Chris McCaughan (born March 30, 1977) is the guitarist and vocalist in the band The Lawrence Arms. [1] McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways (the latter also featuring fellow Arms bandmate Brendan Kelly). [2] His solo music is released under the name Sundowner.
In 2006, Chris started writing songs for a solo project, while playing intimate shows around Chicago, and posted four demo songs on his MySpace page. Adopting the name Sundowner, he finished recording his debut solo album with the help of The Lawrence Arms drummer Neil Hennessy on bass and Jenny Choi on cello, keys and backing vocals. [3] The record, Four One Five Two (named after his parents' house, where he did much of his songwriting), was released on Red Scare records on March 13, 2007, and features reworked versions of the popular Lawrence Arms songs "100 Resolutions" and "Boatless Booze Cruise" (retitled "My Boatless Booze Cruise"); the latter was a song originally written and sung by Lawrence Arms bandmate and bassist Brendan Kelly.
McCaughan went on tour as Sundowner with Mike Park in Feb-Mar 2008 in the UK and Europe on what was known as the "Beans On Toast" Tour, because that is all the pair could afford to eat. [ citation needed ] Asian Man Records released the second Sundowner album We Chase The Waves on August 10, 2010. Sundowner's third full-length album, Neon Fiction, was released on Fat Wreck Chords in 2013.
McCaughan is known to use Guild S-100 guitars and Mesa Boogie mark IV amps.
The Broadways was a short-lived American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in 1996 after the dissolution of the ska-punk band Slapstick. The latter's vocalist Brendan Kelly and trumpet player Dan Hanaway assumed the roles of bassist and guitarist, joined by Rob DePaola on drums and Chris McCaughan on guitar. All but DePaola also assumed vocal duties.
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively.
Brendan Kelly is the bassist/vocalist of Chicago-based punk band The Lawrence Arms, as well as guitarist/lead vocalist in The Falcon and Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds. Kelly's former bands include Slapstick and The Broadways. He is known for his raspy vocals, drunken demeanor, and onstage witticisms.
Oh! Calcutta! is the fifth studio album by American punk rock band the Lawrence Arms, released in 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is the band's third and last studio album to be released on Fat Wreck Chords. Brendan Kelly has stated that this is his favorite Lawrence Arms album. Punknews named this album the #1 album of 2000-2009.
The Greatest Story Ever Told is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2003 by Fat Wreck Chords. A concept album of sorts, it follows a linear storyline and has several songs which call back to or refer to others. The album includes extensive liner notes with footnotes to the lyrics that detail the many literary and pop culture references. Its title is a direct reference to the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told, a 1965 film about the life of Jesus.
Cocktails & Dreams is an album of B-Sides and rarities by the Chicago punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2005 by Asian Man Records. It collects the songs from their two Asian Man EPs, songs from several compilations and a few new songs.
Ghost Stories is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2000 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's second full-length album. With this release the band moved away from the political nature of some of their previous songs in favor of more introspective lyrics. Also, while singer/bassist Brendan Kelly had handled the majority of lead vocals on their previous album A Guided Tour of Chicago, on this album he and singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan split vocal duties almost equally. This singing style would continue throughout their next several albums, and eventually the two would begin to share lead vocals in an almost duet style on Oh Calcutta! It also features the only Lawrence Arms song written and sung by drummer Neil Hennessy, "106 South". The album was recorded at Scientific Studios in December 1999 by Mike Giampa. All of the drums were triggered, and the bass was recorded through a SansAmp. Accompanied by a heavily distorted guitar, this resulted in a very raw sounding album. It's loved by hardcore fans for its dark tones and lyrical themes. Brendan Kelly has stated that this is his second least favorite Lawrence Arms album, but called the cover his favorite. The album was released on vinyl for the first time in 2009 on Asian Man Records, with all new artwork.
A Guided Tour of Chicago is the debut album by the Chicago, Illinois, band the Lawrence Arms, released in 1999 by Asian Man Records.
