Flyer Profile: Cross Canadian Ragweed

Fayetteville favorites Cross Canadian Ragweed will make a stop at George’s Majestic Lounge tonight, January 15th with special guest (and also, their producer) Mike McClure (The Great Divide).

Cross Canadian Ragweed are on a long tour that spans across most of the country, and despite some major success over the last few years including a top 40 hit, and a couple top ten debuts on the country charts, CCR still has some fondness for good old Fayetteville. If you’re not familiar with CCR, there is music streaming on their website, or you can visit their myspace page. Of course, the easiest thing to do is get out to George’s tonight and see them in person. Tickets are $25, and the show is 18+.

We got in touch with frontman Cody Canada, and he was nice enough to answer a few questions. Here goes.

Fayetteville Flyer: What have you been listening to lately?
Cross Canadian Ragweed: A ton of stuff – Kevin Welch, STP, Billie Holiday, Sam Baker, Jamey Johnson, Reckless Kelly. We are always trying to find new stuff to listen to, and the old stuff of course!

FF: You guys have played Fayetteville quite a bit over the years. What do you think about the town?
CCR: We absolutely love Fayetteville, we always have. Definitely miss the sushi place across from George’s though.

FF: Any particular memorable moments that happened at a Fayetteville show?
CCR: We had a great night years ago with Reckless Kelly. We played together at George’s – can’t really go in to detail, but it was memorable for sure. We have also made some great friends in Fayetteville, who have been friends nor for years.

FF: Cross Canadian Ragweed has been around for about 14 years, which is insane for any band not named Aerosmith. What are some of the keys to your success?
CCR: This is our 15th year together. We’re friends, man. We were friends before and we will always be friends. It’s a brotherhood, if we were going to disagree we would have a long time ago. We enjoy being around each other and we have fun playing together – that’s all you need.

FF: We read that Cody met Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant at the Americana Music Awards in Nashville. How crazy was that?
CCR: Very crazy. I was speechless.

FF: A lot of things have changed, and continue to change in the music industry lately, especially in regards to how music is purchased now-a-days. How do you guys feel about the digital music revolution?
CCR: It is what it is. It’s the direction it’s going. Being on the road as much as we are, I buy my music from iTunes. Just get it out there – that’s always been our deal.

FF: You guys are scheduled to go back into the studio in April. Do you guys already have a lot of songs ready for the record, or do you write a lot in the studio?
CCR: We’re going in March. I have a ton of stuff written, but I’m sure I’ll write more while we’re in progress. McClure and I write a lot during studio time.

FF: Do you guys have anyone in mind to produce the new record?
CCR: McClure. Always McClure. We may have some co-producers on a couple songs, you never know.