Gold CountryChuck Ragan
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Released: Sept. 1, 2009
Label: SideOneDummy
Review by: Bill Jones
After the initial Hot Water Music break-up, singer/songwriter/guitarist Chuck Ragan set out on his own with great results. But while his first solo effort, a live album called Los Feliz, did an incredible job of harnessing his powerfully captivating live performance (let’s see those noisy, trendy bastards try to talk though an acoustic performance like his), it fell a bit short in truly feeling like an album. To be fair, it was more of a compilation of solo songs and HWM tracks. Its follow-up, Feast or Famine, took Ragan to the studio to properly record an album, but while he got the album feel correct; it didn’t quite capture his performance.
Gold Country, the songwriter’s third release with SideOneDummy, finally gets every piece of the puzzle right, and gives Chuck Ragan fans everything they could hope for in an album. Gold Country is the kind of album that defines a musical career, crosses genres seamlessly, truly earns the overused descriptor of “timeless” and most importantly tells a story in a way only music, and a great songwriter like Chuck Ragan, can.
From the very first track, “For Goodness Sake,” it is evident that while Ragan’s music is still founded on simple themes, melodies and backbeats (as actually noted in the lyrics) in a manner that hearkens back to Johnny Cash, Gold Country is a dynamic and mature effort, accented by the violin of Jon Gaunt and the drums of Hot Water Music drummer George Revelo.
The second cut, “Glory,” features a rolling rhythm that brings to mind an old mining scene, and highlights the power of Ragan’s vocals, with a beautiful violin solo mid-song. Later, listeners get a classic Ragan rock n’ roll sing-a-long mover in “Done and Done,” the chorus of which takes center stage.
“Oh let it go / cut loose and roll / rock steady soul / get up stand up. Throw your hands up / ah let it go / cut loose and roll / rock steady soul / get up stand up until you’re done and done”
It is followed by “The Trench,” an old-school grassroots folk song. Then there is the slow and moody “Don’t Say a Word,” following by another mover in “10 West,” with background chants of “Ohh! Haa!” that remind of Against Me! In each song, Ragan tells a story, but the album as a whole also tells a story, and he is as good at arranging the effort as he is each song.
Gold Country is an album perfect for a road trip through the national parks of the American West, but works just as well in the car on the way to work, at a campfire with friends, or while sitting at a computer and writing reviews. It has the power to run the gamut from rollicking to haunting and back again without fear. Ragan’s effort opens its arms to anyone who will listen, but doesn’t cheapen itself for one second of its 12 tracks. It is 100 percent Chuck Ragan, cutting loose and letting it roll. This is an album that this reviewer’s grandmother is as likely to listen to as the guy who remembers being in the pit at a Hot Water show. With Gold Country, Ragan resets the bar for his musical career, with songwriting as close to flawless as one can get in something as subjective as music. It is an American folk gem, and one of the best albums to be written, of any kind, in a long time.
Gold Country, the songwriter’s third release with SideOneDummy, finally gets every piece of the puzzle right, and gives Chuck Ragan fans everything they could hope for in an album. Gold Country is the kind of album that defines a musical career, crosses genres seamlessly, truly earns the overused descriptor of “timeless” and most importantly tells a story in a way only music, and a great songwriter like Chuck Ragan, can.
From the very first track, “For Goodness Sake,” it is evident that while Ragan’s music is still founded on simple themes, melodies and backbeats (as actually noted in the lyrics) in a manner that hearkens back to Johnny Cash, Gold Country is a dynamic and mature effort, accented by the violin of Jon Gaunt and the drums of Hot Water Music drummer George Revelo.
The second cut, “Glory,” features a rolling rhythm that brings to mind an old mining scene, and highlights the power of Ragan’s vocals, with a beautiful violin solo mid-song. Later, listeners get a classic Ragan rock n’ roll sing-a-long mover in “Done and Done,” the chorus of which takes center stage.
“Oh let it go / cut loose and roll / rock steady soul / get up stand up. Throw your hands up / ah let it go / cut loose and roll / rock steady soul / get up stand up until you’re done and done”
It is followed by “The Trench,” an old-school grassroots folk song. Then there is the slow and moody “Don’t Say a Word,” following by another mover in “10 West,” with background chants of “Ohh! Haa!” that remind of Against Me! In each song, Ragan tells a story, but the album as a whole also tells a story, and he is as good at arranging the effort as he is each song.
Gold Country is an album perfect for a road trip through the national parks of the American West, but works just as well in the car on the way to work, at a campfire with friends, or while sitting at a computer and writing reviews. It has the power to run the gamut from rollicking to haunting and back again without fear. Ragan’s effort opens its arms to anyone who will listen, but doesn’t cheapen itself for one second of its 12 tracks. It is 100 percent Chuck Ragan, cutting loose and letting it roll. This is an album that this reviewer’s grandmother is as likely to listen to as the guy who remembers being in the pit at a Hot Water show. With Gold Country, Ragan resets the bar for his musical career, with songwriting as close to flawless as one can get in something as subjective as music. It is an American folk gem, and one of the best albums to be written, of any kind, in a long time.
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