For nearly two decades Ragan has traversed the country and the world—first with his celebrated
post-punk act Hot Water Music and later as a solo troubadour—to bring his music to the masses.
Correspondingly, aside from the seemingly endless singles, splits and collaborations, Ragan’s third
solo album Covering Ground is as much of a love letter to his transient lifestyle as it is a concession
to the loved ones he often has to leave behind and is also undeniably his most honest and
accomplished album to date. Covering Ground is the sonic equivalent to Jack Kerouac’s On The Road
and could only be created by someone bred into road life and who requires a release like this in
order to stay sane doing it. “The majority of these songs were written on the road,” Ragan explains.
“We’ve been running hard and burning the candle at both ends for years. It‘s been amazing in many
ways but just as well extremely harsh when you end up making a massive amount of sacrifices to
sustain in that type of nomadic lifestyle.”
This duality lies at the core of Covering Ground and when Ragan sings about “ten cylinders that fire
and a woman at the end of the road” on the driving acoustic song “Wish On The Moon,” it’s dripping
with so much authenticity that it’s hard not to imagine yourself behind the wheel alongside him.
“Writing has always been a form of therapy for me and something that I feel like I need to do rather
than something I’m supposed to do,” Ragan responds when asked where the fire behind these
songs originated.
“Since 2005 I’ve focused more on my own music than ever before,” he continues, “I’ve been consistently
writing, learning and reflecting and not so much worrying about whether I finish a song or
not but more so keeping myself moving with it no matter what. Whether it‘s heard or not, I find that
I simply need to get things off my chest in that way to take the next step forward, contribute or pay
tribute to the pioneers that paved the path the majority of us take.”
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Customer Rating
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| # |
Song Name |
Popularity |
| 1 |
Nothing Left To Prove
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11% |
| 2 |
Nomad By Fate
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28% |
| 3 |
You Get What You Give
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0% |
| 4 |
Wish On The Moon
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22% |
| 5 |
Come Around
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17% |
| 6 |
Seems We're Ok
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0% |
| 7 |
Valentine
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6% |
| 8 |
Right A Rain
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0% |
| 9 |
Meet You In The Middle
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17% |
| 10 |
Lost And Found
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0% |
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Vote for your favorite songs by clicking the green checkmark above |
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| People Who Bought This Item Also Bought |
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| Reviews are written by people that purchased this item from Interpunk |
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| Russell. from Parma, OH |  |
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May 25 2012 |
Rating: |
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Covering Ground is quickly becoming my favorite album from Chuck Ragan. They are all great, almost flawless in fact, but this one sticks in my head and keeps me up at night. I do a lot of traveling, and nothing is better on my road trips like a good Chuck Ragan folk album. And his live shows are even better (if that's possible). Very positive message and his songs show the love he has for this style of music. I love HWM, but his solo folk albums really show his true love and potential for the art of song writing and singing. He puts his soul into it, and it shows beautifully.
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| Chris from Salt Lake City, UT | |
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Sep 22 2011 |
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Chuck Ragan has one of the best voices around, is the manliest of men and has fronted one of my all time favorite bands - Hot Water Music. And like so many other front men of great punk bands that went on to do solo careers (all pretty much the same style), Chuck Ragan certainly is the best of the crop. Covering Ground ain't much different than anything else he does except the presence of more instruments and a "band" feel is more involved. That having been said, i'm not really a fan of the folky/acoustic singer/songwriter stuff to begin with. If i'm going to listen to it, it's going to be Chuck Ragan but i'm hardly ever going to listen to it. So i'm biased anyways because i'm not a fan of this style. However, it's Chuck fucking Ragan and the man could bite the head off a bear if he'd like. So for just being Chuck Ragan, 5 stars.
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