A legendary name.
There’s no doubt that the alternative country scene is not only the most popular that it’s ever been, but also arguably the most talented as well. While it seems as if the likes of Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson have risen to the top in popularity, countless other acts have proven time and time again that they deserve to be put into these conversations as well. Of course, you can look to the likes of Whiskey Myers, Flatland Cavalry, Colter Wall, Shane Smith & the Saints and more.
Despite there being so much talent, when it comes to who many rank as the best band, chances are a majority of independent country fans will point to the likes of the legendary Oklahoma natives and Red Dirt royalty, the Turnpike Troubadours.
With Turnpike, they hardly need an introduction. The six-piece band, currently consisting of frontman Evan Felker, Kyle Nix (fiddle), RC Edwards (bass), Ryan Engleman (guitar), Gabe Pearson (drums) and Hank Early (multi-instrumentalist), got its start back in 2005 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, being founded by Felker and Edwards.
After self-producing their debut album, Bossier City, in 2005, which never got an official release, they’d drop their first official record, Diamonds & Gasoline, in 2010. Since then, they’ve gone on to release an additional five records, including 2017’s A Long Way from Your Heart, 2023’s A Cat in the Rain, their “comeback” album after a lengthy hiatus, and 2025’s The Price of Admission, which has proven to be one of their most commercially successful projects to date.
With six albums’ worth of what can only be described as brilliance over the past 15 years, the Oklahomans have proven time and time again why many (myself included) view them as the greatest country band of all time. Simply put, they’re everything you want out of a modern country band. Between Felker’s masterful writing ability, Nix’s brilliant fiddle work on each album, Edward’s equally stellar songwriting and bass work and Ryan Engleman’s always-slick guitar riffs, Turnpike is the quintessential country band of the 21st century.
Given their importance to so many of today’s hottest stars in the alternative country scene, influencing the likes of Zach Bryan, Flatland Cavalry, Wyatt Flores, Dylan Gossett, Muscadine Bloodline, Waylon Wyatt and many more, their name carries a heavy weight in the genre.
The question that remains is, “How did they get their iconic name?” In a recent conversation with Poncho Outdoors, Felker would reveal what inspired both aspects of “Turnpike” and “Troubadours.”
For “Turnpike,” Felker and Co. landed on that as an ode to their Oklahoman roots. Unlike a majority of U.S. states, Oklahoma labels a majority of their toll roads not as expressways or tollways, but instead as turnpikes. In particular, the name serves as a reference to the Indian Nation Turnpike, a 105.2-mile, four-lane road that runs north-south from I-40, US 62, and US 75, which was the main road Felker took growing up in Wright City in southeastern Oklahoma.
“We went up and down the Indian Nation Turnpike to start out with. That was sort of how you got back and forth from where I grew up to any sort of civilization if you’re going north.”
As for “Troubadours,” obviously it is in reference to historical term for a poet and songwriter. However, Felker would point to none other than Steve Earle, the legendary Texas songwriter who has penned tracks like “Copperhead Road,” “Guitar Town” and “The Galway Girl” as an inspiration behind the choice.
“It was probably to do with Steve Earle — him being the hardcore troubadour. That moniker had the biggest impact on probably our band name.”
Additionally, Felker would reveal that Earle was one of the key artists that brought him into country music as a teenager, noting the impact his 2000 album, Transcendental Blues, had on him as fan of music and artist.
“Steve Earle is such a cool one, because he’s what brought me into country music as a young man. It was sort of music for my parents or whatever up until I was 16 maybe. Then I remember when ‘Transcendental Blues’ came out and that song was on the radio. And then ‘Galway Girl’ was on there. There was all this Irish stuff, and it was like the gateway drug for me to go from sort of rock and roll to being in love with music that you could play in a room with mandolins and fiddles and banjos and stuff like that… That really is what solidified me into country music and folk music and sort of being a singer/songwriter in that vein — roots music.”
If you’re a big fan of Turnpike, you’ll have to thank Steve Earle for sparking the creation of the best country band of all time.
Watch the full conversation here:
