David Ragsdale

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Visit David's new official website! I am also the webmaster for this site. Click on the banner below.

The latest CD to be released featuring David on violin is the new Salem Hill, "Not Everybody's Gold." For more info, click here.

Going to visit Las Vegas this summer? Stop by the Bellagio and see David with the Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, Jimmy Hopper. David would now be the guy with the short hair playing the violin. *grin* To see a recent picture of David, visit this site & watch the changing graphic.

I am very excited to announce that David made an appearance on the latest CD by Holy Cross. I even made an appearance on this CD. To find out more about this project, click here.

Before New Year's 2000, David sent me his latest project, the John Scott Evans band CD called "Live at the Loft." (Recorded at The Loft in Columbus, GA) This CD is now available online at the JSE website. It features some crowd-pleasing Latin-style arrangements. My favorite songs are "La Tierra Natal," "Sound of My Heart," "Tema de la Banda," "Soft Spoken," and "Simple Gifts." You can hear one of these songs, "Tema de la Banda," on the JSE website. Click here to check it out. Click on the song titles to hear two other songs in Real Audio: "Sound of My Heart" and "La Tierra Natal."

I received some of the PDQ material which David finished in the studio last year. To read more about it, click here. I did have the pleasure of catching a PDQ show in Atlanta on Oct. 16... and finally met Mr. Ragsdale. Click here for some pictures.

David performed "Dust in the Wind" in concert with Kansas in Columbus on April 24th. To see a picture by Norm Carpenter of the two Kansas violinists, click here. Thanks Norm! To see more pictures of this event, look at my links page (near the end of this page).

David just finished a new project with the Pruett-Davis group, now called PDQ. From what I have heard so far, it sounds like something in-between David's Kansas work and jazz (David calls it "progressive jazz"). The group's work includes some different arrangements of his "D&G" material, which appear on this project.
David had been traveling around the southern US performing with the group before this project. He even appeared on TV with them in the Atlanta area. To see some pictures of David with PDQ, visit my links page.

To hear some of David's recent work on CD, you can order an excellent CD by Salem Hill, which features him on violin. It's called "The Robbery Of Murder." This can be ordered from Angelo's CDs and Tapes, a very reliable source, or you can check the Salem Hill website for details and song clips.
Check out some photos of David performing with Salem Hill and solo.

Other side projects: David played violin on seven songs on the latest CD by Don Conoscenti, called One for the Road. To find out more, visit Don's web page.  He also played violin (or should I say, fiddle) on a song by Jupiter Coyote.

To read a chat with David on AOL, click here (thanks Steve).

David Ragsdale, who had been the violinist for Kansas for about six years, took his leave from the band early in 1997. He performed with Kansas for the last time on January 31 in Kansas City. He brought a new vitality and style to Kansas' sound. Since then, David  has been pursuing a solo career and has released a solo CD, as well as various other projects. For a biography, click here. To see David's list of equipment, click here.

David's solo album, "David and Goliath," was released from Renaissance Records on October 26, 1997. He celebrated with an album release party that evening in Atlanta with important record company people in attendance.

I received my copy in the mail from David a little early. To read my comments on the CD, go to the D&G page. To read what some of your fellow Kansas fans thought about this CD, click here. I am so impressed with this CD, I'm excitedly looking forward to his next solo effort!

The pictures are wonderful as well. Several of them are blurred to show David's movement while they were taken. I particularly like the close-up inside the CD(above). The original cover is included in the CD design, regardless of the fact that Renaissance wasn't terribly fond of it. This CD is packaged in an unusual way to show lots of pictures and information without being too bulky.

"David and Goliath" is a progressive rock album that showcases David's classical training along with the rock'n'roll he is so good at doing. Not only does he play the violins and guitars, but some keyboards and percussion too! Several very talented musicians helped David out on this piece of work. To read comments on this album as well as live performance of material from D&G, visit Dan Coy's Ragsdale page.

My favorite songs: "Bach Stabber," "David & Goliath," "Rondo & Fugue," and "After the Storm."

Visit Steve Smits's Ragsdale page. His Kansas page also has some Ragsdale stuff (click below to enter).

I was lucky enough to see David (or "Rags," as his fans affectionately call him) twice in concert with Kansas: November 27, 1992 in Owensboro, KY; and July 26, 1996 at the Riverport Amphitheatre in St. Louis. David was supposed to do his last performance with Kansas in Owensboro in 1997, but unfortunately that show was cancelled (his last show was in Kansas City instead). My parents got the chance to speak with David at a show in Owensboro in 1994.

I once asked David how many violins he owns. He responded that he thinks he owns nine of them! (When you can't remember how many violins you own, it's time to stop buying them. ; ) David started out playing violin, then guitar, and even plays drums and keyboards sometimes as well.

My Ragsdale music collection:
"Live at the Whisky," [Kansas] 1992 (CD and video).
"Siamese Dream," [Smashing Pumpkins] (1993) songs "Disarm" and Luna").
"Boxed Set," [Kansas] 1994 (Disc 2, the song "Wheels").
"Wheels" CD single, [Kansas] 1994 (a promotional CD for the above collection).
"Peace for Me," [Motherland --with Jason Bonham] 1994 (the song "Y").
"Lunar Waves," [Kreis-Holmquist Project] 1995 (title track).
"Two for Tuesday," [Kansas] 1995 (a promotional CD for "Freaks of Nature").
"Freaks of Nature," [Kansas] 1995.
"Westwood One" concert, [Kansas] 1995.
"Into the New Wind," [Kansas] 1995 (this CD is an edited version of the "Westwood One" concert).
"A Time to Remember," [Eric Mantel] 1995 (four instrumental songs: tracks 1, 5, 9 &13).
"When Things Get Electric," [Kerry Livgren] 1995 (two solos: tracks 1 & 12).
"Hear in the Now Frontier," [Queensryche] 1997 (fade-out on track 1).
"David and Goliath," [David Ragsdale] 1997.
"Kansas - Dust in the Wind," [Kansas] 1997 (this CD is another version of "Live at the Whisky").
"Kansas - Definitive Collection," [Kansas] 1997 (from Germany--songs "Hope Once Again" and "Wheels").
"Here Be Dragons," [Jupiter Coyote] 1998 (a solo on the song "150 years ago").
"A Robbery of Murder," [Salem Hill] 1998 (several violin parts throughout the CD).

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