Apathy and Exhaustion is the third album by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2002 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the band's first album to be released on that label, and with this release, the band formed a close relationship with the label and its founder Fat Mike, with whom they released their next two albums. It was also their first full-length album recorded with producer Matt Allison, with whom they would go on to record all of their subsequent material.
Jenny Choi is an American singer and cellist, who founded the Asians in Rock tour, and is the lead singer of the two-piece Chicago band, Sanawon. For many years she performed solo at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as well as with a back-up band. She also played synthesizer and sang lead and backing vocals in the short-lived Sweet Black And Blue, with Philip Stone on drums and Ben Weasel at guitar and microphone. She played cello on Mike Park's second album North Hangook Falling, The Lawrence Arms fifth album Oh! Calcutta! and the debut album Four One Five Two by their guitarist Chris McCaughan as part of his side project Sundowner, and contributed vocals to three songs on This Is Me Smiling's first album.
Present Day Memories is an EP by the Chicago, Illinois punk rock band The Lawrence Arms and the San Francisco, California ska punk band The Chinkees, released in 2001 by Asian Man Records. It is considered a "split" CD in that each band contributes several songs. It is now out of print, however all of the Lawrence Arms tracks have been reissued on their B-sides album Cocktails & Dreams. This is the release that got Fat Mike interested in signing The Lawrence Arms to his label, Fat Wreck Chords.
Slapstick is an American punk-ska fusion band from Elgin, Illinois that was primarily active from 1993 to 1996. Started by a group of friends, they took inspiration from Operation Ivy and the guttural punk vocals of Crimpshrine. Though the band had made the decision to break up a couple of weeks beforehand, their original final show was October 5, 1996 at the Metro with Less Than Jake and Skankin' Pickle. Since disbanding, Slapstick has periodically reunited to perform shows for various reasons, including benefits and anniversaries. The band is known for being the root of the "Slapstick Family Tree", a group of musical projects which spawned from members of Slapstick, including Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, The Broadways, Tuesday, Duvall, Colossal, The Honor System and The Falcon.
Neil Kevin Hennessy is a punk rock musician, music producer and engineer from Chicago, Illinois.
Sundowner is an American mostly acoustic project of Chris McCaughan of The Lawrence Arms, also featuring Jenny Choi, Neil Hennessy, and Eli Caterer.
Four One Five Two is the debut album of Chicago Illinois's Sundowner, the acoustic side-project from Chris McCaughan, singer guitarist of The Lawrence Arms. The album was released on March 13, 2007, after many months of playing coffee shops and touring alongside The Lawrence Arms.
Buttsweat and Tears is an EP by the Chicago punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released October 27, 2009 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the first recorded output from the band in three years, following their 2006 album Oh! Calcutta! In the interim, singer/bassist Brendan Kelly and drummer Neil Hennessy performed in The Falcon, Hennessy also performed in the Smoking Popes, and singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan performed in Sundowner.
The Fat Club is a series of twelve 7-inch singles released monthly by Fat Wreck Chords from March 2001 to February 2002. 1,300 of each single were pressed; They were not available for sale individually, but were distributed by postal service to those who purchased a subscription to the series.
Metropole is the sixth studio album from the punk band The Lawrence Arms. The record was released by Epitaph Records on January 28, 2014. Also released on the same date, as part of limited edition pre-order bundles, was the 7" vinyl-exclusive EP News From Yalta, which features three tracks from the same recording sessions that did not end up making it into the main release of Metropole. However, the digital Deluxe Edition does include these 3 tracks in Metropole itself, numbering them tracks 13–15.
We Chase the Waves is the second album by Chicago's Sundowner, the acoustic side-project from Chris McCaughan of The Lawrence Arms. The album was released on August 3, 2010.
We Are the Champions of the World is a compilation album of material by the Chicago punk rock band The Lawrence Arms. Released in 2018 by Fat Wreck Chords, it spans the band's entire career, and includes songs that were released on Fat Wreck Chords, Asian Man Records, and Epitaph Records. It concludes with 5 non-album tracks taken from recording sessions for the 2006 album Oh! Calcutta!, four of which were previously unreleased on any format.