Leave it to Oklahoma-Texas band Cross Canadian Ragweed to count both Lee Ann Womack and Buckcherry as family.
Both the Texas country songstress and the Los Angeles hard rockers will appear on the bill, along with their hosts, Saturday at the fifth annual Cross Canadian Ragweed Family Jam at the Zoo Amphitheatre. The lineup also will include the Mike McClure Band, Randy Rogers Band, Stoney LaRue and the Arsenals and more on two stages.
For Ragweed drummer Randy Ragsdale, the unusually diverse collection of talent is part of the beauty of the Family Jam.
"Not to sound cheesy or anything like that, but we really do feel pretty blessed to be able to put something like that on, you know, just like stretch the boundaries and just do whatever it is that you can do to make it your own type of show. And I think we've pretty much done that this year having Lee Ann Womack and Buckcherry at the same time,” Ragsdale said, laughing during a phone interview from an Austin, Texas, tour stop.
"No, you're not really gonna ever freaking see that again probably. But yeah, that's what Family Jam's all about, you know, it's not necessarily just a promoter looking at the bottom dollar and putting on a show. It's people who ... like to just play music and have a good time.”
The title "Family Jam” indicates the bands are coming together like kin, not that the show is in any way family oriented, he said. After all, Buckcherry's new album, "Black Butterfly,” released Tuesday, features an explicit lyrics warning.
The concert may not be for children, but it raises money for children's causes. The Family Jam was started as a fundraiser for Mandi's Ministries, a nonprofit organization named for Ragsdale's sister, who died in a 2001 car accident. She was 9 years old.
"That was a way to keep her name alive. We've gone all over the place to just try to help kids in any way we can,” he said.
The charity's current project hits close to home: The group is working to build a special needs T-ball field in Yukon. Ragsdale's son, J.C., who will be 9 in October, has special needs. His wife, Ashley, started the Yukon Spirit League so J.C. and other special-needs children could play ball.
The new ball field will include features such as rubberized matting for the baselines and larger dugouts that will make it wheelchair accessible.
"It was really hard for us to get him into sports and like have him feel like he's part of a team,” Ragsdale said. "We're hoping to make it as accessible ... as possible.”
Ragsdale, front man/songwriter/lead guitarist Cody Canada, rhythm guitarist Grady Cross and bassist Jeremy Plato founded Cross Canadian Ragweed in Yukon in 1994.
Next Story
