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Music For Survivors (Home Recordings Box Set)

by Chris McKay

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1.
Disc 1, Track 1 - Daylight Again (Home Demo) 03:35
2.
Disc 1, Track 2 - Fever Dream (Home Demo) 04:12
3.
Disc 1, Track 3 - Long Distance Call (Home Demo) 02:26
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Disc 1, Track 4 - The Pot And The Kettle (Home Demo) 03:22
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Disc 1, Track 5 - Potter's Field (Home Demo) 04:14
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Disc 1, Track 6 - Pagan City (Home Demo) 05:27
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Disc 1, Track 7 - A Little Bit Longer (Home Demo) 03:14
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Disc 1, Track 8 - Nothing Left (Home Demo) 01:37
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Disc 1, Track 9 - I've Got To Move (Home Demo) 03:45
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Disc 1, Track 10 - Ahead Of The Curve (Home Demo) 03:53
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Disc 1, Track 11 - Paper Airplane (Home Demo) 05:00
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Disc 1, Track 12 - Green And Gold (Home Demo Remix) 04:40
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Disc 1, Track 13 - Water Colors (Home Demo Remix) 04:34
14.
Disc 1, Track 14 - When Running Turns To Searching (Home Demo) 02:38
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15.
Disc 1, Track 15 - Looking For Home (Home Demo) 05:27
16.
Disc 2, Track 1 - Wayside (Home Demo) 04:54
17.
Disc 2, Track 2 - Goodbye Tuesday (Home Demo) 02:43
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Disc 2, Track 3 - Save It For Another Day (Home Demo) 04:41
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Disc 2, Track 4 - It's Never The Same (Home Demo) 03:56
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Disc 2, Track 5 - Impermanence (Must Be Right) (Home Demo) 04:10
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Disc 2, Track 6 - Normal (Home Demo) 02:38
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Disc 2, Track 7 - All There Is (Home Demo) 03:05
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Disc 2, Track 8 - Nowhere (Home Demo) 05:30
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24.
Disc 2, Track 9 - If You Want To Go (Home Demo) 04:36
25.
Disc 3, Track 1 - Feel It (Home Demo) 04:06
26.
Disc 3, Track 2 - I Expect The Same From You (Home Demo) 02:30
27.
Disc 3, Track 3 - If You Try To Make Me Choose (You Lose) (Home Demo) 03:42
28.
Disc 3, Track 4 - If I Could (I Guess I Should) (Home Demo) 04:30
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29.
Disc 3, Track 5 - Everybody's Trying (Home Demo) 03:54
30.
Disc 3, Track 6 - This Is The Night The World Changes (Home Demo) 03:25
31.
Disc 3, Track 7 - Say Yes (Home Demo) 03:36
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Disc 3, Track 8 - You Don't Know Me (Home Demo) 03:09
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Disc 3, Track 9 - Why Should I Care? (Home Demo) 04:09
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Disc 3, Track 10 - Yeah You Know (Right Now) (Home Demo) 04:37
35.
Disc 4, Track 1 - Grab It (Home Demo) 04:22
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36.
Disc 4, Track 2 - Time Marches On (Home Demo) 04:41
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Disc 4, Track 3 - We Were Never Strangers (Home Demo) 04:51
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Disc 4, Track 4 - Shake My Faith (Home Demo) 02:50
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Disc 4, Track 5 - Try (A Little Bit Harder) (Home Demo) 05:01
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Disc 4, Track 6 - O.O.O.O. (Home Demo) 04:39
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Disc 4, Track 7 - This Place Is On Fire (Home Demo) 04:07
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Disc 4, Track 8 - Torchbearer (Home Demo) 04:21
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Disc 4, Track 9 - Gone (Home Demo) 03:59
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Disc 4, Track 10 - Like Children (Who've Been Released) (Home Demo) 05:54
45.
Disc 5, Track 1 - Clouds Roll In 02:37
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46.
Disc 5, Track 2 - One Way Ride 05:14
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47.
Disc 5, Track 3 - An Unlonely Boy 04:40
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48.
Disc 5, Track 4 - Birds And Water 04:09
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49.
Disc 5, Track 5 - (This Is) How It Is 04:01
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50.
Disc 5, Track 6 - Heavy Cloud 04:52
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51.
Disc 5, Track 7 - Been A Bit Down 03:52
lyrics
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I've been a bit down But I won't stay there long I'll keep coming back for more I've been doing this too long To ever stay down Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse The way that I can convince myself Things can always be worse Every time I recognize That everything's okay It seems that something else will come along And knock me off my way And then I feel down But it's a temporary thing Now and then, I forget the words But remember how to sing So that's what I do Even if the words are wrong I leave the doubt 'Til I figure it out And it all comes back again Y'know that every time I recognize That everything's okay It seems that something else will come along And knock me off my way But you can't keep me down No, you won't keep me down Oh no, oh no You can't keep me down No, you won't keep me down Oh no, oh no Oh yeah Y'know that every time I recognize That everything's okay It seems that something else will come along And knock me off my way But you can't keep me down No, you won't me down Oh no, oh no No, you can't keep me down No, you won't keep me down Oh no, oh no No, you can't keep me down No, you won't keep me down Oh no, oh no No, you can't keep me down No, you'll never keep me down Oh no, oh no I've been a bit down...
52.
Disc 5, Track 8 - I Don't Want To Go Out Tonight 03:02
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53.
Disc 5, Track 9 - Sea Shaped Hole 03:31
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54.
Disc 5, Track 10 - EUNO 02:56
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55.
Disc 5, Track 11 - Prayers 10:13
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about

The Music For Survivors "box set" is bittersweet for me. While I'm very glad to have many of these songs available, my plans had always been to take them into the big studio at some point.

