Sometimes a song comes on the radio that isn’t instantly recognized, but the song makes an impression. Upon hearing the song again, a hunger to know more about it hits. For country music fans and even those just thinking about becoming country music fans, Cross Canadian Ragweed’s song “17” might be one of those stuck-in-your-head-wonder-about-it songs.
The alt-country band Cross Canadian Ragweed recently released their self-titled album, more commonly referred to as “Purple” in honor of drummer Randy Ragsdale’s sister, whose favorite color was purple. The album was dedicated to her after she was killed in a car accident.
The band has previously released other albums from which the songs “Jimmy & Annie,” “42 Miles” and “Look at Me” have all graced the charts. Cross Canadian Ragweed’s “Long Way Home” appears in Dodge Truck commercials. The members of the band are lead guitarist and singer Cody Canada, drummer Randy Ragsdale, rhythm guitarist Grady Cross and bass player Jeremy Plato.
“Purple” has been acclaimed by Billboard as ‘one of the best albums of the year,’ and “17,” the first single on the album, was selected as the “Hot Shot Video” for CMT, and is at No. 17 on the countdown.
“We walked out of the studio saying there’s not one thing we would have changed,” guitarist Cody Canada said in a press release.
“17” is about a person’s hometown, and discusses the idea of always being the age of 17 when people in your hometown think about you.
Cross Canadian Ragweed has been called “America’s leading roadhouse rock band,” coming from Oklahoma and quickly entering the Texas music scene.
“We’re a little more rock ‘n’ roll than other people from the Oklahoma/Texas scene,” Canada said in the press release.
Along with the “Americana” tradition, Cross Canadian Ragweed also frequently tours around South, Southeast and Mid-West, having spent more than 200 days on the road in 2002.
Cross Canadian Ragweed will bring their Rock ‘n’ Roll/Country sound to Starkville on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at Rick’s CafZ.
“Cody’s such a good lead player, I don’t have a problem playing rhythm. He doesn’t just sit up there-he’s all over the stage, just killing it. He’ll take his guitar and slide it across the rail on the front row. And when it’s all four of us out there on stage, sometimes it doesn’t even feel like the crowd’s there because we’re all so focused on each other,” Cross said in a press release.