“She misses Ragweed like I do…”
I’ll be honest, all this excitement about Cross Canadian Ragweed reuniting in some form or fashion has me excited… or maybe cautiously optimistic would be the better term.
For years since they disbanded in 2010, fans have been hoping and praying for a reunion with their favorite Red Dirt band. And for years, frontman Cody Canada has been insisting that it will never happen… you know what they say about the word “never.”
It was never more than wishful thinking, and while CCR updating their social media could mean nothing more than they’re reissuing an old album or something like that, it feels like it’s something much bigger considering how much effort they’re putting to teasing it.
I mean, they knew touching the social media pages (how did someone still have that Facebook login?) would send fans into a frenzy, and if it’s anything short of a concert, new song or album than that’s just mean.
So yeah, stay tuned, because something is definitely coming…
And also with all of this Ragweed talk, I’ve had a certain song stuck in my head for the last week or so, and you can probably guess that it’s Koe Wetzel’s anthem “Ragweed.”
It was of course included on his breakout 2019 album Harold Saul High, and quickly became a fan-favorite and staple at his live shows, and still one of my all-time favorite songs… I mean, listening to “Ragweed” at maximum volume with the windows down is better than therapy, but I digress…
But what many fans may not know is that Koe wanted Cody to sing and play guitar on it with him, and when we had Cody on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast a couple years ago, he gave a rare interview and explained why he didn’t do it.
Cody said that his friend Larry Joe Taylor first reached out years ago to tell him Koe was recording the song, which was of course before all of his current mainstream success, when he was still making a name for himself in the Texas scene:
“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?”
Larry was actually the one who called 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.”
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.”
It’s hard to even imagine that song could get any better, but what I would give to hear those two featured on one song, especially “Ragweed.” Cody did say his royalty checks started getting a lot bigger after that, so I’m sure he appreciated that aspect of it too.
Of course, in the interview, Cody also reiterated the fact (with great conviction) that they would never get back together or make music again, but hey, things change… at least I can only hope that’s the case now.
You can listen to the entire podcast episode below if you need a little fix, and check out our list of songs to start with if you the incredible band was a little before your time and you haven’t gotten into the music yet HERE.
And I’m sure we’ll all have this stuck in our head for the rest of the day now…
“Ragweed”
