Charles Allen Ragan (born October 30, 1974) is an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist. He is the guitarist and vocalist of the band Hot Water Music. Ragan has also released a variety of solo material, including a series of 7-inches on No Idea Records, a live album and three studio albums on Side One Dummy Records.

Early and personal life

Chuck Ragan is the son of former PGA and

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

golfer

Dave Ragan David William Ragan, Jr. (August 7, 1935 – March 13, 2018) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour. Ragan was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, ...

and gospel singer and missionary Geraldine Ragan. Ragan is married. He and his wife have a son who was born in May 2015.

Hot Water Music

From October 1994 until 2006 Ragan was one of the lead singers for

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

-based punk rock band Hot Water Music. The group disbanded on good terms in 2005, and the other three members went on to form punk band

The Draft Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, while Ragan continued a solo career playing mostly acoustic folk inspired music similar in tone to a former acoustic Hot Water Music side project called

Rumbleseat Rumbleseat was the Acoustic music, acoustic-Folk music, folk side project of Hot Water Music frontmen Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard, and Samantha Jones. Formed in 1998, Rumbleseat released four Gramophone record#Common formats, 7" records before ...

signing to Side One Dummy Records. Hot Water Music reunited in 2007 for a tour across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and in 2012, released a new album,

Exister ''Exister'' is the seventh full-length album by Hot Water Music, which was released by Rise Records on May 15, 2012. ''Exister'' is Hot Water Music's first original full-length album in eight years, since 2004's '' The New What Next''. Track li ...

Tours

Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry and

Ben Nichols Benjamin Nichols (1920 – November 24, 2007) was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University and mayor of Ithaca, New York. He was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and as such was one of few Sociali ...

toured in the fall of 2008. Chuck Ragan was also a support act on Frank Turner's 2010 tour of the UK, and supported The Gaslight Anthem during their 2010 European Fall tour. Ragan was the opener on the

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...

west coast tour in late January and February 2011.

The Revival Tour

In 2005, Ragan conceptualized the idea of The Revival Tour, a collaborative acoustic event featuring several punk rock, bluegrass, and alt-country performers. Ragan has stated that the tour is about "sharing music together" and "bringing it to people in an extremely honest and grassroots fashion." On each tour the artists were accompanied by a fiddle player, Jon Gaunt, and an

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

player. In 2008 and 2009,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

singer, Digger Barnes played the upright bass. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, the upright bass was played by Joe Ginsberg.

Beginnings

The first Revival Tour in 2008 featured

Avail Avail is an American punk rock band from Richmond, Virginia, United States. Originally from Reston, Virginia, the band formed in 1987, its members including Joe Banks, Doug Crosby, Brien Stewart, and Mikey Warstler. The only original remaining ...

's Tim Barry and Lucero's Ben Nichols, with guest appearances from

Laura Jane Grace Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against Me!, Grace fronts the band Laura ...

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

Kevin Seconds Kevin Seconds (born Kevin Marvelli; March 24, 1961) is an American singer/songwriter/musician, born in Sacramento, California. As a teenager, he moved with his family to Reno, Nevada where he lived until 1988 when he relocated back to Sacrame ...

, Jon Snodgrass of Drag the River,

Jesse Malin Jesse Malin (born January 26, 1967) is an American rock musician, guitarist, and songwriter. Starting his performing career in the New York hardcore band Heart Attack, and rising to prominence as vocalist of D Generation, a solo recording arti ...

D Generation D Generation (also known as DGen) are an American glam punk band formed in 1991 in New York City. They released three albums and several EPs, to much critical acclaim, before breaking up in 1999. In 2011 the band reunited for a series of show ...

Chris McCaughan Chris McCaughan (born March 30, 1977) is the guitarist and vocalist in the band The Lawrence Arms. McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways (the latter also featuring fellow Arms bandmate Brendan Kelly). H ...

of The Lawrence Arms,

Austin Lucas Austin Lucas is an American indie artist best known for his own blend of folk punk. Early years Lucas grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, but moved to the Czech Republic in 2003. In 2008, he relocated back to the United States. He is the son of Bo ...

, and Frank Turner.

2009–2012

In 2010, The Revival Tour journeyed across Australia, featuring Ragan, Barry, Nichols, Frank Turner, Jen Buxton of Like...Alaska, Darren Gibson, and Jamie Hay, accompanied by Jon Gaunt on fiddle and Todd Beene (of

Glossary A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gl ...

and Lucero) on

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

. The Tour was concluded with a one-off performance at the Punk Rock Bowling festival in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, featuring Ragan, Nichols,

, Steve Soto, John Carey of

Old Man Markley Old Man Markley is a punk & bluegrass band based out of Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 2007, the band consisted of John Carey (lead vocals, guitar), Annie DeTemple (Autoharp, Vocals), Alex Zablotsky (Mandolin), Jeff Fuller (Drums), Joey Garibaldi ( ...

, and

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly.c ...

's Matt Hensley and Nathen Maxwell. The 2011 Revival Tour featured

Brian Fallon Brian Fallon (born January 28, 1980) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main lyricist of the rock band the Gaslight Anthem, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. H ...

of The Gaslight Anthem, Dave Hause of The Loved Ones, and Dan Andriano of

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...

, as well as guest appearances from Helen Chambers, Sam Russo, Jimmy Islip, Brian Brody, and Franz Nicolay In 2012, Ragan, Andriano,

, Cory Branan,

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

and

Nathaniel Rateliff Nathaniel David Rateliff (born October 7, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has performed with a backing band called the ...

performed across the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

for the Tour's spring leg, with guest appearances by Jenny Owen Youngs,

Dave Hause Dave Hause (born March 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. He currently performs both solo and with his band The Mermaid. His music draws from heartland rock, folk rock and punk rock. He has also played in multiple Philadelphia, PA are ...

