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After eight seasons with the Grand Country Music Hall, New South is saying goodbye to frontman David Ragan.
While working at Grand Country, Ragan performed with New South on the Grand Jubilee, New South Gospel and Branson Country USA shows. Before joining Grand Country in 2014, Ragan performed with gospel groups The Inspirations and The Perry’s. Ragan shared that he was drawn to the world of gospel music from an early age.
“I have three younger brothers and at an early age we learned how to sing harmony by listening to gospel groups, especially a group I would go on to join ironically. When I first heard about the group, they were The Inspirations, they’re from North Carolina,” Ragan said. “We live in Michigan, so we didn’t find a lot of groups. We had to go to Detroit to see the group, and when I saw what they did, I heard them, and it changed my life. I fell in love with anything that had four-part harmonies since I was 14. I actually joined that group when I was 22 and was on the same bus for five years, which Cool.”
A few times a year, The Inspirations plays in Branson, and Ragan strikes a friendship with longtime New South bassist Mark McCauley, a fan of the gospel quartet. Over the next few years, Ragan said he would receive an offer from Macaulay to join the New South when they had a vacancy.
“Somebody’s going to leave and he’s going to call me, ‘Hey, man, you know we’ve got people leaving our team.’ I still don’t know anything about it, so I don’t really understand it at all,” Ragan said. “I always say, ‘No, I’m happy to do what I’m doing.'”
After working with The Inspirations and working at The Perry’s for about a year, Ragan said he had started thinking about doing something different in 2014.
“I got off the road and just didn’t want to be on the road anymore. There were a lot of reasons, but a lot of them were family related, and I really didn’t want to be on the road anymore,” Ragan said. “I still love to sing, and I got a call from Mark McCauley right then. He said, “Man, I know I called you before.” I said, ‘Let me think about it, you know. So he sent me something and they agreed to take me to Branson. “
Ragan shared that when he arrived in Branson to audition for Grand Country, he didn’t know what to expect.
“Coming from gospel music, I really don’t know anything about secular music,” Ragan said. “The first time I sat there watching the Jubilee, the first thing I remember was, ‘I can’t do this. No way. I can sing, but I don’t think I can move, just very Funny. But I auditioned that night, they offered me the job, I took it, and I moved from Tennessee to Missouri. I was hired in October 2014.”
While transitioning from all gospel music to various genres is pretty straightforward, Ragan says some things take some getting used to.
“I’m used to doing longer routines. We sing a lot. Gospel singers sing a lot in a short amount of time; usually. It’s not about demos like Branson. In Branson, you have a bunch People, a lot of them are on vacation, maybe have kids or have a short attention span. You have to keep them entertained, you have to keep the pace fast. That’s a little bit of adjustment.”
Ragan also joked that the dance element of the show was also a little challenging at the start.
“From the gospel, not a lot, so learn how to move a little bit. I’m not a dancer. Mike keeps making jokes about this, but I really am not. Now I just know how to move. I just know how to relate the lyrics and the music to my body at the time situation,” Ragan said. “Really the hardest part is changing clothes quickly…it’s probably the hardest thing you can do in a night. Now in the jubilee, I think I have 14 clothes changes in a two-hour show. I’ve got everything right now. I didn’t think so, but when I first came, “I can’t be on stage on time,” I would have nightmares when I got home, dreaming of missing the curtain call or something.”
As for what’s next for the Branson entertainer, Ragan shared that he and his family are moving back to his home state of Michigan.
“There are a lot of factors, but one of the biggest for me personally is that my family is still in Michigan; at least most of them. My mom and dad still live in the house I grew up in,” Ragan said. “My brother, his wife and their kids live very close to them and then my extended family is around them. I have been away from home full time for about 18 years. I am 36 years old and think about the passage of time and so far away from them.”
While Ragan and his wife Reagan (yes, her name is Reagan Ragan) both love Branson, Ragan shared that they thought it would be the perfect time to transition.
“Our child, our oldest, 4, and she’s going to school, we thought it was a good time. Combined with the housing market, it made a lot of sense to act now, and it’s just become like this,” Regan said. . “Nothing lasts forever, that’s another story. How long do I do it? It’s not that I don’t love to sing. Of course I do, but at this point in my life my family is number one. Although I like Singing, but I’ve had to work two jobs for the past two years, and selling our house will allow us to reduce how busy we have to be, which is very appealing to us right now.”
Those hoping to see Ragan’s final show in Grand Country can do so next week.
“Wednesday July 6th is my last big jubilee and it will be my last cheer as that is our flagship show. My last actual performance will be the next afternoon and NSW will be my last A formal show, Thursday at 3 p.m. Ironically, that was my first show at Grand Country,” Ragan said. “My last gig will be my first, which is kind of cool. I don’t think I’ll be on Monday or Tuesday next week. I think we’ll make this new guy a little smug.”
On Thursday, June 30, Grand Country officially announced that Barry Arwood will join Mark McCauley, Luke Menard and Eric Dalton as the latest addition to the new South following Ragan’s departure.
“I don’t know Barry very well, but I’ve heard him sing, and the first time I heard him sing, I was impressed. He sang with The Sons…and they sang on our TV show. I’m Harmony fans so I listened to what they did and he was definitely interested in me. Something I noticed when working with him last week or so because he’s kind of like my shadow on the show now and learning what it’s like backstage. He Got some questions for me, but honestly, this guy is a great singer,” Ragan said. “He has a lot of confidence and it will take him a long way, but the best thing I can say about him is his attitude. He has a great attitude. He has a very warm and open personality. He’s very friendly. It’s going to resonate perfectly with the people we sing a lot.”
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