Profile on Campus New Country Band: Chuck

By Aditi Kirtikar | 4/24/13 3:00am

New country band Chuck has been sweeping campus with their smooth tunes and crooning voices. Founded by Chase Klein ’14, the band plays a mix of original songs and covers. After bursting into the scene two weekends ago when they performed at Sigma Delta sorority, and with the help of their publicist Katherine Cima ’14, Chuck has managed to garner over one hundred likes on their Facebook page in just a few days. The group also has a general manager, Jon Brady ’14, who is in charge of booking their shows.

 

“I got weirdly into country music over the fall...over the winter it got even weirder,” said Klein of his recently developed love for the genre. He teamed up with jazz guitarist Pablo Marvel ’15 over the spring, who then roped in his roommate and jack-of-all-trades Zach Wooster ’15. Wooster, who plays the harmonica, keyboard, guitar and triangle among other instruments, performed an acoustic set of two original songs at One Wheelock’s open mic night in the spring with Klein and Marvel.

 

“After the first show, people were taken aback and really liked what we were doing,” Marvel said. “We strummed that first chord [of Chicken Fried] and everyone started going insane,” continued Klein, reminiscing on their first show. Once they realized that the band really had potential, the group recruited bassist Leif Harder ’15 and drummer Alex Brown ’14.

 

“There is a demand for country music, especially in the spring time when it’s warm out,” said Klein, attributing some of Chuck’s success to good timing. The band, founded on good vibes, is all about having fun on stage, interacting with the audience, and dancing around. Members of Chuck do have some performance history, as Klein is a member of the Dog Day Players improvisational comedy group, and Harder and Brown have played in other bands at Dartmouth including Toast and Chameleon. Wooster and Marvel also host a radio show called Herbal Essences.

 

Chuck attributes the majority of their southern roots to Brown, who was born in Texas and has lived there for a few months. The band’s love for country music is recently developed, and inspired by the warm weather outside.

 

Chuck is facing the same issue with a lot of other band’s here at Dartmouth with the D-Plan. Only three of their members will be on over the summer, but they are sure they can figure something out. In the meantime, the band is set to perform at Thetaroo at Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority this weekend where they will be giving out free t-shirts. Chuck also has a number of Green Key performances set, including Alpha Delta fraternity’s lawn party, and a nighttime performance at Psi Upsilon fraternity. Chuck hopes to entertain people and allow them to have a good time in the warm weather. In the words of Klein, “a show without a good crowd is not a good show at all.”

 


Aditi Kirtikar