Cody Canada On Koe Wetzel’s “Ragweed”: “My Royalty Checks Started Getting Bigger”

Cody Canada et al. wearing hats

Oh, what could’ve been…

Former Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada stopped by the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast this week to talk about the reboot of CCR’s 2004 Soul Gravy album, seeing George Strait perform for the first time when he was four years old, and a whole lot more. It’s a great conversation that’s well-worth your time to check out.

And of course, the guys had to ask Cody about his thoughts on Koe Wetzel’s fan-favorite anthem “Ragweed,” which is a cool tribute to the Texas band and their influence on his career.

Cody said that his friend Larry Joe Taylor first reached out years ago to tell him Koe was recording the song:

“There were two things. The first thing is, he asked me, I didn’t know him. I had heard of him because of the Larry Joe Taylor Festival, and Larry Joe Taylor was managing him and behind him.

So I’ve known Larry Joe for a couple of decades, actually three decades. I played the 6th annual Larry Joe Taylor Festival when I was 17 years old… And he always has a good ear, and he’s a good guy, and I trust him, you know?”

And he was really calling to ask if Cody would lend his guitar playing skills and vocals to sing on it with Koe:

“He called me and said that there was this kid named Koe Wetzel and he was recording a song called ‘I Miss Ragweed,’ or ‘She Misses Ragweed,’ and asked me to sing on it and play guitar.”

It’s hard to even imagine that song could get any better, but what I would give to hear those two featured on one track, especially “Ragweed.” Maybe (hopefully) they can team up or write something together in the future, because that truly is the Texas collab that we need.

While Cody was really flattered and loved the song, and noted that it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that the band is broken up now, he admitted that he ultimately just couldn’t sing about himself like that:

“And I said, ‘Man, that’s really sweet, that’s very nice and kind, but I can’t do that. And it’s not because of the band, it’s just because I’m not that kind of, I mean, I don’t even say my own name.’

I’m just not that kind of person, and I appreciate it and I was 100% behind him.”

CCR broke up after almost 15 years together back in 2010, and “Ragweed” was released in 2019.

Cody said people were finally starting to accept the fact that the band literally wasn’t getting back together, and then Koe kicked all that dust up again when he dropped Harold Saul High:

“And then when he released it, I got to know him, and when he released it, I texted him and said ‘You know, just about the time everybody shuts up about the band, you guys bring it back up.’

It started to settle down, and he kicked the dirt up again, but it’s alright, you know? I mean, everybody knows that that’s not gonna happen.

There’s a lot of things that would happen before that would happen.”

Though I do believe him when he says CCR is over for good right now, my momma always told me that you never say never… it’s probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I’ll always hold out hope for a CCR reunion.

Cody added that one of the best things to come out of Koe releasing such a kickass song (other than the song itself), is the fact that his royalty checks starting getting much bigger with so many fans discovering their great music for the first time because of that track:

“Oh yeah, oh yeah, big time. My royalty checks started getting bigger again, you know. With that song and with playing so many nights on Facebook during the pandemic.

Yeah, there was a resurgence in the music, and I didn’t even see it coming, which is great.”

Of course, it’s become one of Koe’s signature tunes, and it’s all thanks to the legend himself, Mr. Cody Canada.

Make sure you go ahead check out this week’s episode of the podcast with him for more on that, which starts right around the 13:35 mark:

And blare this one today in honor of CCR, because we all still miss Ragweed:

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