, and Kayleigh Goldsworthy. In the autumn of the same year, a European leg of the Tour featured Ragan, Branan, Emily Barker,

Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977 in Dallas, Texas, United States), is an American singer-songwriter. Biography He was raised in Frost, Texas, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his mo ...

, and

Jay Malinowski Jay Malinowski (born 1982) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, visual artist and writer. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist for reggae group Bedouin Soundc ...

Bedouin Soundclash Bedouin Soundclash is a Canadian band based in Toronto and consisting of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski, bass player Eon Sinclair and drummer Chuck Treece. Their sound has been described as a combination of reggae and ska. Bedouin Soundc ...

Musical projects

In a February 12, 2010, interview, Chuck commented that he was working on an album with

, frontman for the

Gaslight Anthem The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2006. The band consists of Brian Fallon (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alex Rosamilia (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass guitar, backing vocals), ...

. Since then, Fallon's vocals appeared on Ragan's song "Meet You In The Middle." Ragan released a four-way split with underground UK singer-songwriters Sam Russo, Helen Chambers and Jimmy Islip in 2011. On November 21, 2013, Chuck announced that his next solo album with Todd Beene of Lucero and

, Jon Gaunt, Joe Ginsberg, David Hidalgo Jr. of

Rami Jaffee Rami Jaffee (born March 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, whom he initially joined in a touring and session capacity in 2005. Jaffee has contributed to six of the band's studi ...

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers is an American rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1989 by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. The band ...

and

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) ...

, Christopher Thorn of

Blind Melon Blind Melon is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Los Angeles by five musicians: three from Mississippi, one from Pennsylvania and one from Indiana. The band currently consists of guitarists Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn, drummer ...

that would be titled 'Till Midnight and released in 2014 on Side One Dummy.

Other projects

In 2012, Ragan released a book of tour stories entitled "The Road Most Traveled." The book is said to be "more than just a collection of anecdotes, it's as much a handbook of how to act on tour as it is a cautionary tale of what not to do if you want to sustain this lifestyle for years to come." In 2014, Ragan began working on the soundtrack for " The Flame in the Flood", a video game developed by the indie game company The Molasses Flood.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2007 '' Feast or Famine'' –

SideOneDummy SideOneDummy Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1995 by Bill Armstrong and Joe Sib. The label began as a way for them to release music for their friends' bands. Thereafter SideOneDummy launched the care ...

/ No Idea Records * 2009 ''

Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...

'' –

/ TenFour Records * 2011 ''

Covering Ground ''Covering Ground'' is the third studio album by American musician Chuck Ragan, which was recorded in 2011 and produced by Christopher Thorn. The album was recorded during Hot Water Music's hiatus and features a strong folk influence with theme ...

'' –

/ TenFour Records * 2014 '' Till Midnight'' –

Dine Alone Records Dine Alone Records is a Canadian and American independent record label, founded in St. Catharines and Toronto by Joel Carriere. The label is now based in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles. History Dine Alone was born out of founder Joel Car ...

Split albums/Collaborations

* 2008 ''Bristle Ridge'' – with Austin Lucas – Hometown Caravan – LP (Ltd. European Tour Ed.) / Ten Four Records (Collaboration) * 2009 ''Anderson Family Bluegrass / Chuck Ragan'' – Stowaway Sound / Ten Four Records (Split LP) * 2010 ''Chuck Ragan / Darren Gibson''

Poison City Records Poison City Records is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Victoria, founded in 2003. The label opened a physical store in 2008, at 400 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy selling records and skateboards. In mid-2020, the store and label moved ...

(Split LP) * 2010 ''Ravi / Chuck Ragan'' – Cursing Concrete (

cover) / Masses EP, self-published * 2011 ''Chuck Ragan / Sam Russo / Jimmy Islip / Helen Chambers' / ''Specialist Subject Releases (Collaboration) * 2014 ''Kindred Spirit'' (split EP with

)

Soundtracks

* 2013: ''"It's Better in the Wind" Soundtrack'' – TenFour Records * 2016: '' The Flame in the Flood'' – TenFour Records

Live albums

* 2006: ''Live at the Troubadour'' – Self-Release (CD-R) * 2007: ''Los Feliz'' –

(CD/LP) * 2009: ''Live at Hafenkneipe Zürich'' – Leech Records (LP – Ltd. to 1500 copies) * 2009: ''Chuck plays Frankfurt'' – Fanclub (DoLP – Ltd. to 300 handnumbered copies) * 2009: ''Live from Rock Island: The Daytrotter Sessions'' – Side One Dummy Records (10" Vinyl) * 2010: ''Live at Cafe Du Nord''(CD/LP) * 2016: ''The Winter Haul Live''

Singles

*''The 7-Inch Club'' – 2006–2007, No Idea Records (Ragan released a series of seven singles, one per month, referred to collectively as "The 7-Inch Club" because only those who had pre-ordered the entire set ahead of time could obtain copies.) The series was also pressed on a CD entitled The Blueprint Sessions which accompanied the final mailing of the 7-Inch Club. *"Something May Catch Fire" *"Rotterdam" 2009

Music videos

*"You and I Alone" *"Something May Catch Fire" *"Nomad by Fate (Punks in Vegas Session)" *"Vagabond"

References

External links

Chuck RaganThe Revival Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragan, Chuck Living people American punk rock singers Folk punk musicians Singers from Florida 1974 births SideOneDummy Records artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers Hot Water Music members