The Revival Tour 2009

Appearing:

November 20 – Common Grounds, Gainesville, FL

November 21 – The State Theatre, St. Petersburg, FL

November 22 – The Social, Orlando, FL

Reax:  Chuck, It’s good to talk to you.  How’s the tour going so far?

Chuck Ragan:  Man, it’s going real good. We’re having a blast. This is the second annual Revival Tour that my wife and I have put together and we’re just super excited about it. We were wondering how we were gonna top last year and I think we’ve done it. Last year was so incredible with Ben Nichols (Lucero), Tom Gabel (Against Me) and Tim Barry (Avail).  It was a real tight crew and I was curious how everyone would be. You know, rounding out a group of different people, putting them on a bus, seeing how they interact and how they play together.  The people are loving it, all of the fans and all of the players involved.  We have 24 different artists on this run so it’s ever changing.  Every week we lose artists and every week we gain artists so it’s a never-ending revolving door. Because of this, we are constantly challenging each other and learning new songs and just going for it.

Reax:  The shows last year seemed to have more seasoned veterans including Tim Barry, Ben Nichols, and Tom Gabel. This year, The Revival Tour has some younger guys joining you. How did you go about selecting artists for this tour?

Chuck:  Well, one of the big things that Jill and I are trying to do is to expose some great artists that are out there. I mean, there’s so much great stuff out there that needs to be heard. There’s a fine line, I mean, we definitely want to have artists on the tour that people recognize and are familiar with to help getting some folks to come out to the shows. But, at the same time we feel like we have an opportunity to share music with people that we feel is the real deal.  A huge goal of ours is to continue exposing artists and folks to music that they may not have heard any other way.

Reax:  I made it out to a show you did in New York City a couple of weeks ago where you and Tim were talking to each other about the next song and when Jenny Owens Young noticed the dead air, she just busted right into one of her songs… pretty cool to see.

Chuck: (Laughs) Yeah, she was great and Tim was incredible. That’s just kind of the way this tour goes. With any of the new artists that come aboard, I let them know right of the bat, you know, not to throw you in fire, but get up there. We all take the stage from the beginning.  Our goal with that is to break down any lines, to sever those lines of who should be an opener and who should be a headliner. Anything goes. I mean, if you want to get up there and sing on that, bang away on a tambourine, or play your guitar, or fiddle, or whatever. If you’re feeling it, go for it. (Laughs) You know, all of the artists on this tour get it. They just jump right into it feet first and it’s good stuff.

Reax:  At show time, is it all organic, or do you guys have a plan?

Chuck: I would say these shows are running about four hours long and maybe about fifteen minutes of that four hours is scripted.  We normally talk a couple minutes before we take the stage and make sure everybody’s there, everybody’s ready, and then, “Ok, what are we playing first, second, and third?”  But, at the same time that usually doesn’t even happen. You know, we got a couple songs that we do at the very end, a couple songs that we do at the beginning, everything else in between.  It’s the same with the lineup. We switch the lineup around all the time. For any of us it really doesn’t matter, whether we’re playing early or later or whatever, because we’re all continuously going up there all night. Who knows, by the end we may just all be up there for the whole thing.

Reax:  Yeah, we get lucky here in Florida getting the last few dates of the tour.

Chuck:  We have some great artists on those last days. There’s no telling what’s gonna happen.

Reax:  You’ve been busy with the new record and now The Revival Tour and I see that there are also some Hot Water Music shows coming up in Europe right after this.

Chuck:  Yeah, we end on the 22nd in Orlando. Then Jill and I are flying to Germany to meet up with the boys for a weeks worth of Hot Water shows, mainly all in Germany. I’m excited about it. We’re talking about doing some writing. I was talking to Jason and Wollard a little bit, and George. You know, we’re gonna be in a tour bus and we’ll see. We can’t afford to not take advantage of that time if we have it. Everybody’s so busy and there’s no telling if we will ever do another tour again.  There’s no telling if we’ll ever even do another record again. I can’t say no though, it’s something that we’d all really love to do but it’s just a matter of time and getting it together. We’re all at that age where we’re just full steam ahead in our own directions, so it’s getting tougher and tougher to align all of our schedules at once. But, it’s working out for this week, for these shows, and who knows? We’ll see. I’d love to write some new stuff with those guys and see what we can do down the road, there’s no telling.

