Feast on delicious entrees and snacks from various food trucks at Riverwind Casino's Beats & Bites music and food truck festival. Bring your appetite, family and friends to this free, family-friendly event for an evening filled with amazing live entertainment and the best food from the finest food trucks in the metro area. The final Beats & Bites of 2019 will be Aug. 10 featuring headliner John Michael Montgomery. For more information on Beats & Bites, visit Riverwind Casino’s website at.

byBrandy McDonnell

Cody Canada recognizes the fire when he sees it, whether it’s burning in his own sons or in a young face in the crowd at one of his shows.

“We were in Colorado the other night and Widespread Panic has a bar there, and we were just having some beers and eating some food. And the guy up there singing didn’t know anybody in the room, and he looked at Dierks and goes, ‘Hey, you look like a shredder. You wanna get up and sing a song, play a song?’ He just has it. He has that look, and he got up and played and I told (my wife) Shannon, I said, ‘Man, when I was 13 years old, I was in Yukon with a cowboy hat on standing on the side of the stage begging the band to let me get up and play a Bob Wills song.’ He’s doing exactly what I was doing at the exact same time,” said Canada, whose two sons, Dierks, 13, and Willy, 11, are budding musicians.

Riverwind Casino Beats And Bites 2019 Schedule

“Kyle Nix from the Turnpike Troubadours … he came to our show in Stillwater when he was 9 years old, and now look at him. There’s always gonna be a kid out there that’s hungry … and I’d rather play an all-ages show these days than play any bar.”

The red dirt singer, songwriter and guitarist and his band, The Departed, will return to their home state to headline the latest installment of the COOP Ale Works Beats & Bites Festival, a free, outdoor event for families, Saturday night in Riverwind Casino’s west parking lot.

Rock school

It’s telling that Canada, the former frontman of the seminal red dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed, sounds like a man at peace, even when he’s driving a vanload of adolescents to the airport.

Just a few years ago, Canada said he was losing his voice and dealing with upheaval in his post-Ragweed band The Departed. With their two sons so interested in learning music, his wife and manager, Shannon Canada, suggested they open a School of Rock musical school in their adopted hometown of New Braunfels, Texas.

“Before we got the green light, we kicked it around for about two years. ... Got the go-ahead from the corporate office and here we are, 117 kids later,' he said.

While his wife was working to open their music school, Canada quit smoking cigarettes to save his voice and reworked The Departed as a power trio with bassist/singer Jeremy Plato, his bandmate since Ragweed recorded its first album back in the 1990s, and drummer Eric “Waldo” Hansen, a longtime pal from Stillwater. He reunited with longtime pal Mike McClure, who produced The Departed’s 2018 album “3,” and hit the road with renewed enthusiasm.

Circle of life

His dates with The Departed aren’t the only shows on Canada’s calendar these days. He recently accompanied the New Braunfels School of Rock Haus Band to gigs in Chicago and at Milwaukee’s massive Summerfest.

“There’s three kids in the van right now … all exactly the age that I was whenever got started, and it’s crazy to think about it in that perspective,” Canada said while driving the group to the San Antonio Airport. “Either you burn out or you become the old man, and I would rather become the old man. I mean, I’m only 43 years old, but in 10 years, I’ll be 53 years old and then I will officially be the old man. And it’s gonna start, because they’re getting younger, but when they look up to us ... we have a job to do.”

In the words of some music fans, Canada won the Internet recently when he celebrated the release of rising Texas country star Koe Wetzel’s new album with a “Lion King” “Circle of Life” meme featuring Wetzel as baby Simba and himself as Rafiki.

Riverwind Casino Beats And Bites 2019

Riverwind Casino Beats And Bites 2019 Youtube

“It just feels like everything is coming full circle and I’m very, very at peace with it,” he said.

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Riverwind Casino Beats And Bites 2019 Youtube

COOP Ale Works Beats & Bites Festival

With: Live music by Banana Seat and Cody Canada & The Departed, food trucks, children’s activities and fireworks.

When: 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Where: West parking lot of Riverwind Casino, 1544 State Highway 9, Norman.

Admission: Free.

Information: www.riverwind.com/entertain/beats-bites-stage.

Related Photos

Cody Canada & The Departed is, from left, Jeremy Plato, Canada and Eric “Waldo” Hansen. [Photo provided]

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Brandy McDonnell

Brandy McDonnell, also known by her initials BAM, writes stories and reviews on movies, music, the arts and other aspects of entertainment. She is NewsOK’s top blogger: Her 4-year-old entertainment news blog, BAM’s Blog, has notched more than 1... Read more ›

Did you attend one of our awesome Beats & Bites events last summer? Great news!

Beats & Bites is back!

This year’s events will be packed with great live music, your favorite food trucks, vendors and more. We are excited to have family-friendly Beats & Bites events planned for the summer. Mark your calendars and plan to be there and join the fun of a food truck and music festival right here at Riverwind Casino! We have an amazing lineup of musicians ready to entertain! See below for who will be there for each event.

July 7th

Featuring: Restless Heart

Riverwind Casino Beats And Bites 2019 Schedule

Opening Entertainment - Stars

August 11th

Featuring: Mark Chesnutt

Opening Entertainment - Jason Young Band

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