The Lineage of Ragweed to The Saints and American Aquarium

If you’ve been around this scene long enough, you can trace a lot of things back to some ragtag songwriters in and around Stillwater, Oklahoma. Do the work. Tell the truth. Make the crowd feel like part of the band. Repeat tomorrow, one exit down the interstate. That’s the scene Cross Canadian Ragweed came up in. That’s what they lived and breathed.

There’s a throughline from that genesis to the modern day. Square in the middle of that line you will find Texans Shane Smith and the Saints and North Carolina’s American Aquarium. Different zip codes, different accents, same blood type. Spilled by Ragweed. Soaked up by all in their wake.

Shane Smith and the Saints took Ragweed’s roaddog DNA and blew it up widescreen. Where Ragweed gathered around a campfire with a can of gasoline, the Saints have turned their harmonies into a bonfire befitting of John Ford films.

That urge to make a room sing itself hoarse comes from Ragweed and lives on in all the folks who scream along to “All I See Is You” (and AA “IHHBYH” too). The Saints’ shows have that same Ragwwed family we’re all in this together vibe. Big refrains, bigger energy and an unspoken pact that the band will leave it all on the floor if you will sweat and jam it out in the crowd too.

American Aquarium absorbed a different but just as important slice of the Ragweed gospel…the confessional grind. BJ Barham operates in the Cody Canada vein where the autobiographical becomes communal. His songs take you from the front seat to the front row (and sometimes the back pew) without changing style. Blue collar confessionals, ugly truths and a stout work ethic. Ragweed taught a generation that vulnerability could be loud, Barham’s AA ran with that.

Both bands also inherited Ragweed’s scene first ethic. Ragweed didn’t gatekeep instead they built an on ramp. The Saints and AA have done the same. As their tide rose, they pulled the boats up with them. Touring with new artists, sharing bills that feel like a really cool backyard party. A singular scene heartbeat.

This Saturday a bill comes together that is completely Ragweed curated.

Putting a Carolina-born band (AA) with Texas boot stompers (Saints) under a Ragweed banner reasserts what the scene has always been through the lens of Ragweed: borderless. The vibe and authenticity is greater than any area code.

Ragweed choosing the Saints and American Aquarium in Waco is awesome. It is an endorsement and a musical call to arms.

Waco will feel it this weekend. And if you listen close you’ll hear the same old promise Ragweed made years ago. One that has been carried by Saints and AA and so many others that make this scene of music special.

That’s the deal. That’s the lineage.