Entertainment
The Battalion
It’s all gravy a|
Cross Canadian Ragweed to visit College Station for new disc release
By Jacquelyn Spruce
THE BATTALION
He’s cramped in a small room miles
away from home. The closest friends he
has are the ones who came with him.
Sounds like a wide-eyed freshman on his
first day of class, right? Wrong.
Cody Canada, frontman for Cross
Canadian Ragweed, said living in the
tiny quarters on the bus for eight weeks
at a time isn’t so bad, especially when
you’re in a successful band selling out
shows with three of your best friends
since the fourth grade.
“The bus is home,” Canada said. “Our
homes that are in one spot and not
mobile, that’s our home away from
home.”
Unlike many bands. Cross Canadian
Ragweed has managed to stick together
throughout the hard times because of the
members’ close friendships. Canada said
he believes that a lot of the band’s suc
cess can be attributed to how well the
members know each other.
“The friendship is definitely the com
mon thread,” Canada said. “We’d been
friends forever; then we became musi
cians. So we know everyone’s buttons.
We know where to push and how long to
push and what not to push. We have a lot
of faith and love for one another, so
there’s not much that can break us.”
From its first gig at the Wormy Dog
Saloon in Stillwater, Okla., to a sellout
show at last year’s Rodeo Houston,
Cross Canadian Ragweed has emerged
from a group of kids in Oklahoma to a
top-notch national act. But Canada says
that sometimes it can be just as difficult
to keep that initial momentum going as it
was to get there.
“Getting there was always a goal, but
nothing’s going to stop us. We’ve always
had that attitude,” Canada said.
Ct^oss, Canadian Ragweed’s new
album, “Soul Gravy,” to be released on
March 9, has the original Ragweed fla
vor and speaks a lot of truth, Canada
said. It’s more rock V roll than the past
two albums, but he said it’s all part of the
growing process. For the first time in
their career as a band, the members had
the opportunity to spend enough time on
the album to perfect it before the final
recording.
“This is probably the first record that
we’re proud of every song on it,” he said.
“We actually had more time to do this
record. I mean, ‘377’ we did in three
days, and ‘Purple’ we did in eight or nine
days. This one we had two months to run
with.”
“Soul Gravy” isn’t a name of a song
on the album like the band’s previous
albums. Canada said the name came
about as a joke at first.
“We were joking around looking
for old rock ’n’ roll kind of titles,”
Canada said, “and I said ‘plaid
gravy,’ just kidding around. Then
Chris, our sound guy, acted like he
was kicking me in the face, and he had
the sole of his shoe in my face. And
we were like, ‘soul gravy!’and it stuck
from there.”
The guys from Cross Canadian
Ragweed will visit Hasting’s in
College Station on March 11 for their
CD release party.
Chris Niebuhr, Class of 2003, said he
looks forward to the CD release party.
“I’m excited. I’m going to buy the CD
and take that and my guitar to get signed
on the 11 th,” Niebuhr said. “I like the fact
that they take the time to write their
songs for their fans as opposed to writing
them to be on the radio.
Their new CD is accompanied by a
live DVD recording of a concert in none
other than College Station.
“(The record label) left it up to us to
choose where (to do the live recording).
The members of Cross Canadian Ragweed, (from left to right) Randy Ragsdale, Cody Canada, Jeremy Plato and Grady Crosi
visit Hastings in College Station on March 11 to promote their new album “Soul Gravy.”
and of course, we said College Station,”
Canada said.
Canada said they chose College
Station for their live recording was
because of the bond between the band
and the Aggie community.
Following a concert in 2001, a
police officer approached the group
and said the mother and sister of
drummer Randy Ragsdale had been in
a car accident between College
Station and Madisonville. Ragsdale’s
sister Mandi was pronounced dead at
the scene, and his mother was taken to
the hospital in College Station.
When the band got to the hospital,
they couldn’t believe the support
shown by their fans.
“People fed us, brought us coffee
and offered us their homes and their
cars, whatever we needed. It would be
really hard to forget something like
that. It’s almost like a second home to
me,” Canada said. “Ever since that
night, we’ve had a very special bond
with College Station.”
While not all events are as tragic,
Canada said the band members are
always there for each other, making
road trips that much easier.
“We have a lot of fun with each
other too,” Canada said. “We're not
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Souki’s got a
“Make It Happen”
list lor Spring Break
1. Buy hat for beach party
2. Jump start math major
3. Explore interest in music
Message to Souki:
While you’re home on spring break reserve ◦ seat in one of our
summer sessions or our three-week May mini-mester. Check out our
summer classes @www.college4you.com. Make Happen!
cominumiv college district
North Harris College • Kingwood College • Tomball College
Montgomery College • Cy-Fair College • The University Center
Affirmative Aclion/EEO College District
Tunisia & Spain
Study Abroad
May 18 - June 25, 2004
❖
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Study at Chott Mariem University founded by Aggies in 1960,
On a camel discover how and why the Sahara moves.
Along the Mediten anean understand agricultural and historical
relationships between Southem Spain and Northern Africa.
In a Bedouin tent leam about the ancient Berber culture and what
they gave to modem ranchers in Texas.
In Europe’s old and barren breadbasket see the delivery of water by
Roman aqueducts and modem dams.
Eat a brie, drink camels milk yogurt with honey, and watch olives,
dates, Barb horses, and fat-tailed sheep grow.
Try your Spanish and Arabic in souks, mercados, and hammems.
Leam from accompanying faculty from Texas A&M and Institut
National Agronomique de Tunisie; 6 hours of Texas A&M credits,
Pay $2995.00 for airfare, in country travel, food and lodging.
Excludes Texas A&M tuition.
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For More Information Contact:
Rhonda D’Agostino
Cathryn Clement
Tate Rosenbusch
The International Office of the
Agriculture Program
Rm 12 Administration Bldg.
979-845-4164
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