It’s basically impossible to find a harder working, stuff more respected man in music than Chuck Ragan. The Florida native has accomplished a lot over the past twenty years – from helping to establish Hot Water Music as one of today’s preeminent hardcore acts, order to founding and managing the traveling carnival of collaboration and goodwill that is the Revival Tour, to becoming a skilled finish carpenter and noted outdoors man in his downtime, he’s pretty much done it all.

And oh yeah, he’s also four albums into what has been an extremely successful solo career. Ragan has proven himself to be an anomaly in punk circles. He’s the rare artist that can strip away the driving guitars and gruff vocals of the band that made him famous and present something quieter while still maintaining the intense admiration of existing fans and appealing to new ones.

Ragan’s considerable success as a solo artists starts on paper. While he obviously has an ear for melody that most of his hardcore brethren don’t, his songwriting is what makes the tracks stick – especially in a live setting. This was on display last week at the Sinclair, where Ragan and his band The Camaraderie wowed the audience with a seemingly effortless 21-song performance.

Ragan’s lyrics deal primarily with big, overarching themes that just about any listener can relate to, from love and devotion to persistence and opportunity. The Camaraderie’s clean, at times simple arrangements allowed Regan’s storytelling to shine, and also allowed the audience to appreciate Ragan’s perfectly coarse vocals.

The band would work through eight of the twelve songs off of their recently released album “Till Midnight” during the set. While the tracks were new, the audience didn’t seem to have any issues with the set list, as they bobbed their heads and nodded their approval during and after each track.

While the venue wasn’t sold-out, there was a good-sized crowd that represented the entire spectrum of music fans – from the Hot Water Music standbys sporting beards just as epic as the one Regan wore, to those who had probably never owned a hardcore record but totally dug these more laid-back vibes on Till Midnight.

Regan, as always, was extremely gracious in thanking the audience, using the phrase “much respect” approximately ten times more than anyone not named Chuck Ragan could get away with. He thanked the crowd for being part of such a great music community and for sticking with him for so many years, from the early days of Hot Water Music, to his latest album. While just about every artist says something similar, it seems so much more authentic coming from Ragan. Maybe it’s the beard, or maybe it’s the fact that the man is basically what everyone in attendance wants to be when they grow up.

Want to know more about why we think Chuck Ragan is cool? Check out our interview with him right here.