BEN ARMIGER (GUITAR, LEAD VOCALS) – A prolific songwriter known for his direct and sincere lyrics set to catchy melodies, Ben grew up surrounded by all kinds of country music. One uncle was an original member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and another uncle and aunt toured the continent with the western swing group Cowboy Jazz. He took up banjo and guitar in his early youth, and started his first bluegrass band while attending Colby College in Maine. While living in Alaska in 2000, he helped to found and played banjo in the Matanuska Thunderpluckers, who are now a fixture on the Alaska bluegrass scene. Ben co-founded Chester River Runoff with Sam in 2004, and started his songwriting career immediately because it was the thing to do, and quickly developed an ability to write memorable hooks and songs that you can sing to yourself on the way home. Ben is also the main emcee at Runoff shows, and plays straight man to Sam's antics when the band feels like being funny. While his main gig and love is music, Ben is a licensed captain, and does all sorts of stuff having to do with boats (he prefers sail). He also plays guitar, sings, and writes for the country-rock band Pearl Creek with his aunt Kate Bennett of the aforementioned Cowboy Jazz. /////////////////////////////////////////////////
SAMUEL MILES GUTHRIDGE (BANJO, LEAD VOCALS) – An expressive singer and instrumentalist, as well as the onstage cut-up in the band, Sam has been performing for his whole life, whether juggling at an elementary school talent show or whipping out an impromptu concerto on wine glasses at a bar. After a string of short stints playing electric guitar, horns, banjo, and bass in local rock and soul bands, and traveling across the country as a street musician, Sam is delighted to have co-founded a focused, developing band. He shares songwriting responsibilities with Ben, with lyrics ranging from touching to downright silly, and has also contributed several instrumentals to the band's repertoire. Outside of his main gig playing, booking, and running communcations for the Runoff, Sam plays with Nate and Jordan Tice in the Lonesome Machete Family, enjoys playing contra dances, fills in occasionally on banjo and bass with the Hot Seats (formerly Special Ed & the Shortbus), and has played shows with well known old-time/americana performers such as Cory Seznec and Thomas Bailey. He also likes to grow vegetables, and is generally a pretty handy guy.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
MARC DYKEMAN (BASS, HARMONY VOCALS) – The musical bedrock and frequently the voice of reason in Chester River Runoff, Marc has been playing music professionally since the early 90s, when he was trombonist with the Annapolis ska band Nope. Since then he has played classical and jazz trombone, and is the only band member with a degree in music. Marc played the upright bass with Ben and Sam at the party which inspired the band's formation in 2004, but didn't join up until the fall of 2006 after the departure of the group's original bass player. A man of wide ranging tastes, Marc also plays bass and composes for the Baltimore-based art rock band Pläns Pläns, who released their second studio album in the fall of 2008. When Marc isn't playing music, he is the interviewer and sound editor for an an oral history project on the Eastern Shore, and has edited radio spots for these interviews on several radio stations, including WRNR Annapolis and WKHS Worton.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
NATE GROWER (FIDDLE, HARMONY VOCALS) – The youngest member of the group, Nate was motivated to take up the fiddle as a teenager after hearing bluegrass music at his home in western New York . He took a few classical violin lessons and made his debut with a symphony orchestra at the age of 17 at a performance of Stravinsky’s “Firebird”. Since moving to Delaware in 2005, he has concentrated his efforts on mastering the art of bluegrass fiddle. His fiery solos transfix audiences, and his innovative backup rhythms help define the group's sound. He joined Chester River Runoff in the fall of 2006, after he showed up to a concert with fiddle in hand and ended up sitting in for the entire show. When Nate isn't playing with the Runoff, he plays in the Lonesome Machete Family with Sam and Jordan Tice, plays fiddle and has recorded with David Bromberg's Angel Band, fills in occasionally with Audie Blaylock & Redline, plays numerous freelance shows, and is working on an instrumental album for the Patuxent label.
