Chris Colepaugh
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CHRIS COLEPAUGH AND THE COSMIC CREW is a southern rock band with jam-band influences that write and perform music across Canada and the United States in the vein of The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Umphrey’s Magee and Government Mule.
CHRIS COLEPAUGH AND THE COSMIC CREW first started in 1996 with Chris Colepaugh on lead guitars and vocals, Lynn Daigle on bass and Craig Watson on drums. Craig Watson, Chris’s long-time friend from high school, was the major lyric writer for Chris at the time. Chris and Lynn recorded “Galaxy” in 10 hours at “Alta Studio” in Dieppe, New Brunswick and launched the album.
After a year of touring the Maritimes, CHRIS COLEPAUGH AND THE COSMIC CREW won an east coast talent search and went to Halifax, Nova Scotia to record their next album “Mazes and Mirrors” live off the floor with producer Kevin Scott McMichael. Prior to this, Craig Watson had left the band to attend Bishop’s University and had joined the band “Clay” with Nick Hamilton, Chris Frost and Eric Finkle. Sitting on drums for Mazes would be Cameron Murphy who had toured extensively with the band. The album earned them rave reviews and allowed them to expand their touring base to Quebec and Ontario.
In 1998, Cameron Murphy left the band to pursue his own music, and so started the influx of drummers that would make up the Cosmic Crew. Kevin MacIntyre and Danny Bourgeois were the regular drummers during that year, and even a fourth member was briefly added : Andre Leblanc on keys.
While CHRIS COLEPAUGH AND THE COSMIC CREW continued to make headway in to the Canadian Music scene, lyricist Craig Watson moved back to Moncton and took up the drummer’s throne with CCCC once again. In the spring of 1999, Chris Colepaugh, Lynn Daigle and Craig Watson recorded 16 Second Solace at Staccato Studios with producer John Maher and embarked on a five month tour from New Brunswick to British Columbia and down to California … and all the way back for their final stop at the 2000 East Coast Music Awards for a performance and album nomination in Sydney, Cape Breton / Nova Scotia, Canada. Reviews and accolades for the group’s prowess and incredible energy were accumulating, and so was their skill from constantly performing.
In 2001, the band made a bold move and had Chris Colepaugh record all the instruments himself. They returned to Staccato and work with John Maher again to create Trip with a staggering fifteen songs plus a bonus track. In addition, Chris Colepaugh expanded his writing and wrote a third of the lyrics on the album. With the release of Trip, the band enlisted Danny Bourgeois and Remi Bourque as drummers and toured countless times across Canada. In addition, the band played dates with the North Mississippi Allstars, played the House of Blues, were finalists in CBC’s Great Canadian Music Dream and played for over half a million people on the East Coast Music Awards. They were nominated for an ECMA that year, and the song “Bookmark” was breaking ice on radio stations across the country. The fun loving album was a hit, and people were embracing everything “Colepaugh”.
At the end of 2002, Remi left the band and Chris returned to the studio to record “In Time” in early 2003. Considered a slightly darker album than the rest, Chris Colepaugh again worked with friend John Maher at Staccato Studios and also wrote just under half of the lyrics. CCCC continued to tour the album nationally, received airplay and were nominated for and ECMA award. It was also in July 2003 that CCCCplayed the Northern Lights Festival Boréal in Sudbury, Ontario with Craig Watson and met future drummer Shawn Sasyniuk.
In late 2004, Chris accepted an offer from a friend to stay with him in San Francisco. For the month of October, Chris played the clubs in San Francisco. It was in this beautiful environment that he wrote the music and lyrics for all but three of the songs of what would be “In Your Backyard”.
Early 2005, plans were underway to record the next album and demos were in the process of being made. In March, Chris suffered a severe gallbladder attack and was rushed to hospital. He had immediate surgery for its removal and had an extensive stay due to complications. It was very tough on him, his family and his band and recovery was lengthy. That fall, with Shawn Sasyniuk comfortably filling the drummers position, CCCC returned back on the scene to tour the Eastern United States and Canada.
With plans already behind for the new album, 2006 was a year of change. Chris Colepaugh decided that it was time for him to produce the new album himself at his own studio. Having never produced a full length album, Chris had a large learning curve, yet his life-long experience as an artist and session musician had prepared him for it. During the summer, Chris Colepaugh wrote all the music, performed all the parts, produced, recorded and engineered the entire album. On the last day of his recording, he left for Austin , Texas to work under the mentorship of Gordie Johnson at Willie Nelson’s Perdanales Studio for two weeks on the new Grady album. He returned in September to get the final masters on the CCCC album, and “In Your Backyard” was released in the fall of 2006.
“In Your Backyard” drips with thick electric guitars, Bonham-esque style drums, massive bass, and soulful songwriting and lyrics. From the heavy guitar-soaked-rocker-single "Caught Up To You" , to the acoustic guitar/mandolin picking of "Don't Want You 'Round No More", "In Your Backyard "is a guitar-intense, southern jam rock album. Fans loved it, critics admired it and the album secured Chris Colepaugh as a formidable talent in the Canadian Music scene. The album accrued more praise and credentials on its own than his entire previous discography combined. Chris signed an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars, Sennheiser Microphones and Traynor Amplifiers, and signed a deal with his Management Company and Fontana North Distribution. Also, Chris won the 2007 Contact East Touring Award, was a finalist in the 2008 International Acoustic Music Awards, won four Toronto Music Magazine awards and was nominated for two ECMA awards.
