Cross Canadian Ragweed Home Page
See eight Cross Canadian Ragween videos on CMT including the latest releease "Late Last Night"
More sound samples below.
Grady Cross, Cody Canada, Randy Ragsdale and Jeremy Plato make some amazing music. It continues to defy labels and touch a diverse cross section of people worldwide.
The following excerpt is from a CMT interview:
Once the band got its chops they moved to Stillwater, Okla., where acts like Mike McClure's Great Divide and singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave had established enough of a local scene to earn Stillwater the nickname "North Austin" (or, depending on your perspective, "West Nashville"). Inspired by McClure's self-penned Great Divide songs (and more than a little by early Steve Earle), the band quickly grew out of its Merle Haggard and classic rock covers and began focusing on Canada's uncommonly honest and straight-forward originals. A potent foursome of albums -- 1998's Carney, 1999's Live at the Wormy Dog, 2001's Highway 377 and 2002's Live at Billy Bob's Texas -- collectively sold more 70,000 copies to date. Combined with the band's average of 200 gigs a year, Cross Canadian Ragweed cinched a place at the top of the Texas-Oklahoma music totem pole.
"We're a little more rock 'n' roll than other people [from the Oklahoma/Texas scene], and that's not a bad thing," laughs Canada, whose Southern-fried lead guitar licks betray his love of heroes like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pete Anderson (of Dwight Yoakam fame) and Eddie Van Halen -- not to mention the fact that he's been playing since he was 8 years old.
After building a huge concert following in Texas and Oklahoma, the band decided to look into signing a record deal. In 2003, fledgling label Universal South released a self-titled album (produced by McClure) that the band recorded prior to signing their record deal. "Garage" hit the stores in November 2005 and they now have a Live DVD from Cains Ballroom in Tulsa OK. .
*** Sound Samples by Clint Pope ***
Clean & High Gain Rock
Country Chime
Bluesy Jazzy
Chassis: Laser punched 2 mm Aluminum
Circuit Board - Handwired G10 epoxy resin board, tinned brass eyelets
Capacitors: JJ Multisection can and Sprague atom electrolytics; Sprague 715 OD's and CDE silver Mica coupling and tone caps
Resistors: 2 watt 5 watt metal film throughout
Sockets: Ceramic chassis mount
Potentiometers: High friction encloses and lubricated chassis mount
Switches: Carling
Jacks: Switchcraft
Output Tubes: 4 - JJ 6BQ5/EL84
Preamp Tubes: 3 - 12AX7, 1 - NOS JAN 5751
Rectifier: GZ34
Transformers: Custom crafted in the USA
Controls: Dwell, Mix, Preamp Volume, Master Volume, Bass, Middle, Trebel, Cut
Cabinets: Fingerjointed solid white pine or 11 ply birch void free ply, open back combo cabs and closed back oversized speaker cabinets.
Configurations: Head, 1x12, 2x12 Combo or Cabinets
Head: 23" W, 10" H, 9" D; Weight: 22 lbs
1-12 combo: 23" W, 21" H, 10" D; Weight 41 lbs.
2-12 combo: 27" W, 21" H, 10" D; Weight 58 lbs.
Speakers: Ships with Celestion G12H30, Eminence Private Jack, Weber Blue Dog or Silver Bell.
Head: 30 Watt - $1280
Add $150 for reverb with any of the above.
1x12 Combo: 15 Watt $1245, 30 Watt $1445
2x12 Combo: 15 Watt $1325, 30 Watt $1525
1x12 Speaker Cabinet Loaded: $450, Unloaded $350
1x15 Speaker Cabinet Loaded: $475, Unloaded $375
2x12 Speaker Cabinet Loaded: $500, Unloaded $375
2x12 Vertical Closed back Speaker Cabinet Loaded: $600, Unloaded $475
My sisters Sherry and Vicky caught up with Grady and the band in Raleigh North Carolina