Born to Howard and Rhea Childers, Bob Childers is often called the godfather of red dirt music, or “Dylan in the dust” for his primary role in establishing the red dirt genre of Oklahoma music, a combination of folk, blues, rock, and country that has a unique Oklahoma lyrical sensibility. After beginning guitar at age 16, Bob graduated high school in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and studied music at the University of California – Berkley. Childers began traveling the country and before settling in Stillwater upon hearing a local musician, Chuck Dunlap, one of the first Stillwater musicians to release music that embraces the multi-genre facets of red dirt music. Childers emerged nationally in 1979 with his debut album titled “I Ain’t No Jukebox”, which he recorded with help from his friend, another red dirt luminary, Jimmy LaFave. The album received many positive reviews and led Childers to touring nation-wide. His second release in 1982 “Singing Trees, Dancing Waters” gained him enough critical attention for a gig at the White House in Washington, D.C. and enough confidence to move to Nashville in 1986. From 1986 through 2000 Childers recorded and released five more albums that include: “Four Horsemen” and “King David’s Lamet” (1996), “Circles Toward the Sun” (1991), “Nothin More Natural” 1996), “Hat Trick” (1999), and “La Vita e Bella – Outtakes, Demos and Jams 1980-1988” (2000). His return to Oklahoma facilitated collaboration with other red dirt artist, to include “Dirt & Spirit with The Great Divide” (1999), “Two Buffalos Walking – Live At the Blue Door with Terry Buffalo Ware” (2003), “Kindred Spirits” with Randy Crouch (2004), and “Ride for the Cimarron” with Jason Boland and the Stragglers (2006). By HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004" \o "2004" 2004 Childers health was in decline. Compiled as a benefit to assist Childers, the three-CD album, "Restless Spirits" featuring tracks from over 50 performers who donated their own versions of Childers' own songs. Before Childers’ passing he had been inducted into both the Oklahoma Music Awards "Red Dirt" Hall of Fame and the Woody Guthrie Festival Hall of Fame.