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Chuck Ragan

Fly fishing tour guide

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • April 14, 2025

How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape). In this edition, we caught up with Chuck Ragan, known as the gruffest voice of Hot Water Music and an impressive solo career. Besides music, Ragan is also a professional angler and fishing guide. Scene Point Blank: First, the basics. You are a fishing guide, is that your job title? Chuck Ragan: Yes. I’m a fly fishing guide and instructor. The vast majority of my trips are fly fishing but have always been set up to accommodate conventional anglers as well. Scene Point Blank: What does that mean in relation to your role at Cast Hope? Chuck Ragan: When I began guiding I started working with Cast Hope. I’d fallen in love with the cause and the mission of sharing the outdoors with youth and their mentors to help with awareness of our waterways and the importance of connecting with Mother Nature. Scene Point Blank: Do you guide people on rivers, primarily? Are you a boat captain as well? Chuck Ragan: I’m mostly working in rivers, yes, but also work in a number of our foothill lakes and reservoirs in Northern California. Some of the rivers I work are deemed navigable waters in which I have to have a merchant mariners credential, TWIC card and a … Read more

Retirement

Bike Shop

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • March 23, 2025

How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day … Read more

Sumu

Individual Coach

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • February 28, 2025

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more

Peter Jesperson

Interviews • February 28, 2025

There is perhaps no bigger music fan than Peter Jesperson. His passion for music translated to jumping feet first and … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

Errth

Errth
Uncle Style Records (2025)

What makes a gruff vocal melodic punk band stand out? That's the question I'm asking myself as I listen to Errth's debut on repeat. I've been playing this record for probably a month straight and I dig it. It checks the heart-on-sleeve style I enjoy but I'm struggling to figure out why, exactly. I think on this, it's the tones … Read more

1186

Histeria
Drunken Sailor (2025)

If you read enough press releases, you start questioning if you even know what genre names mean. Post-punk has been one of the most abused terms of the past 2-3 years and it seems to mean wildly different things to different people. To me, it’s always meant an ear for angular guitars and noise atop more traditional song concepts. 1186 … Read more

Li Jianhong

Shuttle Raven of the Dream
Utech (2025)

Li Jianhong's philosophy surpasses the direct relationship of a musician with their instrument of choice. Instead, Li has advocated for Environment Improvisation, where the urge to create and improvise is established by the artist's surroundings. Looking at Li's website you can find numerous instances that inspired him to settle down and start improvising, drawing energy from the surroundings. The music … Read more

Deseos Primitivos

Lineas de Muerte
Shadowplay Records (2025)

Some reviews are written after years of listening to a band and knowing nearly everything about them. Sometimes I listen to a record on repeat for weeks before I even look up the correct song titles – Deseos Primitivos (Primitive Desires) is the latter. This promo came to SPB as literally a one sentence quote about the band and its … Read more

Additional album reviews

The Men

Buyer Beware
Fuzz Club Records (2025)

I wanna say the first time I heard Brooklyn NY’s The Men was back in 2010, ironically around the time I moved back to Vancouver, Canada from Brooklyn. I don’t … Read more

Detention

Dead Rock ‘N’ Rollers
Left For Dead Records (2024)

Life ain’t so easy in the detention home- Dead Boys. Emerging from the underbelly of Jersey, made up primarily of three brethren. Raised on rock and roll and sipping from … Read more

Nightfreak

Nightfreak
Big Neck Records (2024)

Semi-feral punk outfit NightFreak are back with a self-titled LP filled with breakneck riffs and 70s metal bombast. The Chicago group haven’t slowed down since 2022’s Speed Trials but they … Read more

Death By Unga Bunga

Raw Muscle Power
Jansen Records (2025)

I’m pretty sure I became aware of Mike Krol when The Whiffs posted about playing some shows with him. Krol is a bit of an anomaly. Not only is he … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Celebration Summer

A Little Less Numb
Den of Wax (2024)

I get a lot of music here at SPB and, unfortunately, my memory isn’t perfect. But I consider it a good sign when my first thought on hearing a new … Read more

Gus Baldwin & The Sketch

The Sketch
Permanent Teeth (2025)

When The Sketch opens, I find myself quickly thinking of “Got The Time” by Joe Jackson. For the most part, that comparison fades by the time the power chords kick … Read more

Chat Pile

Cool World
Flenser (2024)

The great American experiment has a wide range of experiences, but it tends to focus on the coasts. There are countless dystopian pieces of art, often culling from a Warriors-esque … Read more

The Anomalys

Down The Hole
Slovenly (2024)

If I have to give the elevator pitch, I’ll call The Anomalys garage rock with an ear for surf and psyche rock -- turned up to 11 and blasted through … Read more

News headlines — browse all

SPB stream: Righteous Propaganda/Mycelium Cloak

Posted in Records on April 1, 2025

Just released in February, SPB’s featured stream for the month of March is a fierce and heavy split LP between Illinois bands Righteous Propaganda and Mycelium Cloak, out now -- released jointly by the two bands. Righteous Propaganda formed in 2016 in DeKalb and play brutal hardcore befitting of their … Read more

Herb Wiley (Rye Coalition) diagnosis

Posted in Music News on April 24, 2025

Herb Wiley (Rye Coalition, Black Hollies, WYLIE) just shared a health update and disappointing news for fans. The guitarist of Rye Coalition (and more) has been diagnosed with the progressive … Read more

Ryan Cassata makes a statement

Posted in Labels on April 24, 2025

Folkish pop punk artist Ryan Cassata has joined Kill Rock Stars, sharing the single "i feel like throwing up" today, in advance of label debut Greetings From Echo Park, set … Read more

Jozef Van Wissem collab with Jim Jarmusch

Posted in Records on April 23, 2025

Experimental lute player and composer Jozef Van Wissem has announced a new album with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, titled Concerning Celestial Hierarchy. The 6-track album will release on June 6 on … Read more

The Bouncing Souls "United"

Posted in Bands on April 22, 2025

The Bouncing Souls released a new standalone single today, "United," produced by Will Yip. The band has an active summer, including a tour with H20, Punk Rock Bowling, plus headlining … Read more

John Galm travels the River Of Blood

Posted in Records on April 22, 2025

John Galm, former frontman of Snowing, has announced his second solo album in his own name and his first in 11 years. The new record will be titled River of … Read more

For Your Health: a rotten taste from This Bitter Garden

Posted in Records on April 22, 2025

For Your Health has a new video out, showcasing the single "Davenport (A Rotten Pear)," from their upcoming album. The video is directed by Nick Holland The band recently announced … Read more

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