Chuck Ragan

The Revival Tour was one of the more interesting group outings on the fringes of punk last year. Led by Against Me!'s Tom Gabel, Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan and Avail's Tim Barry, it took a coterie of erudite old-guard punks, had them take turns at the microphone and swap folky backing instruments for a kind of Opry variety hour for the lip-ringed set.
This year, it's coming back and casting an even wider net. Ragan and Barry are on board again, accompanied by Sparta's Jim Ward, the very intriguing and Billy Bragg-evoking recent Epitaph Records signing Frank Turner, Joey Cape of Lagwagon, Stephen Brodsky of Cave In, Jenny Owen Youngs and the local bluesy pop singer Audra Mae, among many others.
It's no stretch for a crusty punk to turn to folk and hardscrabble country as he or she gets older, but the vitality of this tour is in the camaraderie -- everyone takes turns up front and in support of one another, and the group pairings often make for some unexpectedly moving collaborations. It stops at the El Rey Theatre on Nov. 7. Full dates are at the Revival Tour website.
-LA Times music blog