Chuck Ragan
Gold Country - September 1, 2009
For most of us the phrase Gold Country evokes memories of the 49ers who flocked to California by boat and covered wagon in order to seek fortune for themselves and their families. Chuck Ragan’s latest disc may be coming out a few lifetimes after the gold rush of the mid-nineteenth century, however there’s a timeless quality to the album that embodies the hope and hard work that helped define that period in the American consciousness. That has a lot to do with the fact that there’s nothing preconceived about Gold Country. It’s simply the sound of a talented songwriter doing what his kind has been doing for centuries: playing simple songs alongside a close group of friends not for hope of financial gains, but because he literally has no other choice.
“We recorded the record at Flying Whale Studio up on this six acre mining claim called Arrowhead Mines. It’s an old local mine that was pretty well known back in the day,” Ragan explains. “The record is just another page in the book and another chapter in life and it’s documenting where we are in that moment of time. Right now Gold Country is what I’ve lived for, everything I’ve worked to achieve and hold sacred and everything I strive to get home to.” Ragan knows a thing or two about paying his dues: since the early nineties he’s co-fronted the legendary punk act Hot Water Music and over the past few years he’s released a string of well-received solo acoustic efforts in the spirit of fellow folk troubadours like Steve Earle and Pete Seeger.
However nothing could prepare fans for Gold Country, an album that not only raises the bar for Ragan but for the singer-songwriter genre in general. Produced by Ragan in Northern California and performed alongside longtime collaborators like violinist Jon Gaunt and Hot Water Music drummer George Rebelo, Gold Country is a striking collection of songs that show how much Ragan has progressed since his 2007 solo debut Feast Or Famine. “Even though these songs were written in a short period of time, it’s some of the most mature music that I’ve ever had a chance to take part in,” Ragan acknowledges, adding that he spent more time on Gold Country than he has on any other recording in his career. “I’d say all in all I’m the most satisfied with this release than with anything I’ve ever done.”
“Simple backbeats seem to soothe me” is the first line of the album’s opener “For Goodness Sake” and honestly that seems like as good a phrase as any to explain the mission statement that lies at the core of Gold Country. While Ragan’s Jameson-soaked voice certainly has enough character to carry these songs on their own, the fully fleshed out arrangements on songs like “Rotterdam” and “Ole Diesel” help add additional layers of depth to these straight forward folk-inspired songs. Better yet is the fact that these songs will be replicated in a live setting when Ragan embarks this fall on the second annual Revival Tour, a traveling road show of sorts that was organized and conceptualized by Ragan and his wife.
Harkening back to the early folk era, last year’s Revival Tour also featured songwriters from Avail, Lucero and Against Me! and was one of the year’s most unique concert experiences. “You go on a tour for two months and the last three days of the whole tour you’re playing songs together and having a blast. Why can’t we get together and rehearse before the tour starts and do that from the beginning?” Ragan explains when asked where he got inspiration for the Revival Tour. Correspondingly, that idea also ties back into his sense of family and community that’s inherent in his own music. “Some of our set is scripted [on the Revival Tour] but pretty much everything else we just see what happens,” he elaborates. “It’s truly one of the most special tours I’ve been a part of.”
“It definitely feels like a progression to me and I love it; it feels good and it feels natural.” Ragan responds when asked how he feels after spending the better part of a year immersed in Gold Country. “I think what I learned the most about this experience is that I’m happiest when I’m playing with my friends and I’m really proud of the fact that we’re not trying to be a part of any kind genre,” he continues. "I don’t care to draw any lines around us or anything like that, I just want to write songs that feel good to me first and foremost—and if people dig them down the road and it makes someone smile or get by in one way in another that’s even better,” he summarizes. “That’s a blessing.”
