[Cover photo credit to Lindsey Byrnes]

Longtime co-fronter of Punk band Hot Water Music, Chuck Ragan is releasing Love And Lore on the 25th of October, 2024, his first solo collection in ten years, having released the album Vows with Hot Water Music earlier this year. The single “Echo The Halls” is out now.

Love And Lore was first conceptualized by Ragan in 2016, studio time was booked in 2019 and right before the recording was set to take place, COVID happened and all of Ragan’s musical projects had to be put on hold. Eventually Love And Lore was recorded in early 2023.

He shares about songwriting:

I’m always trying to do something different because I feel like if we’re not searching, we’re not learning. My writing approach seems to be whatever the song needs or wherever the song takes you, just let it breathe.

Regarding “Echo The Halls”, he adds:

Some of these songs are 15 years old and every once in a while something will pop out to me at the right time. It may have started a decade ago but for some reason whatever I sang or played just felt relevant to me in that moment, and that’s what I wanted to work on.

Lyrically, the album sees Ragan delivering ideas that are “brutally honest when it comes to themes such as relationships, family and the daily struggles that are an inherent part of living.”