Chuck Ragan is best-known as the frontman for long-running Gainesville, Florida, punk act Hot Water Music. Hot Water Music, while currently on extended hiatus, can be said to be the foremost purveyor of the swampy, dirty, melodic version of punk rock known as the "Gainesville sound." In recent years, though, Ragan has moved toward his solo material, recording acoustic folk-punk under his own name, as well as country music as part of Rumbleseat. In addition, he is one of the inaugural participants in the successful folk-punk touring package the Revival Tour, along with Tim Barry of Avail and Lucero's Ben Nichols.
Ragan is currently on tour, opening for legendary SoCal punks Social Distortion as they promote their new album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. That tour, which also features English punk act Sharks, hits the Beaumont Club tomorrow night, May 3. We spoke with Ragan, from his home among the foothills of the Sierras in California, about his solo material and the well from which draws it.
The Pitch: How did your solo career become your primary focus?
Chuck Ragan: I've done it for many years. In the old days, Hot Water was always the main focus. Then, when we went on hiatus - I think it was sometime around 2004 - the fellows started doing the draft. I just went back to my trade and kind of started working full time, and I would continue writing music. But it was my wife who, after coming in every day after work, and working on songs and music around the house, she was the one who suggested, "Hey, you should go record some of this stuff."
I took a break and just kind of laid some stuff down with a buddy, Mitch Townsend, and from there, it just kept going on. The guys were busy doing the draft, and I was still focused on building my trade, carpentry, than music, in terms of doing it full time and making a living. I was just wanting to write and record songs and just doing it for the fun and whenever I was able to in between work.
It just kept snowballing. SideOne Dummy got interested and wanted to put out some records, and I wanted to record 'em, so we just went for it. And, we've been going full steam ever since.
Most of the songs on that first solo record, Los Feliz, had been previously released as singles on No Idea. Wasn't one or two of them Rumbleseat songs as well?
I'm trying to remember what was even on it. Probably, I think, "California Burritos." Yeah, that was the one you're thinking about.
In terms of your trade -- you're a carpenter?
Sometimes, yeah, nowadays. [He laughs.] I love it. I love to work, and I really, really enjoy just kind of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. What I loved the most is finish carpentry more than any other, but I've had a hand in all sorts of carpentry, from form work to finish work. I love working with good-smelling wood and sharp tools, and going slow and taking my time, just watching it come together.
One of these days, I'd love to sit back and build a guitar and build a rocking chair, then sit down and play it.
Your solo material -- especially Rumbleseat, obviously -- has a country feel. How did you come to that, as opposed to the straightforward rock and roll of Hot Water Music?
For me, a lot of it is just seeping out from stuff I grew up with, you know. I think one way or the other, if you're exposed to or influenced by certain things at a young age, one way or the other, it's going to seep out into whatever you're doing. I grew up in a very or somewhat conservative Baptist household in the Southeast region of the States, and there was a lot of gospel, a lot of church hymns, a lot of bluegrass. On my mother's side of the family, they were all Cajun folks, so we had a lot of Creole music, zydeco, Acadian music. Country, of course, from where we were coming from, so I think it's always been there, even when I learned how to skateboard and got into all kinds of crazy music that sent me in a completely different direction.
I still loved Ralph Stanley and Creedence Clearwater Revival while, at the same time, listening to Bad Brain and the Germs and old Metallica. I don't know, like, it was kind of a strange mix, but I think a lot of it is just always what's felt natural and organic to me.
It's interesting that you now live at the foot of the Sierras there, as California has such a rich history of country rock, with the Byrds and Gram Parsons and such.
There is just a ridiculous amount of wonderful music up here in the foothills where we are. We've got a great community radio station, KBMR, in Nevada City, which is sort of a sister city to Grass Valley, where we live. Just a ton of a music, just a ton of stuff that's always going on. And a lot of it is, you know, folk or Americana. Simple songs -- just simple, acoustic, working-class songs. I love it. I love it. It's just a good place to be.
It seems a lot of people in very loud bands are picking up acoustic instruments and going that way, and you've joined up with some of them as part of the Revival Tour. How did that come about?
Like I was saying before, I think a lot of it came from what we were originally brought up around. I can speak for a lot of us that are out there doing it. A lot of us were playing acoustic songs before we were ever playing electric songs. Either we're raised around that kind of music or that kind of vibe, but I think what attracts a lot of us to it as we get older is, not only is it a lot easier on the back and the ears and it still feels good, but for a lot of us, the ethics aren't anything different than what we were doing when we were out running around with our buddies playing pun- rock shows and playing DIY spaces and squats and you name it.
I think the same thing be said about grassroots folk music as what can be said about grassroots punk rock. It's more of an attitude, and just kind of an ethic or moral than a style or a genre, if that makes any sense to you. It's really simple, really. What I love about it is that it's just stripping everything down. There's not a whole lot to hide behind, and it can be intimidating, but at the same time, completely rewarding to just get up and not have much to hide behind and just kind of cut yourself open and just share what you've got going on. I love the clarity of it. I love simplifying these songs and just clarifying words, and it's just up-front and straightforward.
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