Chester River Runoff

The first rivulets of Chester River Runoff oozed from the ground in December of 2003, when Ben Armiger and Samuel Miles Guthridge were introduced over a bottle of Tequila in a barn in Crumpton, MD. The two discovered a mutual interest in old timey and bluegrass music, and that they each played guitar and banjo. Over the next 10 months Ben and Sam jammed occasionally, building enough of a repertoire to play the occasional open mic and on the streets of Chestertown for first Friday art openings. The band's kickstart came at a party on Halloween night when, joined by Marc Dykeman of Plans Plans on bass, they kept a whole slew of inebriates dancing for well over 10 minutes. Sam swiftly contacted bassist Ian Trusheim, a former collaborator of his in the short lived but ground breaking psychedelic garage rock band Seismic Sanchez, and Tim Parent, the lead guitarist of live-electronica act Astralyte, who had been secretly woodshedding on his first mandolin. The quartet practiced daily in the same barn in Crumpton for the next month, and made their debut at a pig roast for an audience who danced until the floor was beyond repair. Since then, Chester River Runoff have continued to win audiences with their energy, humor, and music that melds traditional bluegrass drive and instrumentation with the diverse musical backrounds of the bandmembers. BOOKING: [email protected] 410-708-6355