When someone mentions they are in a local band many people
immediately think of terrible garage rock and plugging your ears to make it
stop. Chester Bay bucks that trend in a big way. An American Rock group that
started at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, they are making waves in the
Twin Cities music scene. Drawing influence from bands as diverse as Sublime,
The Black Crows, The Beatles and Dispatch, they blend rock and roll with blues,
reggae, ska and folk
.
In the fall of 2005 Marcus Greely (drums) was on his way to
try out for the UWEC hockey team when he heard lead guitarist Jake Bosben
jamming in his dorm room. They started talking and Jake mentioned his brother
Cory Bosben played bass. Over Christmas break Jake invited Marcus to his home
in Rochester MN. A week later they played their first show. Their name, Chester
Bay, comes from the names of the home towns of the band members, Rochester, MN
and Green Bay, WI.
Soon they were joined by guitarist Mike Salow. They
started recording at the McNally Smith College of Music where a friend of
theirs was working on a production degree. The sessions produced a demo that
the band submitted to the Land Shark Lager Battle of the Bands
. After winning the contest they got a
record contract and a full page write up in the March 2010 issue of Rolling
Stone. Marcus’s reaction to being able to go to a news stand and see their name
in such an esteemed publication was “Pretty Cereal.” (sic)
Working on their second album they realized they needed more
money to finish the album “how it should be.” Rather than looking for a record
company’s support they went to the crowd funding site Kick Starter. The Kick
Starter gained $6000 to finish the album which was released in 2013. In
November of that year they recorded a show at Famous Dave’s BBQ and Blues Club
in Uptown Minneapolis MN. They released the recording in May of 2014.
When asked about starting a band Marcus suggested trying to
start a school group for people who play the same kind of music. His other
suggestion was using Craigslist with as much care as possible. If problems were
to arise you should be vocal and talk out the problem. See their Facebook page
for more info and upcoming show dates or check them out on Youtube.