Shawn Sasyniuk lives in Montreal and continues to play drums with Chris Colepaugh. He shares his duties with Maritime based Danny Bourgeois and the two of them keep CCCC constantly on the move..
EVENTS - Contact East Performance in Liverpool, NS
- Performance with Government Mule at Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival 2007
- NXNE Performance 2007
- SXSW Performance 2006 & 2007
- MNB Week 2007 Performance
- CMW 2007 Performance in Toronto, ON
- ECMA 2007 Performance on Rock Stage at the Marquee in Halifax
- Performed as special guest at the Atlantic Film Festival 2006
- Performed the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, NB as special guest to Grady
- Performed Festival with headliners CCR in Antigonish, NS
- Performed "Rock the Docks" Festival in Sydney, Cape Breton
- Perform industry showcase at MNB Week 2006 in Edmundston, NB
- Sign endorsement deal with Sennheiser Canada
- Play Jambase sponsored showcase at SXSW South By Southwest in Austin, Texas
- Perform at ECMA 2006 in Prince Edward Island
- Release Single " Things That Could" to Music 4 ipods www.music4ipods.com
- Release single for download / purchase with Meewsic Records at www.meewsic.com
- MUCH MUSIC / ECMA Rock Show at 2005 ECMA's - Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Atlantic Folk Alliance at MNB Suite in Halifax, NS
- Sennheiser / Garrison Guitars Festival of Song Performance - Halifax, NS
- Midpoint Music Festival Blues Rock Show in Cincinnati, OH
- CO-ED Jamboree Ultimate Frisbee Championship Festival in Ottawa, ON
- Northern Lights Music Festival Headliner in Sudbury, ON
- EAST COAST MUSIC AWARDS Songwriter's Circle in Halifax, NS
- United States Tour with the GRAMMY NOMINATED North MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
- Performance at the Legendary HOUSE OF BLUES in Boston, MA USA
-MINGLEFEST headlining artist in Cape Breton, NS with Matt Minglewood
- FLAPS OFF THE SIDE OF THE MOON Headlining Artist in Ottawa, ON
- EAST COAST MUSIC AWARDS CBC LIVE BROADCAST Nationally Televised Performer
- Great Canadian Music Dream Nationally Televised Performer
- Headliner at 2003 CANADA GAMES
- EVOLVE Music Festival Performer in Antigonish, NS
- Canadian Music Week, NXNE and New Music West Festival Performers
- Extensive National Tours of Canada plus tours in the United States of the Pacific Coast, New England, the East Coast and Central US States
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
- Nominated for 2008 ECMA Single of the Year "Caught Up To You"
-Winner of the 2007 Contact East Touring Excellence Award
- Winner of FOUR 2007 Toronto Music Magazine Awards - Semi- Finalist in Starbucks Music Maker Competition : Finals in Vermont 2007
- Selected as a featured artist on the Atlantic Film Festival CD 2007
- Selected as a featured artist on the 10,000 Lakes Festival CD 2007
- Sponsored by Gibson Guitars
- Sponsored by Traynor Amplifiers
- Nominated East Coast Music Award's " NEWCAP ROCK ALBUM of the Year" 2007
- Sponsored by Sennheiser Microphones
- Nominated East Coast Music Award's "ROCK ALBUM of the Year" 2004 & 2002
- Chosen by Canadian Musician Magazine as one of Canada's Best Unsigned Band's 2003/2004
- CHRIS COLEPAUGH Grand Prize Winner in NB 2002 Songwriting Competition
- Finalist in the CBC Great Canadian National Televised Music Dream Performance
- East Coast Talent Search Winner with Producer Kevin Scott MacMichael ( Robert Plant )
- Nominated East Coast Music Awards " ALTERNATIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR " 2001
- Featured in CBC Television Documentary
- Featured Televised Performance on Much Music (National), Global Noon (Atlantic Canada), Rogers Daytime (Toronto, ON), Breakfast Television (Toronto, ON and Halifax, NS) , The Big Breakfast (Edmonton, AB), Wired ( Calgary, AB ) - Released two videos to Much Music
RADIO
- " Caught Up To You " From IN YOUR BACKYARD charted in top twenty at radio stations across Canada
- " Caught Up To You " From IN YOUR BACKYARD charted #1 on East Coast Countdown for five weeks
- "THINGS THAT COULD " from IN TIME charted #1 on East Coast Countdown for three weeks
- "THINGS THAT COULD" from IN TIME charted in top ten on East Coast Countdown for additional ten weeks ( National Syndication ) - Album IN TIME charted # 21 on National Campus Radio Report
- BOOKMARK from album TRIP featured on Keith's Brewery Compilation CD
- "CALIFORNIA LOVE" from TRIP charted #13 on National Campus Radio Report
WEB: http://www.colepaugh.com
info@colepaugh.com
EPK: http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.asp?epk_id=16508
MYSPACE : http://www.myspace.com/chriscolepaughandthecosmi
CHRIS COLEPAUGH - lead vocals / guitar
LYNN DAIGLE - bass
SHAWN SASYNIUK/DANNY BOURGEOIS - drums
Discography
1996 - Galaxy
1997 – Mazes and Mirrors
1999 - 16 Second Solace
2001 - Trip
2003 - In Time
2006 - In Your Backyard
