The Red Dirt Music scene lost a pillar in the music family when William “Red Dirt Randy” Hare passed away from complications of diabetes on November 24, 2021. Randy follows his mom and dad, Margaret and Lanny Hare in death. He is survived by his two sisters, Melissa and Nancy, and brother Mike, sister-in-law Heather, four nieces and nephews Andrew, Andrew, Ellie and Allie.

Anyone who has spent time at Red Dirt and Texas Country concerts and festivals is familiar with Red Dirt Randy and his place in the community. He’s been a staple and local celebrity for years, making appearances all around the surrounding states at various music events. Randy was a true representation of a music fan, supporting musicians and venues of all varieties, big or small. He made great friends with many of the artists along the way, and was often found on stage playing a harmonica, tambourine or just singing along.

Randy was well known for his stellar dance moves, including dropping down and doing the worm at any given time during a music event. He would twirl all the pretty ladies around the dance floor and keeping up with his energy and excitement was a feat.

Randy was often stopped and asked for photos with people, which he gladly would do for anyone and everyone. Randy was always happy to chat with anyone who wanted to, and would excitedly pull out his phone and show you all the concerts he had been to lately and all the music he had seen. He thrived off of the people and the music, it gave him life in a way that it only can for those that feel the music in their souls.

Randy was the real deal when it came to his love of the music scene. He was quirky and eccentric, but in an authentic way that represented his own tastes and who he was as a person. He may have been a character, so to speak, but it was in a genuine way. It was never an act or just something to do, it was a way of life that Randy embraced wholeheartedly. Randy made friends wherever he went, he loved the people of the scene as much as he loved the music. He’s also a testament to how the fans are just as important as the artists in this scene.

Many artists and fans paid their respects on social media upon his passing, showing how important and loved he was within the community. Many different artists in the scene left touching stories about Randy, and can be found on his social media pages, along with hundreds of amazing photos through the years. There are social media pages both under Red Dirt Randy (which someone else manages for him), and his personal ones under William Hare.

While many of the music family knew of his passion in the scene, not many knew who he really was beyond the music scene. Randy grew up in Midwest City and graduated from Midwest City High School. He played clarinet in the school band. He was a part of a boy’s music group called The Rasin’s in his youth, where his dancing skills were put to good use. After graduating college, Randy served in the Marines.

Afterwards Randy was a healthcare worker assisting mentally and physically challenged individuals, which was his second love in life after music. He had been in that profession for well over a decade and was still his profession when he passed away. His supervisor at work, Chris Serafino, spoke at his memorial and recalled how dedicated he was to his work, and how great he was at it.

Randy was also an active member of the Twelve Step Program, and an active member of his AA group, where he encouraged many others through the years. He was proud of his 38 continuous years of sobriety and would eagerly tell everyone around how if he could do it, so could they. For a man that spent a large chunk of his time in bars and surrounded by alcohol, it’s a true testament that you don’t have to drink or do drugs to enjoy the scene.

Childhood friend John Carpenter shared this about Randy:

“What a blow to learn of the passing of my longtime friend and high school classmate, Randy Hare. We first met in 1966, in 7th grade band class at Monroney Jr. High in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Randy and I had the misfortune of playing the clarinet. There is nothing wrong with a clarinet, in fact, our band had several excellent musicians. It is just that neither one of us were very good players. For one thing, neither of us bothered practicing.

We had a band director at Monroney, Guy Burkhart, who had a military background and was a stern disciplinarian. Randy and I both got to experience his paddle on occasion-and Mr. Burkhart could swing that paddle as hard as any football coach! Our school was pretty good sized and just the clarinet section had 32 seats. (First chair being the best in the band and 32nd being the worst). Randy and I always sat next to each other in either the 31st or 32nd chair.

One thing I learned early on about Randy; while most people operated at 33 or 45 rpm, Randy was 78 rpm all the way. He couldn't keep still and was constantly on the move. He would become bored easily and would do whatever it took to expel drudgery from any experience. The band might be in the middle of "When the Saints Go Marching In," and Randy would go off on his own solo, a la Benny Goodman! The whole band would be playing with all the different instruments, but Mr. Burkhart could detect that something just wasn't right. He would look around the room and, since I was always on the verge of busting into hysterics at Randy's antics, I would have to stop playing myself and just pretend I was playing. Somehow, Randy never got caught and band class was never a boring place with him in it.

Even with our dismal performance in band, Randy and I bonded over music. In high school while other guys spent most of their time discussing girls, cars, and sports, Randy and I would be off in some corner talking about the latest Creedence Clearwater Revival album. I remember being at a party in high school and we basically took over the stereo. We played "Hello, Mary Lou" by Creedence over and over, until our host begged us to stop. Another thing some people missed about Randy, he was extremely smart. He knew music sure enough, but he also could talk politics, history, and current events. I am sure he read books as fast as he did everything else.

Concerts were another thing we had in common. On June 24, 1972, I traveled to Ft. Worth, Texas, with Charlie Matthews and Randy Hare. The purpose of our journey was to see the Rolling Stones at the Tarrant County Convention Center. Looking back, it seems like our trip was a kind of rite of passage. We had all graduated from high school a month earlier and we had college, careers, and hopefully long lives all ahead. I was just 17 years old but it was probably the biggest event I had ever attended up to that point.

