The soil in Oklahoma is rich in iron oxide that gives it a rusty tint the locals call red dirt.

The term has also lent itself to a brand of Americana music that comes from the area around Stillwater, Okla., a style that encompasses artists as diverse as the "Dylan of the dust" Bob Childers, honky-tonker Jason Boland and country rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed.

"There was just a lot of good music in Oklahoma," says CCR's rhythm guitarist Grady Cross. "I don't know why it happened where it did, when it did, but I'm sure glad it did."

Cross and his bandmates -- drummer Randy Ragsdale, lead guitarist and vocalist Cody Canada, and bassist Jeremy Plato -- will play tonight at the opening of the three-day Snowden Grove Music & Bike Rally.

The musicians knew each other as school children in Stillwater and first formed a band together in high school. The group took its current name by combining the names of Cross, Canada and Ragsdale, inexplicably leaving Plato out.

"I don't know why he got left out," says Cross, genuinely befuddled. "Shoot, he's the most talented one in the band."

CCR honed their chops on a fertile local scene. "There was a lot of good music around Stillwater then," says Cross.

In 1998, CCR released its first indie album, the rightly beloved Carney, a raucous set of country rock that got the band its first national attention. Cross says the band recently listened to Carney together for the first time in years, hoping to revisit some of the material from their indie-label days for possible inclusion on their next Universal Records release.

Carney was recorded on the cheap in a Stillwater house during whatever hours the band could free up. In contrast, CCR's most recent effort, last year's Top 40 release Mission California, was a much more relaxed, assured production.

"There's no comparison as far as studio-wise, just getting older and more experienced as a band, and friendship-wise," Cross says. "We had a full month to just go out there and completely focus on the record. We rented a house in San Diego and lived it. On Carney, not to say we didn't live it, but we'd get off work, drive up to Stillwater, drive home at 1 in the morning, go back to work at 7. We did that for a while. This one just had more focus."

The first single on Mission California, however, brought the band back to the days before they had become Cross Canadian Ragweed. Their cover of Todd Snider's "I Believe You" was the second time they'd covered a song by the former Memphian and Oklahoman.

"Todd Snider is probably one of the bigger inspirations in our lives," says Cross. "Before Carney we were the Todd Snider Band. Todd Snider and Ian Moore, we did all their covers. Musically, Todd Snider and the Nervous Wrecks, they used to melt our faces off. He asked us one time if we could be his band and we said, 'We got it. We used to do all your tunes.'"

IF YOU GO

Snowden Grove Music and Bike Rally

Today through Sunday at Snowden Grove Amphitheater, Southaven

TODAY

Gates open at 4 p.m. Music by Kansas, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Bad Company's Brian Howe, Blind Melon

SATURDAY

Gates open at 3 p.m. Music by Saliva, Drivin' 'N' Cryin', Blackfoot, Aquanet, Surrender the Fall

SUNDAY

Gates open at 2 p.m. Music by Charlie Daniels Band, .38 Special, Gabby Johnson

Tickets: $20 general admission lawn seating, $30 reserved seats. Three-day passes available for $37.50 (lawn) and $47.50 (reserved). Tickets available at the Snowden Grove box office and Ticketmaster, including by phone at (901) 525-1515 and online at ticketmaster.com.

For more information, go to snowdengroveamphitheater.com or tcbconcerts.com.