Influences
our main influence is the Chester River and the environment we live in. The geese in winter, ghostly cornfields waiting for harvest in the light of the full moon, vegetable gardens, cutting firewood, damned roosters crowing in the middle of the night - all these shape the music we play. Country music from the country, imagine that. We're also influenced by our reactions to the cancer of thoughtless development an gentrification on the Eastern Shore. Musically - Our take on bluegrass is heavily influenced by the classic bands that made the music "progressive" with creative arrangements rather than gimmicky rhythms or flashy playing, most notably the Osborne Brothers. We take some influence from Cowboy Jazz, the western swing group that practiced in the same room we use now and whose PA we purchased - we were lucky enough to jam with Denise Carlson before she passed (and before we were very good), and are lucky enough to have regular access to the wisdom of Kate Bennett and Kent Armiger. We also dig the Band, Bill Monroe, Courtney/Curtis-era New Grass Revival, Hot Rize, John Hartford, the Dillards, the Jayhawks, Del McCoury, Seldom Scene, Old and in the Way, Great Speckled Bird, Gram Parsons....contra dances, Jon Glik, Bill Keith, Scotty Stoneman, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Steve Earle, Slaid Cleaves, Plans Plans, Reno & Smiley....Try to avoid the slick sameness that's all over mainstream 'grass these days....
The first streams of Chester River Runoff started flowing in the winter of 2003, when Ben Armiger and Sam Guthridge were introduced and started jamming occasionally in Ben’s old barn down by the Chester River. For a year, with Ben on banjo and Sam on guitar, the duo would play occasional open mic nights, and were hired by the Kent County Arts Council to perform on the streets for Chestertown’s monthly First Friday art openings. The idea of forming a band was never really considered until the fall of 2004, at a Halloween party hosted by Ben’s neighbor Marc Dykeman. Marc dug an old Army-issue aluminum bass out of an outbuilding and played a couple of songs with the duo, who were shocked to see people get up and dance. Inspired, Sam contacted bassist Ian Trusheim, a former collaborator in the psychedelic garage band Seismic Sanchez, and Tim Parent, a well known local electric guitarist who had recently started fooling with the mandolin. These four got together a couple of times a week to collaboratively work on learning their new instruments, for by this time Sam had been trying to learn a little banjo and Ben the guitar. A month or so later, they had gotten a dozen songs together and were asked to stop by and play a party hosted by some Washington College students on a farm outside of Chestertown. The group cobbed together a PA with some borrowed microphones and pieces of home stereo equipment, and ended up playing their short setlist 4 times through, for a group of partiers that danced until the farmhouse floor was beyond repair. The stars had aligned, and a band was born. A month later, they had a show’s worth of material worked up and played their first gig at a local bar, where ballots were collected, and the name “Chester River Runoff” was selected by popular vote. In the Runoff’s early days, shows were dominated by jokes and silly covers to keep the crowds entertained in spite of their beginners’ instrumental prowess. However, each member practiced diligently, with Ben switching to guitar and Sam to banjo for most of each show, and as more original material was added to the sets the music began to stand on its own. This lineup played around the area and traveled as far as Maine, until the fall of 2006 when Tim departed for personal reasons and Ian left to devote his attention to leading another band, The Took. What seemed like the end became the birth of Chester River Runoff as a serious presence on the bluegrass and roots music scene, for Marc Dykeman joined the band on bass and brought with him his wealth of musical knowledge and exceptional taste, and Nate Grower joined on fiddle, who at 20 had already gigged with most of the area’s bluegrass acts and brought a dose of serious professionalism and depth of knowledge about the bluegrass scene. The summer of 2007 saw the group’s area expand, and it’s first widespread exposure when the Associated Press put out a story on the bands topical songs “Where the Speed Limit Changes” and “Plastic Houses”, which decry exurban sprawl development on the Eastern Shore. At present, Chester River Runoff can hang with the best of the bluegrass scene, with big harmonies and tight instrumental work. At the same time, they preserve in their live shows the warm spirit and humor of friends who got together simply to hang out and learn an instrument. They have an impressive repertoire of original songs, which strike audiences with their honesty and their way of tackling subjects not usually attempted by bluegrass songwriters and takes on the classic themes with a fresh perspective and new imagery. The Runoff have successfully played many of the best and most well known clubs and theatres in the area, including the Avalon Theatre in Easton, Andy’s in Chestertown, the 8x10 in Baltimore, the Mainstay, Coffee East/NightCat, and can be seen at famous bluegrass clubs such as the Friendly Inn and the Purple Fiddle. They have shared stages with many of the best in bluegrass and Americana music, including Steep Canyon Rangers, the Avett Brothers, the Hackensaw Boys, and Adrienne Young; and have had many great shows in unlikely pairings, such as with punk and reggae bands, and even opened for garage rock legends the Fleshtones. The group plays regularly in the triangle described by the Eastern Shore, Richmond, VA, and New York City, but they are always looking to expand their range even more. They have released a couple of live CDs, and are hard at work on their studio debut, due out in 2009. Go see this band. Book this band. You’ll be glad you did.
