Take a trip down Highway 377.

June 2001. We'd just been chased out of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico by a band of crooked Federales looking to shake down a few filthly gringos when someone slammed this band into the truck's CD player. The air, only seconds earlier filled with the smell of cheap Tequila, heart-pumping adrenaline and palm-sweating fear from realizing just how close we came to a Mexican jail, was now filled with something else. It was the sound of a real band, making real music, that sounded real damn good.

There's a not-so-small band down here in the land of the Red River quickly making waves around the country. How? By doing something unheard of in today's music scene—by writing their own songs, singing from the heart and playing live in front of as many beer lovers as possible. No backing tracks. No elaborate stage production. Just a couple of guitars, a pair of drum sticks and a killer sound that sticks in your head for days.



The Boys from Oklahoma now call Texas home, but their brand of alternative country has made Cross Canadian Ragweed one of the hottest bands around. And no, they're not from Canada. Grady Cross (guitar), Cody Canada (vocals, guitar), Randy Ragsdale (drums) and Jeremy Plato (bass) are from Yukon, Oklahoma. Writing songs about always being 17 in your home town, cold-hearted women and drinking more than fishing at the lake, they might as well be from Goddard, KS.

Just how big are they down here? Last summer over 25,000 fans saw them play in Dallas at Lone Star (the park, not the lake) shattering Willie Nelson's record-breaking attendence set in 2004. But unless you live in a few select Texas or Oklahoma markets, you probably haven't heard them on the radio. Why? Because they're good. Seriously. Rock stations won't play them because they're "too country", yet country stations won't play them because they've got just a little too much "long-haired hippy" rock and roll in 'em (to steal a line from our good friend Chris who knew cowboys loved to rock & roll). The confusion is somewhat understandable for a band that thanks Willie Nelson, Pat Green, Sammy Hagar and AC/DC at the same time in their liner notes.

It also doesn't help that, for the most part, CCR has completely turned its back on corporate music. Although the band is on a Nashville label, the band pulls no punches in its criticism of what Music City is force-feeding the masses.

"Country music has turned to pop crap," Canada recently told one reporter. "I don't think there's one damn thing that's country about Shania Twain. It's irritating to me that they market her as country because they just threw a fiddle and steel guitar on her records."

When asked if there's anyone left in the genre that he respects, Canada was quick to point out the limited few. "There are four people that are playing real country music today: Lee Anne Womack, George Strait, Dierks Bently and Gary Allen." He also tips his hat to the travelling troubadours of the new alternative country/Americana scene (guys like Pat Green, Jason Boland, Mike McClure and a bunch of other guys you'll never hear on the Clear Channel-owned airwaves). "They're not just guys in hats who won karaoke contests. They actually get up, write songs and be country, you know?"

After listening to CCR's newest release Garage, yeah. We know, Cody.

Their newest CD is quickly becoming a BDS favorite. From nailing a few killer cover songs like Scott Copeland's "Lighthouse Keeper" and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" to revealing a few new classics like "Fighting For" and "Breakdown", this CD continues to break the conventional mold of how a record should be produced and marketed. As long as CCR continues to stay true to themselves and the music, fans will continue to push them up the ladder. Just how high those fans push them is completely up to the band.

In an effort to spread the gospel, Cross Canadian has graciously agreed to play a few cuts exclusively for the BDS and its loving public courtesy of your local Windows Media Player. So sit back, relax, grab a cold one and don't forget to tip the stripper on your way out.

Garage
Dimebag ( the best tribute yet)
Sister (great first line)
Lighthouse Keeper (a killer cover)

Purple
Anywhere But Here (small-town dreams of the big city)
Carry You Home (big-city dreams of your small-town home)
17 (takes you back to '89)

Soul Gravey
Lonely Girl (we all know her)
Cold Hearted Woman (probably the Lonely Girl)
Alabama (our personal favorite)

Highway 377
Look At Me (another round, bartender)
Bang My Head (be warned: this cut will stick in your head)
Long Way home (for everyone Over There wanting to be Back Here)

And on that fateful night back in 2001 when El Capitan was looking to bring home a little extra bacon by cooking ours, Highway 377 was the song that got us over the Rio Grande in one piece. It's a tune about the Devil in his hot-rod Ford encountering Jesus in his cadillac.

Pretty fitting at the time if you ask us.