We left Midwest City on the morning of the 24th as our tickets were for the 3:00 p.m. early show. There was to be a 2nd show that evening at 8:00. Charlie was driving a souped up SS 396 but the price of gas was no issue in that era, approx. 36 cents a gallon. During the trip down we consumed 3 or 4 boxes of Screaming Yellow Zonkers (not an illegal drug for any young readers but actually candy covered popcorn). And, speaking of drugs, it should be noted that Texas in 1972 was not a friendly state for hemp aficionados. In 1972, marijuana was still considered a narcotic by the State of Texas. Possession of ANY amount of marijuana was a felony, and possession of more than a few joints could trigger a sentence of 10 years to Life. Texas at the time was the only state in the nation in which you could be sentenced to life imprisonment for possession of marijuana. My memory is vague as to any inhaling by our young group during the trip, but if it did occur I am sure it was on the Oklahoma side of the border!

We arrived an hour or so before the show started and found our way to our seats. We weren't seated on the floor but our $6 tickets got us pretty close. Knowing the Texas stringent marijuana laws I was somewhat surprised by the amount of smoke in the arena and the continual smoking that went on during the concert. A guy sitting next to me in a Texas University shirt was smoking joints as fast as he could roll them up. I asked him if he was worried about getting busted and he assured me that no Texas cops would attempt an arrest in that crowd. I think he was right because there was no police intrusion during the concert and the audience was well behaved.

The Rolling Stones, at that time, were probably at the peak of their career. They played several songs off their new album, Exile on Main Street, including their homage to Angela Davis, "Sweet Black Angel." In their long career, it is the only time they ever performed the song. For their encore, Stevie Wonder, one of the opening acts, came back out and joined the Stones for "Satisfaction."

Later that year, I remember Randy and I went to the Oklahoma State Fair and saw another one of our heroes in concert, Ricky Nelson. I also remember we went to see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Michael Martin Murphey around that time.

In high school, Randy would be at all the parties, and like most of us back then we would drink beer or whatever. At some point after college years, I could tell that Randy was getting too deep into alcohol. To his credit, he got sober and started attending AA meetings and was sober for the last half of his life. He was very proud of his sobriety and I know he helped a lot of others out with their issues. One of our classmates contacted me after he passed and told me she had been in Drug Recovery Inc. and Randy had somehow got permission to go visit her (according to her something not usually done) and had really been encouraging and supportive to her at a time she really needed it.

Eventually, I went off to college and I had heard Randy had moved to Colorado. We didn't see each other for some time until our 30th class reunion in 2002. After that, he was apparently back in our area and I would run into him at concerts; Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, and always at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival each year in Okemah, Oklahoma. Randy became a fixture in the Oklahoma music scene known as "Red Dirt Randy." He would usually set up near the stage of a show and spend the whole show in a kind of free form dance. He knew most of the performers and many times would be invited up on stage to bang a tambourine, play a harmonica, or even to sing a verse of a song.

Our 50th High School Reunion is going to be next year and without Randy being there it just won't seem right. I think I will really feel his loss next month. I purchased tickets last night for bluesman Gary Clark Jr.'s show in Oklahoma City. I am positive Randy would have been there dancing at the side of the stage like I saw him do so many times. He will be missed.”

A touching memorial was held for Randy at Regional Park on December 19th, where long time friend Joey Buckley officiated, and at least half a dozen people got up to speak about Randy and his place in their lives. Randy’s brother Mike Hare coordinated the event, and oversaw all of Randy’s affairs after his death.

Mike said there had to have been over 3000 CDs, over 1000 band T-shirts, and thousands of dollars’ worth of music merch and memorabilia that Randy left behind. Many of them signed, unopened, or never worn. He also owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cowboy hats, all in boxes, stacked up the entire side of one wall. Red Dirt Randy was the real deal, he supported the musicians that he loved, he always bought the merch and he always showed up. It didn’t matter if there were 5 people or 500 people in the crowd, if he was able to make a show, he did. That kind of dedication and support of this scene is impressive and honorable, and Randy deserves his title more than anyone else around.

“Randy lived life on his own terms and truly loved everybody. Randy lived, he really lived,” said Joey Buckley.

I attended the memorial with my co-host Leah Rae of the Backstage Queens, where we recorded a podcast episode of the memorial as well as interviews with Randy’s siblings Mike and Melissa. Stay tuned for that. We are also going to make a t-shirt quilt using some of Randy’s band shirts he collected over the years, and auction it off with the proceeds going to the Red Dirt Relief fund, so stay tuned for that as well.

I had known Randy for over a decade and got to have many conversations and dances with him through the years. But these are my favorite photos of him, with my kids, at a festival in 2011.

He was the tie-dyed caped hero none of us even knew we needed until he was there, and now none of us will ever be able to forget now that he is gone. Rest in peace dear friend. Save me a seat, I’ll be there someday.

The Man, the Myth, the Red Dirt Caped Legend: A Tribute to Red Dirt Randy