From October 1994 until 2006 Ragan was one of the lead singers for Gainesville, Florida-based punk rock band Hot Water Music.[3][4] The group disbanded on good terms in 2005, and the other three members went on to form punk band The Draft, while Ragan continued a solo career playing mostly acoustic folk inspired music similar in tone to a former acoustic Hot Water Music side project called Rumbleseat signing to Side One Dummy Records. Hot Water Music reunited in 2007 for a tour across the United States and Europe, and in 2012, released a new album, Exister.
Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry and Ben Nichols toured in the fall of 2008. Chuck Ragan was also a support act on Frank Turner's 2010 tour of the UK, and supported The Gaslight Anthem during their 2010 European Fall tour. Ragan was the opener on the Social Distortion west coast tour in late January and February 2011.
In 2005, Ragan conceptualized the idea of The Revival Tour, a collaborative acoustic event featuring several punk rock, bluegrass, and alt-country performers. Ragan has stated that the tour is about "sharing music together" and "bringing it to people in an extremely honest and grassroots fashion."[5]
On each tour the artists were accompanied by a fiddle player, Jon Gaunt, and an upright bass player. In 2008 and 2009, GermanAmericana singer, Digger Barnes played the upright bass.[6][7] In 2011, 2012, and 2013, the upright bass was played by Joe Ginsberg.[8][9][10]
Ragan performing with Jon Gaunt in Nottingham (November 16, 2010) while touring with The Gaslight Anthem
In 2010, The Revival Tour journeyed across Australia, featuring Ragan, Barry, Nichols, Frank Turner, Jen Buxton of Like...Alaska, Darren Gibson, and Jamie Hay, accompanied by Jon Gaunt on fiddle and Todd Beene (ofGlossary and Lucero) on pedal steel guitar.[12][13] The Tour was concluded with a one-off performance at the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring Ragan, Nichols, Kevin Seconds, Steve Soto, John Carey of Old Man Markley, and Flogging Molly's Matt Hensley and Nathen Maxwell.[14]
In a February 12, 2010, interview, Chuck commented that he was working on an album with Brian Fallon, frontman for the Gaslight Anthem.[17] Since then, Fallon's vocals appeared on Ragan's song "Meet You In The Middle."
Ragan released a four-way split with underground UK singer-songwriters Sam Russo, Helen Chambers and Jimmy Islip in 2011.[18]
In 2012, Ragan released a book of tour stories entitled "The Road Most Traveled." The book is said to be "more than just a collection of anecdotes, it's as much a handbook of how to act on tour as it is a cautionary tale of what not to do if you want to sustain this lifestyle for years to come."[20]
In 2014, Ragan began working on the soundtrack for "The Flame in the Flood", a video game developed by the indie game company The Molasses Flood.[21]
The 7-Inch Club – 2006–2007, No Idea Records (Ragan released a series of seven singles, one per month, referred to collectively as "The 7-Inch Club" because only those who had pre-ordered the entire set ahead of time could obtain copies.) The series was also pressed on a CD entitled The Blueprint Sessions which accompanied the final mailing of the 7-Inch Club.