BOOKING:
chesterriverrunoff@gmail.com
410-708-6355
MEETING OF THE MINDS II September 11-13, 2009 Mountain View Park Wind Gap, PA (20 miles North of Bethlehem) 17 Bands $30 Presale A full weekend of camping & music
ARTISTS:
Juggling Suns Cabinet Jimkata Bohemian Sunrise Hexbelt The Big Dirty Backwoods Experiment Dakini Herbie Agent Moosehead Fellswoop Chester River Runoff UZO Displaced Peoples The Backroad South Mountain Pass Trippin on Nothing Tomm Dunn * Kyle Morgan * Mike Miz Erik From Baltimore * Will Bowers * Amanda Penecale
Meeting of the Minds II will be a full weekend musical extravaganza featuring 17 bands, late-night jams, fire performances, numerous solo artists, light shows, kids activities, food & craft vendors, camping, and music. The site, located just 20 miles north of Allentown, is a beautiful 30-acre, privately owned property in Wind Gap, PA. Our new venue features plenty of woodsy camping, permanent stage, showers, and electricity access for RV’s.
Presale tickets are just $30 for this event and include a full weekend of camping & music.
I was bummed out when I got to the Tavern and found out you guys weren't playing! (although I think I would have been more bummed out if I had been you guys and driven all the way from Maryland to find that out!...) I'm looking forward to catching you all one of these days (but I'll probably see you at greyfox before that happens!) -you goin this year?
MEETING OF THE MINDS II September 11-13, 2009 Mountain View Park Wind Gap, PA (20 miles North of Bethlehem) 17 Bands $30 Presale A full weekend of camping & music
ARTISTS:
Juggling Suns Cabinet Jimkata Bohemian Sunrise Hexbelt The Big Dirty Backwoods Experiment Dakini Herbie Agent Moosehead Fellswoop Chester River Runoff UZO Displaced Peoples The Backroad South Mountain Pass Trippin on Nothing Tomm Dunn * Kyle Morgan * Mike Miz Erik From Baltimore * Will Bowers * Amanda Penecale
Meeting of the Minds II will be a full weekend musical extravaganza featuring 17 bands, late-night jams, fire performances, numerous solo artists, light shows, kids activities, food & craft vendors, camping, and music. The site, located just 20 miles north of Allentown, is a beautiful 30-acre, privately owned property in Wind Gap, PA. Our new venue features plenty of woodsy camping, permanent stage, showers, and electricity access for RV’s.
Presale tickets are just $30 for this event and include a full weekend of camping & music.
Hey fellas, sorry I am going to miss your show. I might make it by after my gig, but I'm not sure since I will be coming from Carlisle PA. Break a leg, or a string.
We have a big roll of duct tape and will make sure everyong who hears us on 5/29 will remain seated until 5/30. Let's hope they didn't drink a lot of beer....
Nice work @ Andy's last night guys and great new songs too! It's great to have a local band who can go out and tell people how we really live here on the shore and in C-town. Keep up the good work! See ya soon.
Hey fellas lookin forward to seein you again at DFH this summer. I see you're playin the Blue Moon in my old stomping grounds of Shepherdstown, WV. You should do well there. Good Luck! Here's a new one of mine..saltwater for your grief
Hey guys, sorry I couldn't make it to the Stamford show I had a show to play in New Haven that night, I was actually trying to make our show for Saturday night so you guys could open for us or something, but it didn't work out as planned... Anyway, hope it was a good one, see you at Greyfox!
oooh quite possible. my schedule's a mess, so no promises, but it would be great to see you guys. i'll spread the word so hopefully you can bring in another full house. hasta pronto con carino -- a.
Oh, yes, the myspace has now been checked and your show date inked into my planner. I am prickled with anticipation for the meet and greet and the stomp of feet to the music you make oh so sweet. See you Saturday!
