Gypsy Cafe festival raises more than $30K for fund
STILLWATER — John Cooper is accustomed to the unpredictability of Oklahoma’s weather, but he was a bit concerned when this year’s late storm season rolled in just in time for the Bob Childers’ Gypsy Cafe.
“I was worried about the weather. I was worried about a lot of stuff. But I feel like we’re at the point where people know what we’re up to, and they’re helping,” said Cooper, a member of the venerable Payne County band the Red Dirt Rangers. “I think what we’re doing is the right thing, and if you do the right thing, people will help you do it. I just believe that.”
Despite the stormy weather, the May 2 songwriters festival, now in its seventh year, made more than it ever has. The one-night event, which brought together more than 60 Oklahoma musicians to play 18 sets across three beloved Stillwater venues, raised $30,044.
Named for the late Bob Childers, the Oklahoma songwriter known as the “godfather of red dirt music,” and the fanciful nickname for a shed on the grounds of The Farm, the Stillwater homestead recognized as the birthplace of red dirt music, the Bob Childers’ Gypsy Cafe is Oklahoma’s largest songwriters festival.
But it’s also the biggest annual fundraiser for the Red Dirt Relief Fund, which provides a safety net of critical assistance for Oklahomans in the music business in times of need.
“Because of the sponsorship dollars that help us put it on and because the musicians donate their time, we can put all of that into the fund to make those grants to individual musicians. That fully funds 15 grants,” said Katie Dale, the executive director of the Red Dirt Relief Fund. “It’s very exciting.”
Going with Plan B
With stormy weather predicted for the May 2 event, organizers made the call well in advance to move outdoor stages at Eskimo Joe’s and Stonewall Tavern inside and started getting the word out to fans.
“You know how it is here, you could have the most stellar day of the year on Jan. 12. Or, it could be the worst possible day ever on June 15. In Oklahoma, anytime you’re outdoors, you’re rolling the dice, and that’s just the way it is. But I think people around here understand that, and you make arrangements. You have a Plan B — and maybe a Plan C and D, as far as that goes,” Cooper, a member of the board of directors of the Red Dirt Relief Fund, said with a laugh.
“You do something long enough, and you kind of start figuring it out. This was Year 7 for us, and this thing has morphed a lot from the original. … But it would not happen without Katie Dale. There is no way. She is the driving force. She gets things done.”
Although attendance was down from previous years because of the weather, Dale said walkup student ticket sales actually outpaced past editions of the Gypsy Cafe. Even better, the event raised more money.
“It was a great surprise. Part of what happened is that we had some really generous donors,” she said. “Those were a couple of key pieces of that puzzle that helped us get to that number, even though we didn’t sell as many tickets as we have in years past.”
Shawnee’s Grand Casino offered a $5,000 matching grant the event met through ticket and merchandise sales, and the organizers of Stillwater’s Tumbleweed Calf Fry for the first time offered a ticket package for both music fests, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Gypsy Cafe.
In addition, Stillwater artist Nathan McCray turned a guitar into a work of art by painting a portrait of red dirt singersongwriter Brandon Jenkins on it. The guitar sold for $6,000 in a live auction from the stage at Eskimo Joe’s.
“There was a big outpouring for Brandon this year. I just think that was part of it, as well,” Cooper said.
A Tulsa native based in Nashville, Tennessee, Jenkins was posthumously honored as the second recipient of the annual Restless Spirit Award at the Gypsy Cafe. He died in March at 48 after suffering complications during a heart operation. His mother, Wilma Jenkins, accepted the award on his behalf at the Stillwater festival.
“For everyone who was able to come and be a part of the festival, it was still really great sets with lots of really fantastic music. It was a really beautiful moment with Wilma Jenkins when she accepted the Restless Spirit on Brandon’s behalf. It was still what we set out to accomplish, just in a different format in terms of the space that we were working with. But the show goes on,” Dale said. “It was just a little more intimate this year than it has been in years past.”
Honoring up-andcoming songwriters
The festival’s inaugural Jimmy LaFave Songwriting Contest also brought in additional funds from a donor, Dale said, while giving the Gypsy Cafe another chance to showcase up-and-coming Oklahoma songwriters.
Before the festival, a panel of judges narrowed a field of more than 40 songs down to four finalists: Jason Scott’s “She Good to Me,” Sophia Babb’s “If I Were a Ghost,” Ken Pomeroy’s “The Sidewalk Song” and Emily Faith’s “Silver Bullets.”
The finalists played their songs for a live audience at a special showcase May 1 at Willies Saloon in Stillwater, and Pomeroy, 15, of Moore, was named the winner, earning $500 and a spot in the Gypsy Cafe lineup alongside two seasoned red dirt music standouts.
“It felt so much like the very first time we did Gypsy Cafe when Parker Millsap showed up. Or, I think it was the third or fourth year when Kaitlin Butts showed up, and they were just getting started. And it felt so much like that for Ken Pomeroy to be there. Her set was with Stoney (LaRue) and Bo Phillips, who are brothers, and they, of course, were very cordial and kind and welcoming,” Dale said.
“That’s really why we’re doing this thing in the first place is to help build and take care of our community of musicians. So, it was very special to us, and hopefully it was for her, too.”
For Cooper, it was encouraging that the music and the cause have come to mean enough to people that even stormy weather couldn’t damage this year’s Gypsy Cafe.
“Although I love the event and it’s really special, people are willing to give whether they’re going to be there or not. They want to find a way to help,” he said.
“When we tell people that we’ve given away over $80,000 in grants, they’re pretty blown away. … A lot of people still don’t know about the Red Dirt Relief Fund … but I think people realize how important music is to the culture of Oklahoma.”
The Red Dirt Relief Fund’s board already is planning its fall fundraising event, the third annual Tom Skinner Skyline Music Fest, set for Oct. 14 in Tulsa. For more information, go to www. reddirtrelieffund.org.