Chris McCaughan (born March 30, 1977), also known as Sundowner, is the guitarist and vocalist in the band

The Lawrence Arms The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively. Band history Pre-history Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active ...

. McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways (the latter also featuring fellow Arms bandmate Brendan Kelly). His solo music is released under the name Sundowner.

Career

In 2006, Chris started writing songs for a solo project, while playing intimate shows around Chicago, and posted four demo songs on his

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page. Adopting the name Sundowner, he finished recording his debut solo album with the help of The Lawrence Arms drummer

Neil Hennessy Neil Kevin Hennessy (born December 12, 1978) is a punk rock musician, music producer and engineer from Chicago, Illinois. Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal (band), Colossal, The Falcon (band), The Falcon, Smoking Popes, The ...

on bass and

Jenny Choi 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 (where she ...

on cello, keys and backing vocals. 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 Michael Brian Park is an American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo p ...

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. 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 Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is an independent record label based in San Francisco focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990. ...

in 2013. McCaughan is known to use Guild S-100 guitars and

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a ...

mark IV amps. McCaughan released music under the alias, Sundowner with backing members

, Neil Hennessy, and Eli Caterer. His debut album, '' Four One Five Two'', was released on Red Scare Records on March 13, 2007.

Asian Man Records Asian Man Records is a DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established in May 1996. History Asian Man ...

released the second Sundowner album '' We Chase the Waves'' on August 10, 2010. Sundowner toured with

through the UK and Europe in February and March 2008. During live shows, Sundowner is also known to cover Lawrence Arms songs. Sundowner is currently signed to

, and his third full-length album, ''Neon Fiction'', was released on September 3, 2013.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Four One Five Two'' (2007) * '' We Chase the Waves'' (2010) * '' Neon Fiction'' (2013)

Live albums

* '' Little Elephant Sessions'' (2014)

Compilation albums

* ''Rock Against Malaria'' (2009)

References

External links

Sundowner on Myspace

1977 births Living people American punk rock singers American punk rock guitarists Singers from Chicago Guitarists from Chicago American male guitarists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers The Lawrence Arms members The Broadways members Sundowner (band) members {{US-rock-singer-stub