Chesapeake was an American bluegrass band formed in 1994 in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

as a direct offshoot from

The Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom ...

History

Mike Auldridge Mike Auldridge (December 30, 1938 – December 29, 2012) was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The ''New York Times'' described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the ...

, T. Michael Coleman, and Moondi Klein, who played together in

Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom Gr ...

in the mid '90's didn't feel satisfied with the way

John Duffey John Humbird Duffey Jr. (March 4, 1934 – December 10, 1996) was a Washington D.C. based bluegrass musician. Duffey was born in Washington, D.C., and lived nearly all his life in the Washington D.C. area. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Cha ...

led the group with only occasional playing and keeping their day jobs. All of them wanted to play more seriously and started to play outside the

. The three formed Chesapeake along with

Jimmy Gaudreau Jimmy Gaudreau is a singer and mandolinist playing traditional and progressive bluegrass music. He is best known for his solo albums, and his work with The Country Gentlemen, Tony Rice, and J. D. Crowe. Biography Early life In high school in the ...

, mandolinist of the

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...

Unit. This occurred in mid to late 1994, after the release of their last album with the

, " Like We Used to Be". Chesapeake stayed together for five years and then disbanded; Mike Auldridge to pursue his own solo music, while Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein continued to play together as a duo.

Music style

Chesapeake's music style cannot be clearly defined, as it is a blend of bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk-rock, country, rock and more. Folk songwriters such as

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

and

Steve Gillette Since their marriage in 1989, Steve Gillette (born 1942) and Cindy Mangsen have been traveling, performing and recording together. Their album ''Live In Concert'', recorded at The Ark in Ann Arbor in 1991, is available from their own company, Co ...

influenced their music as well as rock performers such as

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

. Their music was strongly led by Dobro and mandolin with Auldridge adding lap steel and pedal steel guitar to their arrangements. Later on the band added more percussion to their music.

Members

* Moondi Klein - lead vocals, guitar *

- Dobro, lap steel, pedal steel, guitar, vocals *

- mandolin, guitar, vocals * T. Michael Coleman - bass guitar, vocals with * Pat McInerney - percussion, drums

Discography

During the short time the group was together (1994–1999), they released 3 studio albums. A compilation of live recordings was released in 2014. * '' Rising Tide ''( Sugar Hill, 1994) * '' Full Sail'' (Sugar Hill, 1996) * '' Pier Pressure'' (Sugar Hill, 1997) * ''Hook, Live & Sinker'' (Chesterbury, 2014)

References

External links

Official site of Mike AuldridgeOfficial site of Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi KleinOfficial site of Jimmy Gaudreau
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups from Maryland American bluegrass music groups American folk musical groups American folk rock groups 1994 establishments in Maryland