Reax:  I was at the Fest this past weekend and I saw Chris (Wollard).  Every year at The Fest, even with knowing that you’re out of town and on tour, there’s a little bit of hope that I hold in the back of my mind of that secret Hot Water Music reunion show or little house show.

Chuck: (Laughs) That’d be something.

Reax:  With these last few dates that you’re playing here in Florida, what kind of homecoming is it?  I mean, obviously you’re well received, but does it feel like a homecoming?

Chuck:  In a sense, yes.  I lived there quite a while, but I felt like I was always on the move. You know, I have some real good friends who live there still. Some of them in Gainesville, Micanopy, some in Sarasota, Tampa, St Pete, some in Daytona, St Augustine. But man, I don’t know, I got a good solid couple of handfuls of folk that I truly miss the hell out of and I really, really miss the fishing there. I look forward to seeing those folks and maybe catching some of those Florida fish whenever I have a chance.

Reax:  You said the magic word. I know that you’re from Sarasota; did you ever make it out to the Skyway at all to fish?

Chuck:  No, I never did, but we used to live down in an area in Sarasota where we could ride our bikes to Siesta Key. We’d do all kinds of fishing around Siesta Key, Turtle Beach, um, where else, Point-of-Rocks. My brother and I would run out to Myakka State Park quite a bit.

Reax:  You have any fishing plans why you’re here on this tour? 

Chuck:  Man, we’re moving through so fast, but you never know. Sometimes we get that wild hair and can be out all night until the sunrise.

Reax:  You know, late November is when the snook and the reds start feeding in a lot.

Chuck: (Laughs) Oh I know. I know. I’m a big, big fan of the old Reddie, the old One Spot.

Reax:  I don’t know a fisherman who isn’t. Do you prefer going deep or staying in?

Chuck:  Man, I love to play tug of war. I love it all.  I love freshwater fishing. I love bass fishing. I love inshore fishing. I spent a lot of time around Cedar Key, Shell Mound when I lived up north a bit. Man, those are some sacred waters to me. But, I love going offshore man. I love getting a hold of a big old grouper.

Reax:  Wrestle a Jack.

Chuck:  Yeah, you know. Snapper, all that stuff. I feel, you know, I feel right on the water, in tune. I love it and there’s nothing to compare. It’s always been a part of my life and I don’t do it enough.

Reax:  That’s great man. Do you, do you get to fish much at home?

Chuck:  Yeah, in fact, where we live I’ve gotten quite into fly-fishing.  It’s something that I’ve always wanted to get into, but never really knew how to go about it or approach it. It just seemed like there was so much to it. As far as, you know, learning what type of flies to use and match the hatch, as they call it. So, basically, you’re using flies to match whatever bugs are hatching, whatever bugs the fish are feeding on at that time. And honestly, what I’ve learned is, it’s just like any other fishing. You just look around and open your eyes, take it all in, soak it all up, and then give it a shot. These Northern California rivers are unreal in the amount of freshwater and saltwater fish that they hold, it’s spectacular. There’s nothing like it, the peace and quiet you get with fly-fishing. I’ve never gotten so much exercise fishing.  The way I like to do it is by hiking up and down the rivers and up and down the rocks and mountains and it’s really something else man. It’s challenging and at the same time very restful if that makes any sense at all.

Reax:  Oh, absolutely. I’ve always had an interest in fly-fishing some of these inshore waters and back in the channels and in the flats.

Chuck: Knowing what I know now about fly fishing and knowing what I know about where I used to go to catch redfish and flounder and trout up off of Shell Mound, I’m sure that I could make some flies that would be just deadly over there.

Reax:  Oh, I’d love to do it man. I wish we had mountains here to be able to get into it.

Chuck:  Yeah, it’s just another paradise man. They’re all over the place.

www.chuckraganmusic.com