Rick Cusick
Guitar, Vocals · 1997–2000 · Founding
One of the three Brown a cappella singers who moved the harmonies to San Francisco and plugged them in.
San Francisco · 1997–2000
Simple Charlie
Older and grayer. But the song remains the same, and evolves.
The reimaginings
The old songs, brought back new
I trained a Suno model on Simple Charlie’s sound and used it to build new versions of the old songs. Here are the first few.
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The story
A cappella to amplifiers
Simple Charlie started with three voices. Rick Cusick, Aaron Presbrey, and Isaac Hazard met singing a cappella at Brown, then carried the harmonies west and plugged them in. In 1997, in San Francisco, the band was born.
Tim Muzzin sat behind the drums for a brief early stint that year. In 1998, Joe Agrillo came in on bass and guitars and Rafi Lago joined on drums and percussion. That lineup played all over the city, and put out two EPs along the way: Dore Alley in 1997 and 4th Street in 1999.
The band was active through 2000, and then held few reunion shows in the years after. Everyone’s older now, and moved on. But the songs kept their shape. Trained on the band’s own sound, the reimaginings above are those songs coming back new.
The band
Who we were
Aaron Presbrey
Vocals · 1997–2000 · Founding
A founding voice of Simple Charlie, from the Brown a cappella days to the San Francisco stages.
Isaac Hazard
Vocals · 1997–2000 · Founding
A founding voice of Simple Charlie, carrying the college harmony DNA into the band.
Tim Muzzin
Drums · 1997
Simple Charlie’s first drummer, for a brief but formative stint in 1997/1998.
Joe Agrillo
Bass, Guitars · 1998–2000
Joined in 1998 on bass and guitars, filling out the low end and the arrangements.
Rafi Lago
Drums, Percussion · 1998–2000
Formerly of Maxwell Horse; joined in 1998 on drums and percussion.