For a band that officially broke up years ago, Hot Water Music has been playing together quite a bit recently. First, they had their initial reunion shows at the beginning of the year: the warm-up gig in their hometown of Gainesville, followed by stops in Orlando, Sayreville (NJ) and two nights in Chicago. Those shows went so well that the guys agreed to play the Shirts for a Cure showcase at South by Southwest in March. Once again, HWM tore the house down and signed up for the Bamboozle Left on April 6. They decided to hit the west coast last week, playing shows in Tempe and San Diego. Hot Water are in Europe this week where they will be playing a few shows, including the rather amazing punk and hardcore festival Groezrock today (as CoS reported, with an also temporarily reunited Face to Face) and a show with Walter Schreifels.

Now, to the surprise of the thousands of delighted fans who will fill the venues, Hot Water Music just announced that they will be playing shows in Philadelphia and New York in July.

Not enough Hot Water for you? Don’t sweat it, my friends, because there is more!

If you are lucky enough to live close to Milwaukee or you are making the trip to Summerfest, you’ll be able to catch Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard (the vocalists/guitarists of Hot Water), alongside Samantha Jones (the vocalist/guitarist of Bitchin’) bringing back their acoustic, punk-folk (a.k.a., bluesy, whiskey-western, punk-rock) side-project Rumbleseat on the Miller Lite Oasis Stage. The band released an album in 2005, but really, it has not recorded new music since 1999. The album (appropriately titled “Is Dead”) collected the seven previously released songs from Rumbleseat’s four 7″s and a few unreleased tracks onto one complete work. What exactly does this mean for future Rumbleseat releases? Since Rumbleseat no longer has a website and has not released a statement, only time will tell…

You want more? Any Hot Water Music fan will be able to tell you that these guys don’t like to rest. So Chuck, why’d it have to end? Chuck Ragan will be playing a slew of solo shows in Europe following the HWM gigs. He will be making some stops in California in June and July. Later this month, Chuck will drop a limited 7″/digital EP, as well as a split 7″ (with Nagel of the German punk band Muff Potter). His next album, “Bristle Ridge” (a collaboration with Austin Lucas and his father, Bob, released on Hometown Caravan), will be sold at his shows next week in Europe, but will not be released in the US until later this summer. I read two different reviews calling “Bristle Ridge” the best album of the year (no joke), while I was looking up info for this story. This fall, Chuck will be a part of the Revival Tour, along with Tim Barry (Avail) and Ben Nichols (Lucero), all doing their best folk-punk. The shows will feature the artists performing their individual solo sets, as well as covering each other’s material. From Chuck’s MySpace.com blog:

“All the tours that I’ve done since I’ve been doing this solo stuff have in some way or the other ended up with a bunch of friends onstage by the end of the night,” Ragan explains, adding that each performer will be joined by a backing band that will change based on geography and include many of their peers and previous tourmates. “I’ve always loved seeing that and now I’m absolutely loving creating something like that with good friends who think and believe along the same lines.”

Finally, yes finally, Chris Wollard will be releasing his solo debut on No Idea at some point in the upcoming months.

Where does all of this leave the Draft? They wrapped up recording the new album last year, so don’t worry if you are a newcomer. In the late 90s, HWM put out something like five albums every year. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a little. Point is, these guys work hard and like to please their fans. So…

Get ready and be prepared to be pleased!

Check out some tunes below

European Dates
May 9, 2008 - Groezrock Festival, (Meerhout) Antwerp, Belgium
May 10, 2008 - Skaters Palace, Münster, Germany (w/ Walter Schreifels)
May 11, 2008 - Uebel und Gefährlich, Hamburg

U.S. Dates
Friday, July 11 - The Troc, Philadelphia, PA — Tickets on sale Saturday 5/10 at noon
Saturday, July 12 - Terminal 5, NYC, New York — Tickets on sale Saturday 5/10 at noon

You can purchase Hot Water Music “Live at the Hardback,” Rumbleseat “Is Dead,” Bitchin’ “The Night Life, the Tight Style” at No Idea Records and The Draft “In a Million Pieces” at Epitaph.

Chuck Ragan “The Blueprint Sessions” and “Live at the Troubadour” are not available for purchase, but you can get his studio debut “Feast or Famine” or live album “Los Feliz” at Side One Dummy

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Categories: News
Tags: Chuck Ragan, Hot Water Music, Rumbleseat