Published: May 11, 2008 12:06 am            

Tribute for the godfather

• Red Dirt musicians will gather Friday in Stillwater to honor Bob Childers

The legacy has just begun for Red Dirt music legend Bob Childers.

The Red Dirt music scene and many around Stillwater are mourning the recent loss of Childers, a musician, friend and inspiration to many. Childers died April 22 at his home in Stillwater.

“Red Dirt music is definitely a family. He was the godfather.” said Brad Piccolo, singer and guitar player for the Red Dirt Rangers. “He was the physical embodiment of Red Dirt music.”

Like many who have passed though Stillwater, Piccolo met Childers through music — spending nights playing and writing music at a place known as “the farm.”

The list of musicians Childers influenced is as large as his 1,500 song catalogue. Piccolo described his band, The Red Dirt Rangers, as a Bob Childers cover band for 20 years.

It was not fame on the stage that will continue Childers’ legacy, but the many young musicians he spent time with an encouraged over the years. Piccolo said he was always open to talking with and helping out young musicians who were serious about their craft.

Childers accompanied the band on their first tour. He encouraged them to continue after their bus broke down, showing them that music came first. “We’ve kept that with us to this day,” Piccolo said.

Piccolo called the farm “a musical stopover for wayward musicians,” and said some stayed a little while and others stayed years.

Cody Canada, Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman, said Childers was one of the first people he was introduced to after getting the band together and moving to Stillwater.

“He was the glue out there,” said Canada of the farm, a six-person rent house west of Stillwater. Canada attributes Childers influence to being the first person to tell him, “just write it.”

Childers settled in Stillwater in the early 1970s and recorded his first album in 1979 with the help of Jimmy LaFave. Willie’s Saloon soon became a home to Stillwater musicians. Friday, a tribute will be held their to remember Childers and his music.

“The best days for Bob Childers are still ahead,” Piccolo said. “It’s time to celebrate his life.”

Piccolo and the Red Dirt Rangers will take the stage at 5 p.m., with Chuck Dunlap to follow at 6:30 p.m. Others influenced by Childers are expected to attend as well.

Piccolo said 20 to 30 songs co-written with Childers that have not been finished. He said without Childers there probably would have been no Red Dirt Rangers.

A tribute was recently held at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City and Canada said, “It was weird to see all those people from the Stillwater music scene and not see Bob.”

“I guess the only thing I can say is I miss him.”

        

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