The History Of Red Dirt Book

Most people that know me personally are well aware that I am working on a book about the history of the red dirt music scene, which is something near and dear to my heart. Lots of people ask me how it's going and when will the book be out, so I figure a blog post is in order.

I have been working on this book for just over a year. It all started when I was trying to explain to someone who had never been into the red dirt scene, what red dirt exactly was. Which if you have ever tried to define and explain it, you will know it's something not easily done. I was also writing articles at the time for Red Dirt Nation and asked if they would be interested in me writing an article about what red dirt was, and they agreed. When I started researching and compiling all of the information I quickly realized that it was going to take way more than one article to fully explain what it was, and also that to fully explain what it was you really needed to know the history and how it came to be. So that started a series of articles, which quickly became the idea for the book. 

I have been collecting stories and interviews from anyone and everyone in the red dirt scene who would sit down and talk to me for over a year now. I have dozens and dozens. The hard part is getting them all transcribed, which is a painstakingly lengthy process. That's what is holding up the book right now, I just need to take the time to get all of them transcribed and then put them all in order and in place. Being a single momma of 3 kids who juggles several different jobs and projects (like this website and the book), I have a habit of having too many irons in the fire and not enough of me to go around. I'm trying to get to a place where I can carve out dedicated time to work on the book on a consistent basis and get it done in the next few months. It's a goal anyway.

I'm excited to get it out there, because it is something that I have a passion for and that I find fascinating. Part of the fun of writing the book has been getting to research and find all of the information and collect all of the stories. I absolutely love it.

I'm also going to be posting my "what is red dirt" articles that were featured on Red Dirt Nation here at OkieLand soon, so watch for those. Even if you have read them before, they are worth another read. Our music scene is so rich and layered and amazing. I'm beyond grateful to be a part of it and to get to experience all of the things I do because I am so immersed into the scene. The red dirt adventures I have gotten to go on have been nothing short of magical for me. It has been my own red dirt rabbit hole, and I have claimed the title of red dirt queen of hearts simply because I love it all so much.

So there ya go, there is the update on the book. Hopefully you guys will have it in hand by the end of the year.