With Cross Canadian Ragweed done, Cody Canada starting New Year with new band The Departed
Cody Canada & The Departed
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Cody Canada & The Departed debuting to close 2010
Following this year’s split of Cross Canadian Ragweed, the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his new band are playing the Wormy Dog’s New Year’s Eve show tonight.
With his venerable red dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed joining the ranks of the dearly departed back in May, Cody Canada is closing 2010 with the debut of his new Oklahoma-Texas band, The Departed.
“We’ve been bustin’ … and we’re ready to go, man,” said the singer/songwriter/guitarist in a phone interview last week from his home in New Braunfels, Texas, where he was getting ready for Christmas with his wife and two children. “I’m pretty high-strung. I gotta keep rolling, whether it’s going out and playing the two-man electric thing or practicing or recording or something. I don’t know, I was raised with the ‘rolling stone gathers no moss’ thing.”
Cody Canada & The Departed will play its second show tonight as part of the Wormy Dog Saloon’s New Year’s Eve celebration. The band was set to play its sold-out debut Wednesday at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, and the quintet already has recorded its first album, “This Is Indian Land,” which fans can expect to hear in its entirety tonight.
“It’s like starting all over again. With our first record with Ragweed, we did the covers we knew and every song on the record,” he said. “We have Seth (James) songs and a couple of Ragweed songs we’re gonna do, but the main focus is getting people ready for this record.”
“When any band goes its separate ways, I think you need to not be ashamed — definitely not be ashamed — or run from anything you’ve done in the past, but definitely don’t overdo it,” he added. “When bands … do a set of nothing but what used to be, it kind of cheats.”
Besides, the new band will put its own stamp on the red dirt sound: Along with Canada, The Departed includes Ragweed bassist Jeremy Plato, Texas guitarist Seth James, Tulsa keyboardist Steve Littleton and Yukon drummer David Bowen.
“We’re attacking it different and we’re approaching it different and it’s gonna sound different. But it’s not like we’re getting away from our roots,” Canada said. “Speaking for Jeremy and I — just because I’ve known him for so long — these are tunes that we wanted people to hear since the get-go. These are the songs that taught us how to do it, and we finally got ‘em nailed down. Jeremy’s singing and I’m singing and “We’re sharing the dirt with people.”
Ragweed is done
Formed in 1994 in Yukon, Cross Canadian Ragweed put down its musical roots in the fertile red dirt soil of Stillwater. The band forged a following playing college crowds around Oklahoma State and built its fan base with frequent touring. performing more than 220 dates a year. After 15 years, Ragweed had become one of the most influential groups on the red dirt scene.
In May, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. Drummer Randy Ragsdale, who lives in Yukon, needed to spend more time with his family, particularly his son, JC, who has autism. Although Ragsdale gave his blessing to Ragweed carrying on with a replacement drummer, Canada said they couldn’t.
“That’s one thing we always swore that no matter what happens, if we split our ways, nobody’s gonna continue on as Ragweed because that’s just cheating. And we just had so much together,” Canada said. “When it started really sinking in is when we started canceling shows. … Really, the last three shows up in Illinois (in October), that’s when it really started sinking in, like, man, this is done.”
Still, he hated to call it a “breakup” because of the negative connotations.
“We didn’t just want to say, hey, we’re done because, you know, when you say that, people automatically think that there’s lawyers involved and people are fighting and all that crap,” he said.
“If it was going to fall apart because we were angry at each other, it would have happened in our late teens and early 20s when we were full of testosterone and just drunk and ready to rock. We’re still ready to rock, we’re just a little more mature about it now.”
The Departed debuts
After the phone call hashing out the indefinite hiatus announcement and figuring out which shows to scrap, Canada sought solace at Plato’s New Braunfels home.
“I was scared (expletive). I didn’t know what to do; this was the only thing I’ve known for years. I asked him, ‘Are we still doing it?’ And he goes, ‘Hell yeah, we’re doing it. What kind of question is that?’ It was like, all right, well, let’s get on the phone with other musicians we know and get this second band rolling,” he said. “I didn’t want the last gig to happen and then go, ‘Well, now what?’”
He never imagined he would be in the position of starting over again with a new band.
“I was never looking into future going on, ‘One day I’m going to do this …’ Because there was just no doubt in four people’s minds in that band that this was gonna go on forever. When Randy came out and said, ‘I need to get home,’ I saw it building, but I still wasn’t ready for it. None of us were. I just thought that we would be playing with Ragweed ‘til the end of time. So I wasn’t planning on doing something, but the minute I hung that phone up, I was like ‘OK, now I gotta do something.’”
Rather, Canada plunged into the hectic business of playing two-man electric shows with James, rehearsing with their new band and figuring out their debut album. For “This Is Indian Land,” he turned back to his roots in Stillwater’s red dirt community. Ragweed had long discussed doing an Oklahoma songwriters tribute album, and that seemed an appropriate start for The Departed.
“We did 17 songs from all the Okie artists that we grew up listening to, the people that showed us how to be good people and good musicians and just the Oklahoma way of treating people and being people,” he said.
“This Is Indian Land” features songs by Kevin Welch, Bob Childers, Tom Skinner, J.J. Cale, Leon Russell, Medicine Show, Randy Crouch and more. It was recorded over the past two months at Yellow Dog Studios in Austin, Texas, and finished last week. He isn’t sure who will release the record — Ragweed had one album left on its deal with Universal South, but since he hasn’t heard from the label, he’s assuming no more band means no more deal — but he doesn’t mind going independent again as long as fans get to hear it.
Along with selling out its first show, the group has booked several dates through early March, including a Jan. 22 show at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. With the fan support building, Canada is eagerly looking forward to tonight’s show, and to lunch with Ragsdale before it.
“We went to kindergarten through October together. It is family and it always will be,” he said.
“Who’s to say that 10 years from now, or less, or more, that we decide to do something for a couple of shows or whatever. But in a very nice way — nobody’s mad at each other — I’m proud of what we did, and it’s behind us now, and the sadness of Ragweed being over is behind me. And I’m ready to move on and do this next thing.”
In concert
Wormy Dog New Year’s Eve show
With: Randy Rogers Band and Cody Canada & The Departed
When: 9:30 tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m.
New Year’s Day Hangover Ball
Featuring: Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue, Charlie Robison, Seth James, Brandon Jenkins and Bruce Robison.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan.
Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
-BAM
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hey Cody my name is Laken im David canadas youngest girl im 18 i have been wanting to meet you and hang out with you i have been trying to get to you ever since i was 12 or 13 and i have went to one of your concerts i think you was in falls town on base with other singers on 4th of July. I am really your cousin and i would really like to meet you and hang out with you have you come down and just sit with the family have a cook out and a beer. i hate to ask you this, but we don’t have a lot of money and i was wondering if u could get me a big black jacket up truck with some bad ass wheels. If so bad asking you that cause i am not that type of person to do that and some how i will repay you back i promise you that, but if you want to chat with me more you can email me at laken.canada@yahoo.com well i hope i hear from you i really do it would break my heart if i don’t,but i got to go i love Cody ttyl!!!