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Introducing the world’s first bar + band album collaboration.
Ever heard of a brewery breaking into the rock ’n’ roll business? For possibly the first time ever (!), local brewery Raleigh Brewing Company and band Cosmic Superheroes have collaborated to create an album. … And to that, we say rock on!
An accidental band that started as a joke in January 2014, Cosmic Superheroes was founded by lead singer/guitarist Brandon McLean, who met his drummer while performing with him at a gig at a sports bar in Raleigh. The band was formed and named on the spot, later joined by notable Raleigh percussionist Bongo John.
Flash-forward to today, and both the band—and its name—stuck. And throughout its nine years of space jammin’, while Cosmic Superheroes has played gigs at festivals and venues all over the Carolinas, the band has consistently appeared at local watering hole Raleigh Brewing Company since its inception.
“I have been present at every Raleigh Brewing anniversary party,” says McLean. “They just did the ninth one last year, and Cosmic Superheroes has been booked for every single one.”
“The thing that’s the coolest about this is almost all of it happened by accident. We just keep rolling with the cosmic punches and keeping our eyes out for the next cosmic wave.”
—Brandon McLean
For Raleigh Brewing Company’s seventh anniversary two years ago, the owners wanted to go all out for a “lucky seven” party, even having McLean and his band record a radio ad on 95.7 for the event and inviting them to sit in on team brainstorming meetings.
“In the middle of a meeting, I suggested we write a song for Hell Yes Ma’am, and we literally sat there and wrote the whole song in like five minutes. It just came to us, and it was the easiest song we ever wrote,” says McLean. “A couple weeks later, we played it at the seventh anniversary party.” (ICYMI, Hell Yes Ma’am is one of Raleigh Brewing’s signature brews—and with an ABV of 9.2%, it packs a serious punch.)
One of Raleigh Brewing Company’s owners, Kristie Nystedt, loved the song so much that she wanted to record it, but McLean laughed it off, at first thinking she was joking. However, about a year later, the brewery finally joined forces and finances with Cosmic Superheroes to sponsor the recording process of the band’s fourth studio album, naturally dubbed Hell Yes Ma’am Sessions, streaming now.
To boot, Cosmic Superheroes is already slated to play at Raleigh Brewing Company’s 10th anniversary party this March. And, McLean says, “we want to keep the collaboration going beyond the music.” … With a special 10th anniversary edition of Hell Yes Ma’am in the works and another Cosmic Superheroes-themed beer brewing, it sounds like this band and brewery aren’t slowing their roll anytime soon.
“The thing that’s the coolest about this is almost all of it happened by accident,” laughs McLean. “We just keep rolling with the cosmic punches and keeping our eyes out for the next cosmic wave.” Sounds out of this world. cosmicsuperheroes.com
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