Chauncey’s relationship with music began as a toddler sitting on his father’s lap listening to the harmonica while his mother played boogie-woogie and old classics on the organ. “She tried to teach me, but I kept playing the scale up to H and she just couldn’t take it”. In grade school and high school, Chauncey played brass instruments and was first chair trombone in orchestra, marching band, and jazz band. He dabbled in standup bass and for years he “tried to play the banjo”. Finally finding his true musical love, the diatonic harmonica— it was a perfect fit for his backpacking and mountaineering lifestyle, using his walking stride as a metronome. 

In the 1980s, he began learning how to play with other musicians, and his collection of harps began to grow. In 1994 he made the leap to get on stage and bought his first amplifier. Chauncey reminisced that “playing around the campfire, my amp was a large paper cup with the bottom punched out. It actually worked ok, and required no batteries.” Chauncey says that although he loves to plays the blues, he hates being pigeon-holed as just a blues player. His remarkable talent is that if you tell him what key the song is in, from folk-rock, cowpunk, or Brazilian ballad, he can play along with a unique musicality. He now travels with a fleet of over 30 harmonicas so he can play in any key, and he has a small fleet of amps for almost any size venue. 

Chauncey’s approach to teaching harmonica goes back to the basics of understanding the instrument. “Learn to play chords and single notes, then work on the devilishly tricking bending reeds to find the extra notes.” If you want to play with others, Chauncey takes you into the circle of 5ths and “position” playing for major and minor keys so you can join in on any song. 

Currently, his favorite genres are a range of alternative rock, alt-country, americana, folk-rock, semi-cowpunk such as Steve Earle, Josh Ritter, Willie Ray Hubbard, Randy Weeks, Hayes Carll, Rod Picott, Fred Eaglesmith, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Timbuk3, and. . . 

On the side, Chauncey is a PSIA level 3 cross country ski instructor and examiner, amateur botanist, sport psychologist, and clinical psychologist. He returned to Truckee, California in 2004 and plans to stay until he can’t shovel snow anymore.