McCauliffe Brothers Band, brothers Chris (guitar, lead vocals, keyboards) and Mike McCauliffe (bass, backing vocals) had talked about leaving their corporate jobs to commit fully to writing, producing and recording their second album at their studio, the Sound Grove in Chapel Hill, NC. Between working 40 hours a week and gigging on weekends, there was little time left to write, record and get the professional result they were looking for. It was just a dream until Mike was laid off from his job at the end of 2013. The brothers realized this was the time to go all in on music, so Chris resigned from his job the following year. The work began: writing and recording guitar, bass, vocals, and keyboards while still performing live on weekends.
Early on in the process, the brothers found Nashville session drummer, Jake Burton to record on the album. His deep pocket drumming was perfect for the brothers’ grooving rock style. With Jake in Tennessee and the brothers in North Carolina, they had to exchange their creativity over the internet. The brothers emailed new song ideas to Jake, and he would record drums over the brothers’ parts from his studio in Nashville. Some songs would go back and forth a number of times before final versions were recorded.
When it was time to shop around for a mixer for the album, the brothers figured they’d aim high by reaching out to some of the industry’s top professionals first to see if they could get a response. That week, Justin Cortelyou (Paul McCartney, Phish, Taylor Swift) gave Mike a callback and expressed his interest in the project after listening to the mixes sent over to him. Justin went on to mix all of the songs on the album in his studio in Nashville. The album was mastered at Georgetown Masters by Andrew Mendelson in Nashville. Mendelson has worked with many great artists including the Rolling Stones, Kings of Leon, and the White Stripes.
The release date is set: 3/23/18. Simpler Days is rock; it’s groove, it’s ten songs the band couldn’t be happier to share with you.
