Something In The Water

“This record would not have happened without the help that these guys put into it,” says Ragan of the huge list of featured artists on his new record, Till Midnight. “I loved watching them work. All of these guys are so professional on their own. I knew that would happen naturally.”

And develop naturally they did; the crew spent a week together up in the mountains, bonding over campfire stories and creating the new record.

“We probably did more fishing than playing music,” Ragan laughs. “We would wake up early in the morning, take 'em out on the boat and just fish 'til we had enough for dinner and then we'd start playing music. We'd cook food and sit around the fire and talk about these songs and work 'em out. It felt great.”

The finished product reflects this very organic approach, and with its rich, full sound, Till Midnight is a way for Ragan to give his fans something extra.

“We all consciously decided that we wanted to do a bigger record. We wanted to really give the people spending their time and hard-earned money and energy coming to these shows something special. [So] we can come in raging, playing rock'n'roll and at the same time strip it down to just a voice and a guitar, or even just a cappella. [We can] create a rollercoaster of a set.”

A big part of making that rollercoaster work properly comes from Ragan's broad range of musical influences, bringing along his roots in Cajun music, as well as bluegrass, folk and gospel songs.

“There was definitely a lot of Cajun music in my upbringing. My paw paw [grandfather on his mother's side] was an accordion player and they just sang Cajun songs, French songs. Growing up going to church there was a lot of gospel, spirit-driven music, mixed in with all the other influences I grew up with. Cajun, bluegrass, country - a lot of that has been ingrained in me for years.”

So these deep roots in Americana styles of music have informed Ragan his entire life - even during his time in punk band Hot Water Music. Ragan has never turned away from his history.

“It's my heart. It's what I feel, what I love, what I believe in, and what I'm willing to fight for. If you're around something [from a young age] it gets into your system. If you're an expressive person and you write songs or do art or do something where you reflect on yourself and try to translate or turn it into something - materialise it - those influences will find their way out.”