Almost Almost Famous: The Tall Tales Behind the Stories from a Lifetime Spent Chasing Roots Music

by Josh Crutchmer, Andrea Hancock (Editor), Shelby Stone (Foreword)

(Almost) Almost Famous is a collection of stories, essays and memories showcasing Red Dirt, Americana, roots rock and independent country music through the eyes and notes of journalist Josh Crutchmer. The These are tales from my days in the wings, behind the scenes, and in the crowd. We’ll dodge an Oklahoma summer storm with Wyatt Flores and stumble upon the news of last year’s Cross Canadian Ragweed reunion in the most random way possible. I’ll tell you about how an act of professionalism with Turnpike Troubadours changed everything for me. We’ll assess the bandwagon of Kaitlin Butts and smoke weed with Margo Price. Vandoliers and Jenni Rose will tug at your heartstrings, and we’ll walk through a new record with Ryan Bingham. We’ll go catfish noodling with Koe Wetzel and into the studio with Whiskey Myers. We’ll ride Charley Crockett’s bus after the Houston Rodeo, and we’ll learn how to navigate independent music from American Aquarium. (We may have a word for those who don’t exactly enjoy our work, too). There will be The book turns serious by including the final interview given by the late Todd Snider. It also features a catch-up with the iconic Robert Earl Keen at age 70.

200 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2026

About the author

Josh Crutchmer is an author and journalist covering American roots music. He covered the rise to prominence of Cross Canadian Ragweed for The Oklahoman and the band’s final show in 2010 for an entertainment arm of The Chicago Tribune. During the process of writing Red Dirt Unplugged, Crutchmer also chronicled Wyatt Flores’s 2024 rise and struggles in a New York Times profile, and later stumbled upon the news of The Boys From Oklahoma concerts and 2025 Cross Canadian Ragweed reunion — breaking that with an exclusive interview in Rolling Stone and turning the tale into Never Say Never in 2025.

He is best known for his 2020 book, Red Dirt, but his career predates Red Dirt by 20 years. He was tapped to write obituaries for Merle Haggard and George Jones for The Plain Dealer and Nashville City Paper, respectively. Today, he is a regular contributor to Rolling Stone.

Today, Crutchmer is the planning editor at The New York Times, responsible for the organization of the newspaper as well as the look and content of the Times’ front page — and he gets the occasional byline. Prior to joining the Times, he was the assistant managing editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland where he oversaw production of the coverage from the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Previously, he worked at The Chicago Tribune, The Buffalo News, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Omaha World-Herald, The Arizona Republic, and The Oklahoman.

A native Oklahoman and graduate of Oklahoma State University, Mr. Crutchmer has had a close relationship to the state’s Red Dirt Music scene since 2000. His experience in Red Dirt extends not just to the artists but to the crew members, sound engineers, bar owners and tour managers behind the scenes whose efforts embody what it means to live and work with a love of music.

Reviews

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Near the end of this book the author says “Whatever you call this, it was not a memoir.” Okay. Amazon lists it in a couple genres involving music history and music essays. Hmm. Well, if a memoir and a musical history had a baby … you’d get something like this. I’ve read all of Josh Crutchmer’s books, but this is my favorite one, at least so far. All of them talk about music acts from the music scenes Josh focuses on, and while a music journalist, Josh is also a fan. That comes through and as a fan of the kind of music he focuses on, both the stories of the artists and the experience from a fan’s point of view made the read that much better. That I was on my way halfway across the country to see a concert with multiple acts that get mentioned in this book as I was reading the last part of it just amped things up that much more. While that addition is unique to me, I guarantee that readers who are fans of the music from the Red Dirt and Texas music scenes will love the new insights this book will give them.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **