History of the Band

      The formation of Scuttlebutt occurred early in 1991 with the original lineup including Chris Ivory (keyboards,vocals), Will Ivory(guitar, vocals), Jeff Neidig (guitar, vocals), Steve Russo(bass guitar, vocals) and John Stanton(drums). A short time after kicking things off Jeff’s sister was brought on board to lend her vocal talents to the mix. From the start we set out to do something a bit different than what we ultimately ended up with. Our song list for the first couple of years included covers with the likes of Joe Jackson, Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello, Doors, Spin Doctors, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, and the Grateful Dead etc. We had purposely played against type thinking we’d all played enough of the blues based rock in earlier band incarnations and needed a change. Although we had some success with this material it didn’t feel right and after a few years (and following the departure of Jeff’s sister) we reverted back musically to where we had begun.

       For the next 8 years we focused on blues based rock while tossing out most of our earlier material. This seemed to breathe new life into the band and gigging picked up considerably. Around the year 2000 the band weathered another personnel change with the departure of Steve Russo and arrival of Kenny Kaufman (bass guitar, vocals). With Kenny’s entry into the band we continued to expand our song list to include more Beatles, Little Feat and Allman Brothers. Kathie Mortimer joined the band a short time later to assist with the Lead Vocals load. Kathie was a great vocal addition to the band but after a few years she too had decided to pursue other interests.

       With the experience of fifteen years of playing together we have developed a bit of a “musical 6th sense”; anticipating each others musical moves and grooves, creating something that’s greater than the sum of its parts. This allows us to put our personal stamp on the tunes we play and to keep them fresh for both us and our audience. Along the way we have enlisted the talents of other musicians and friends into the Scuttlebutt brotherhood. Many thanks to: Chris Conway (Harp, vocals), Mike Casey (drums).

Click on the Blue Bio links below to learn a little bit more about the band members history and instruments.

Adios,

Chris Ivory