I love this man. I don’t say that about many men. I have known him for over 10 years now and I have never heard a negative word spill from his mouth. He is a positive force and has a gigantic heart. The minutes I get to spend with him when he passes through town are sacred. We drank Pabst Blue Ribbon and sipped on Jameson. A good time was had.
Dry Ink: How are things?
Chuck Ragan: Good, great. Life is good, work is good, the wife is good.
DI: One thing at a time. How is work?
CR: Good, I am a carpenter during the day and I write songs at night. I work for myself. I have a great crew of guys working with me. I’ve always loved building things and just working with my hands. It also allows me to take time off to do small tours which is great.
DI: And your other work?
CR: My music is going better than ever. Having fun.
DI: I love the video you did for “Do You Pray” off your last record Feast or Famine.
CR: Thanks. It’s just video footage of my everyday life. It’s me working with wood, driving my truck to the jobsite, hanging out with my wife Jill, fishing and playing music. It’s everything that is important to me. My favorite things.
DI: And you had several guests on Feast or Famine?
CR: Ted Hutt produced it and played several instruments on it. Nathan Maxwell and Matt Hensley from Flogging Molly played on it. James Fearnley from The Pogues played on it.
DI: That is amazing. How did that happen?
CR: It all happened so fast… it was surreal. Ted the producer suggested he come in and play accordion; he’s friends with him. He was wearing a suit and was very professional. He shook everyone’s hand and listened to the tracks, was very friendly, then played his parts and left. It was unbelievable.
DI: And you just recorded another record?
CR: Yeah, we went and recorded a record with a great guy named Austin Lucas; a talented songwriter. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. His dad Bob came in and played with us along with some other great bluegrass musicians. Jon Gaunt who is playing with me tonight played on it also. The record will be called Bristle Ridge. We had so much fun with it. And the result is a haunting and almost gospel album.
DI: I can not wait to hear it. And who will be putting it out?
CR: We are. My wife Jill and I are going to start our own little mom and pop label. It’ll be called Ten Four Records.
DI: And Hot Water Music is doing some reunion shows?
CR: Yeah, we did a small unannounced show in
DI: And how did that go?
CR: Amazing. I can not explain how well it went. We are very lucky people. It felt like we were kids playing some of our early basement shows but there were two thousand people there to see it. The crowd went nuts and I was grinning from ear to ear.
DI: Will there be more Hot Water Music shows in the future?
CR: Nothing is impossible. We are just doing these few shows right now and enjoying every minute of it. I am best friends with those guys and consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have played in a band with them. I really am enjoying doing what I am doing now, though.
DI: I think the stuff you are doing now is your best yet.
DI: And you are doing some acoustic shows in between the Hot Water Music shows?
CR: Yes, me and my wife are driving a lot of the merchandise and equipment so we booked some solo shows in between.
DI: And Ben Nichols from Lucero is doing these shows with you?
CR: Yeah, Lucero is playing with Hot Water Music in
DI: He is awesome. You guys together are a perfect bill.
CR: Well thanks, you are right, he is awesome.
DI: Well it seems that you have it all. You have a job that you love, a great woman, building, fishing and being more prolific as a songwriter then ever. What else is on your plate?
CR: More of the same. I am content. Maybe some more fishing. Cheers.
Tom Cheshire is the publisher of Dry Ink. Write to him at tom@dryinkmag.com
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