra time.
- John Cooper:
We've done the touring thing and it is helpful, but at this point it would have to be financially practical as well. We've created a nice niche for ourselves right here at home.
The song “Turn This Train Around”…. is that really about a train?
- John Cooper:
It's a statement about the forces of evil who have taken our country away from us. And we have no one to blame but ourselves. The kind of democracy we have here in America demands constant care-taking. We let our guard down and you see what we get.
The military-industrial complex and the pharmaceuticals-health care-insurance alliance has completely taken control. We've been sold out to multinational corporations who don't give a rats ass about America. Look no further than Washington, DC and you'll get all the answers you need. I do believe we can take it back, but we better do it quick.
"We're runnin' out of track my friend, we gotta turn this train around".
“Wild Horses” is such a smart choice for the Red Dirt Rangers to cover. It’s a great version and the song is perfect for your sound. Whose idea was that? Who sings lead?
- John Cooper:
When the three of us recorded "Wild Horses” at the basic track sessions we stunned at how good it came out. Ben Han sang his heart out.
Brad Piccolo:
The first time I heard him sing it, I was blown away. In my opinion, Ben Han is the most musically talented member of the band. He’s a total natural.
An old song, “Red Dirt Roads” and a new song, “Stillwater”, bookend the new cd nicely –both tributes to the town where Red Dirt music began. Tell us about the circumstance of writing “Stillwater”.
- Brad Piccolo:
We were on tour in the deep South and had been out a while. I was kind of feeling melancholy, missing my wife and home and missing Stillwater. As fun as the road is, it can also be very lonely. I think it was the last gig of the tour and the weather was stormy and I was ready to go home. “Show’s over time to pack my gear, last call get the hell out of here- we’ll drive all night we’ll be home by the dawn. Damn the rain, to hell with the thunder- I’m going back to Stillwater”
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