Chris McKay & the Critical Darlings
Encyclopedia
Photographer Chris McKay, of Athens, Georgia
, winner of several ASCAP Music Awards for his solo work, had wanted to be back in a group since his days with Q-Sign, which was named "one of the best unsigned bands in America" by Musician
magazine.
In 2004, McKay and his bass-playing high school friend Frank DeFreese formed The Critical Darlings. When word started to spread, the offers for shows came. "For the first year, we never booked gigs. We only accepted invitations," McKay said. "I thought that was a great sign."
Eventually, the Darlings went into the studio to record C’mon, Accept Your Joy! Before the CD was finished, leaked tracks had garnered airplay in 3 states. A month prior to the album's release, the band found themselves used as a punchline on Comedy Central
's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Since the official release of Joy, the songs have been picked up by over 150 stations around the world (including Poland, New Zealand, England and the United States).
In 2007, the Critical Darlings expanded to a quartet (with the addition of guitarist / vocalist Joe Orr and drummer Josh Harrison) and have started work on their second album, titled Satisfactionista with Grammy Award
-nominated producer David Barbe
(R.E.M.
, Drive-By Truckers
, Betty LaVette) behind the board. Of interest is the collaboration with David Bowie
's pianist Mike Garson
(Aladdin Sane
, Diamond Dogs
, Young Americans
) who appears on the track Something Unseen (which also finds Drive-By Truckers
’ Brad Morgan on drums). The Darlings are one of the first to employ Pete Townshend
's Lifehouse Method in "co-composing" several tracks with The Who
's songwriter / guitarist via software that produces a unique song based on data input.
Lee Valentine Smith of Creative Loafing
has named the Critical Darlings "a great little buzz-worthy band" and dubbed McKay "power pop potentate."
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, winner of several ASCAP Music Awards for his solo work, had wanted to be back in a group since his days with Q-Sign, which was named "one of the best unsigned bands in America" by Musician
Musician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
magazine.
In 2004, McKay and his bass-playing high school friend Frank DeFreese formed The Critical Darlings. When word started to spread, the offers for shows came. "For the first year, we never booked gigs. We only accepted invitations," McKay said. "I thought that was a great sign."
Eventually, the Darlings went into the studio to record C’mon, Accept Your Joy! Before the CD was finished, leaked tracks had garnered airplay in 3 states. A month prior to the album's release, the band found themselves used as a punchline on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Since the official release of Joy, the songs have been picked up by over 150 stations around the world (including Poland, New Zealand, England and the United States).
In 2007, the Critical Darlings expanded to a quartet (with the addition of guitarist / vocalist Joe Orr and drummer Josh Harrison) and have started work on their second album, titled Satisfactionista with Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated producer David Barbe
David Barbe
David Barbe is an American musician and producer/engineer from Athens, Georgia and director of the Music Business Certificate Program at the University of Georgia. He is chief of Chase Park Transduction studio in Athens...
(R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
, Betty LaVette) behind the board. Of interest is the collaboration with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's pianist Mike Garson
Mike Garson
Mike Garson is an American pianist, most notable for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins.- Early career :...
(Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is the sixth album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1973 . The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide rock star...
, Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
, Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
) who appears on the track Something Unseen (which also finds Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
’ Brad Morgan on drums). The Darlings are one of the first to employ Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
's Lifehouse Method in "co-composing" several tracks with The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's songwriter / guitarist via software that produces a unique song based on data input.
Lee Valentine Smith of Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing
CL Inc. is the Tampa, Florida-based publisher of three city newsweeklies and their associated websites. Each of the papers focuses on local news, politics, arts and entertainment, and restaurants...
has named the Critical Darlings "a great little buzz-worthy band" and dubbed McKay "power pop potentate."
Discography
- C'mon, Accept Your Joy!C'mon, Accept Your Joy!C'mon, Accept Your Joy! is the debut album of Athens, Georgia-based power pop band Chris McKay & the Critical Darlings. According to Flagpole Magazine, "There’s a vague but strong taste of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” in its muscular smiling power-pop, and that’s always a selling point." The...
(May 7, 2007) - An Uncertain Flight (EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, 2007) - Satisfactionista (Summer, 2008)