Cody Canada & the Departed

Band Members: Cody Canada, Jeremy Plato, Eric Hansen – Years at The MusicFest: 11 (Canada & Plato: 20), Releases: 3 (2018), HippieLovePunk (2015), Adventus (2012), This is Indian Land (2011)

A road warrior and prolific songwriter, Cody Canada was the frontman and primary song writer of Cross Canadian Ragweed, a wildly influential band that dominated the Texas Red Dirt scene for more than fifteen years. Their music reached far beyond the genre’s borders, selling millions of albums and playing for huge audiences across the country. In 2011, Canada formed The Departed. With their latest studio album 3, he nods to his former band’s glory days, brewing up a sound that’s inspired by outlaw country icons of the 1970s and rock bands of the 1990s. He also found inspiration in his bandmates: bass player Jeremy Plato (who’s played alongside Canada for decades, beginning with Cross Canadian Ragweed’s first album) and drummer Eric Hansen (a longtime friend celebrating his third year with the band). 3 represents the Departed’s most uplifting album to date — a result of Cody Canada’s own attitude toward his life and his band. “I’m a fan of love,” he says unapologetically. “I love my wife. I love my kids. I love my friends. These songs come out of the good times and the bad times, but the recurring theme is me finding my happy area. I’ve finally found comfort in who I am. My band is where it needs to be. I don’t need to fight it.”