Get Dirt-y

Red dirt has never been much of a draw for me. When man-made waterfalls were turned on in my hometown, they bubbled over with red dirt, and I summarily avoided the site for years. I avoided hitting the ball for my fifth-grade softball team out of fear that I would have to slide through red dirt. And so, the 2nd Annual Red Dirt Roundup is pretty much an automatic turn-off to me…at least on paper. But there are lots of pictures (82, to be precise) of last year's Roundup on the Web site, and frankly, I don't see a lot of red dirt. No bandannas over people's faces guarding from it, no billowing clouds of the substance on the horizon; just a bunch of trucker hats and Bacardi girls. It's suspiciously absent, considering that the pre-Labor Day event is held in the Fort Worth Stockyards, which should inherently have cubic tons of the stuff. I guess when you get down to it, though, the big draw is supposed to be the music. That makes sense, considering the Roundup features acts such as The Black Crowes, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Gary Allan, Son Volt, Chris Knight, Stoney LaRue, Wade Bowen, No Justice, Micky and the Motorcars, and Darren Kozelsky. You can bring the kids, spread a blanket (over the red dirt, ostensibly) and enjoy some serious steel guitar and a couple of Bud Lights. Tickets are $30 in advance (available from Ticketmaster) and $40 at the gate. The first band hits the stage at noon, and the last goes on at 11 p.m. The Red Dirt Roundup will be held at the North Texas Forty, adjacent to Billy Bob's (2520 Rodeo Drive) in the Stockyards. Visit ccrreddirtroundup.com for more information.
Sun., Sept. 2, noon