Event

Bob Childers Tribute

The Wednesday, July 8 concert to officially open the 18th Annual WoodyFest will be a tribute to the late Bob Childers. Childers, who died on April 22, 2008, was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame six months after his death and is often referred to as the godfather of Red Dirt Music.

Childers was a regular at WoodyFest before his death. At the 10th annual festival in 2007 - which was Childers' last - seven "10-year artists" who had participated every year since the festival's inception - performed at a benefit show titled "In the Spirit of Woody Guthrie". Artists honored that night were Jimmy LaFave, Don Conoscenti, Ellis Paul, Joel Rafael, Terry "Buffalo" Ware, the Red Dirt Rangers, and Childers.

Five years prior to his death, Childers was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Awards Red Dirt Hall of Fame. In an interview with The Current in 2007, Childers said of his songwriting, "I just keep it honest and keep it simple." Even before the release of the tribute box-set Restless Spirits, Childers' influence on other song writers was pervasive. The Tulsa World reported that Bob Childers songs have been recorded by more than 200 artists.

Confirmed performers for the Bob Childers Tribute include The Red Dirt Rangers, John Fullbright, Butch Hancock, Michael Fracasso, The Burns Sisters, Kevin & Dustin Welch, Susan Herndon, Gabe Marshall, Miss Brown to You, Kierston White, Bryon White, Monica Taylor, Wink Burcham, Rick Reilly, Joe Baxter AND Terry "Buffalo" Ware and the
Oklahoma Geniuses!

Tickets for the Bob Childers Tribute are available online until 6/25/2015. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

Woody Guthrie Folk Festival 3-Day Passes (July 9-11) can also be purchased online until 6/25/2015 on Brown Paper Tickets.