The Chickahominy Mountain Band embodies rural New Brunswick in more than just their music.
“We’d be walking off stage like, ‘make sure to tip your bartender, and if you’re from Sussex like Patrick Gushue, make sure to go home and tip your cows. Thanks!’ ” Sam Astorino, the band’s lead said, laughing.
They are a five-piece Grateful Dead-inspired band based in Charlotte County, but according to Astorino, they are more of a Maritime comedy act with musical intermissions.
The band’s name comes from a mountain just outside Saint Andrews that overlooks a brackish marsh, Sam Orr Pond in the Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve.
The members include songwriter and vocalist Astorino, Patrick Gushue on the mandolin, Mike “Mumble” Humble on the drums, Don Flatt on piano, and Ian Sherwood on bass.
The band’s first album, released last year, new brunswicana, is a mixture of comedy, memories from Astorino’s childhood, and Charlotte County lyrics.
The album includes “Ballad of No-Toe Joe”, “Pickled Pink Hotdog”, and “Home”. Astorino said his songwriting is a bit like a loose cannon, with songs reaching multiple genres.
Astorino said he would often throw new covers at the band during their three-hour live performances at The Herring, a pub in downtown Saint Andrews, and that’s where some of their best covers came from.
“They always surprise me,” he said. “That’s why I think we’ve been doing it so long, because we just keep surprising each other.”
The band first came together in 2015.
He said the band has a more rock-and-roll take on country music, or as Astorino called it, outlaw country.
“We get pretty rowdy, jumping around, stomping our feet, and really hooping and screaming,” he said. “When we get into it live, it can certainly turn into a rock-and-roll show pretty quick.”
Astorino said the dichotomy of the music the band produces is because they don’t want to be pigeonholed. He wants to be able to write anything.
“We have some samba rhythms, and we get into some Cuban percussion on the album,” he said.
The band’s main success is their live performances where they can sell physical media. The band sold out the first batch of physical records and pressed another run within a year.
Many bands have struggled in recent years to sell physical media as audiences have moved to streaming services. That isn’t the case for the Chickahominy Mountain Band.
“Sunday Paddlefest on the main stage… I don’t know how many vinyls we sold that day but it was like almost half of what we had,” Astorino said. “I just saw everyone walk around with a Chickahominy vinyl and I was like ‘what’s happening here?’ “
Astorino said that, while it’s hard to choose, his favourite song from new brunswicana is “Ballad of No-Toe Joe,” the first song on the album.
“When we play live, it’s usually the end [of the concert],” Astorino said. “It usually gets people clapping and stomping.”
He also noted his most sentimental song, “Best Memories,” rooted in his childhood.
“Like going to my grandparents’ camp, and that always brings me back,” he said. “We ended the album on that because it’s an upbeat one. It really showcases Patrick on the fiddle.”
Astorino said he and the band are looking forward to producing another album, but said it’s definitely a long-term thing.
“I’m super excited to do it again because I learned a lot. I was able to produce the whole thing, and you know, it was my baby,” he said. “This time, I’ll be able to give clearer directions and learn to trust my ear.”
The next album will keep it funny and feature a little play on the Bob Marley tune while also keeping the same feel as new brunswicana, Astorino said.
“The songs that I’ve been writing lately have been clicking with the guys and just like, the ideas just seem to be working with them,” he said.
When writing a new song, Astorino said he often writes the whole thing in one sitting.
“Sometimes you pick up a guitar and you can’t do any wrong,” he said. “It just falls into place and it’s like ‘okay, I guess this is good enough. This is the song.’ ”
Astorino said the band’s individuality comes from the fact that they don’t care about making it big or pushing it. They focus on growing organically.
“Most of us are parents, and we just truly love playing,” Astorino said.
Astorino knows who the Chickahominy Mountain Band’s biggest fan is: “My six-month-old daughter,” he said, without hesitation.
“Every time I pick up the guitar she’s just in a trance,” Astorino said.
Astorino’s daughter, Evangeline, is the first critic of Astorino’s future music and will likely hear it even before the band.
