Friday, September 17, 2010

Introducing Ragweed Thursday's!

Next month on October 24, 2010 at Joe's Bar in Chicago, Illinois, one of the greatest bands in Americana/alt-country will play their final show before taking a much deserved break from the road.

I call Cross Canadian Ragweed one of the greatest bands for my own selfish reasons. They are the reason I really became interested in this genre. I still to this day cannot figure out why they have not been able to find success at mainstream country radio, but that's topic for another day. Regardless of my own personal reasons for calling them one of the greatest bands, it is tough to argue with their success. They have sold over a million albums and, thanks to their constant and relentless touring, have a loyal and rabid following. All of this without a single major hit at country radio. Very impressive indeed.

I've compared the self-imposed sabbatical Cross Canadian Ragweed is about to take with that of the recent farewell of Brooks and Dunn. While Ragweed's plan is to come back at some point in the future, their departure for now is no less significant. Rather than mourn the loss of Ragweed (at least for the next while) on the road and in the recording studio, we're going to honor this great band by dedicating each Thursday leading up to their final show in October to Cross Canadian Ragweed. I'm also going to be in Chicago for the final show, so there will also be some special posts on the blog outside of the normal Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule. We'll focus on the history of the band, provide album reviews and try to appropriately honor this occasion and Ragweed's accomplishments. I invite you all to participate in this as well, please feel free to comment and share any stories about Cross Canadian Ragweed if you have any. Whether you're a long-time fan or you've just discovered Ragweed, it doesn't matter, I'd love to hear from you. I also want to hear from you if you're going to be at the show in Chicago, let's get your thoughts here as well.

I'm especially looking forward to Chicago. This will be a first on two fronts for me. This will be my first trip to Chicago, a city which I have wanted to visit for some time. Also, this will be my first time seeing Ragweed live. Since it's the last show for the foreseeable future, I anticipate this is going to be a long show, one helluva blowout. The unenviable task of opening this show goes to Wade Bowen, but I've heard some of Bowen's stuff before, this man is more than up to the task. It is going to be a great show and I'm looking forward to visiting the Windy City.

So there it is everyone, our Thursday's are set for the next few weeks. I appreciate all of you who have read this blog so far, I've noticed there have been readers from the United States, Canada and places as far away as Denmark, France and China. I send much love to all of you, thanks for your continued support. If you guys keep reading, I'll keep writing. By all means, feel free to participate and leave your comments.

We'll catch up on Saturday and let's get ready for Ragweed Thursday's starting next week!

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