The problem is, I write all the time. Over the years, I've amassed hundreds (if not thousands) of songs. Going into the big studio to record everything is not something that's possible financially, and I now realize that if I'm ever going to get to all the more recent songs I've written and the ones I'm writing, I simply won't be able to go back and get all those other songs.

Basically, if I don't get them out there now, I never will. I know this.

Add to that the fact that I've shared these home recordings with friends and family over the years, quite often, I've been told by those that I care about that many of their favorite songs of mine are among these unreleased tracks. "Hey, why didn't you ever put out this song or that song?"

So, in September of 2017, I was in an automobile accident and was stuck at home recuperating for too long. During that time, I decided that it was time to do something with this material. With the encouragement of those friends, I began going through the scores of songs to see which ones I should release. It wasn't easy.

I decided to break them into four discs of songs that would fit around the official releases. I put the songs, as well as I could, into running orders that elevated the songs. Hearing the songs in their general chronological context brought those times back for me.

Yes, it's true that some of these songs were never released because they were just too personal. That's the main thing.

Meanwhile, some of the songs just didn't fit in with The Critical Darlings or whatever band I was playing with at the time even though they were favorites. Frank DeFreese and I wrote "If I Could (I Guess I Should)", and we thought it was one of our best songs. We both wanted it on Satisfactionista, but it didn't make the cut for some reason. Well, here it is.

When I got into the compilation project, I decided that I wanted to release some new music with it also, so I put together an entire new album, and recorded it at home. Several of the songs had been recorded over the last year or so, but I knew just which other new songs would complete the record, or so I thought. The truth is, I wound up composing some transitional pieces on the spot. From this comes the fifth disc, my new solo album EUNO.

I'll make EUNO available as a standalone album soon enough, but I wanted those of you who grabbed this box set to get the first listening.

While 4/5 of this collection are inarguably "demos", I hope that they don't feel that way when you hear them in context. Each disc is treated as a standalone collection that has a theme, more or less.

The first disc contains songs from Perpetual Motion Machine, which was a double concept album that never got recorded officially. I recorded those songs right after the breakup of Q-Sign.

I did remove some songs from Perpetual Motion Machine that wound up released on later albums (such as "Phony", "Tonight Never Happened", and "Until The Road Ends"). I included a couple of remixes in that collection as well.

The second disc is full of songs written just before the death of my father. The songs seemed to know what was in store for me even before I did. I added in the song "Normal" which was the first song I wrote after Dad died. I don't think I've ever played that song for anyone.

Disc three contains songs that were created around the formation and early days of The Critical Darlings, and disc four are songs from the later days of that band.

Then there's disc five, EUNO. The recording of these songs was only finished one day before uploading these tracks here. Whereas the other four discs are compilations of demos meant to be recorded "properly" later, disc five is a new album. I recorded it at home, but unlike the other recordings, I tried to treat these like the final recordings. It should be a different experience, and I hope it's a concept of its own.

EUNO isn't like the other discs in another way, too. For most of the other songs, I was playing a role in one way or another. I was "the guy from The Critical Darlings" or writing for some specific project.

EUNO is me being me completely. Those of you who really know me should know that instantly, and those who don't know me well will know me much better after this.

I'm hoping this will be just the beginning of getting back to recording and releasing songs properly. I got distracted for too long by life and other work. Ultimately, what I do in my life is write and sing songs. And while I don't expect many people to hear them, as long as I make them available to be heard, I'm satisfied.

I hope you enjoy.

Thank you.

Disc 1: Perpetual Motion Machine (1999)
Disc 2: Impermanence (2000 - 2003)
Disc 3: Say Yes (2002 - 2007)
Disc 4: Torchbearer (2007 - 2012)
Disc 5: EUNO (2017)

credits

released October 20, 2017

All instruments and voices by Chris McKay except:

"Goodbye Tuesday" (disc 2, track 2): Michael Rietveld (drums), Andy Ainsworth (rhythm guitar), Frank DeFreese (bass)

"I Expect The Same From You" (disc 3, track 2): Joe Orr (backup vocals)

All songs written by Chris McKay except:

"Potter's Field", "Ahead Of The Curve", "Save It For Another Day" written by Chris McKay and Tom O'Gorman

"Goodbye Tuesday" written by Chris McKay, Patrick Jason, and Andy Ainsworth

"I Expect The Same From You", "(If I Could) I Guess I Should", "Time Marches On", "Torchbearer" written by Chris McKay and Frank DeFreese

All songs recorded and mixed by Chris McKay at home.

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Chris McKay Athens, Georgia

Chris McKay is a singer, songwriter and performer based in Athens, Georgia.

In addition to his solo music and his work with original bands The Everywhen, The Critical Darlings, The Spinoffs, and Q-Sign, he also regularly has performed the music of The Beatles as a member of Abbey Road Live!

Definitive versions of his albums are featured here, often with bonus tracks not available elsewhere. ... more

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