Waterdeep

By Ryan Mulkowsky 

In a day and age when music has become conventional and predictable, leave it to Waterdeep from Kansas City, Missouri, to break the mold and to shine out as a unique, expressive, and honest band. Waterdeep began when founder and co-lead singer of the group, Don Chaffer, attended Kansas University where he was constantly working and experimenting in the music scene in Kansas City, and where he would meet co-lead singer and future wife Lori Coscia (Chaffer) and they would form a band and begin to play. Through times of hiatuses and constant reforming of the group, the final lineup of the group consists of Don and Lori Chaffer as co-lead singers and guitarists, Brandon Graves on the drums, Kenny Carter on the bass, and Christena Graves on the keyboards.

Waterdeep’s sound is extremely unique as it beautifully mixes folk, rock, pop, and acoustic sounds to come up with a sound that is penetrating to the heart and relaxes and encourages the soul. There upbeat, yet honest and insightful lyrics are not obvious or shallow; but are deep and express much maturity and thoughtfulness in their music. While the music might not be explicitly Christian, though the themes are, it still has a positive inspirational sound that is hard to miss. Waterdeep’s latest album, Pink and Blue, on the outside might look childish and silly but once you open and listen to the songs it is anything but childish.

The variety and versatility of the band is humbling, and shows the immense talent Don and Lori and the band has in creating very melodic music. For the first half of the album it features Lori on the lead vocals and her voice can range from soft and sweet on a song such as “Oh” to upbeat and perky on “Life of the Party” to intense and powerful on “Accidents Happen.” The second half of the album then features Don on the lead as he shows off his talented skills both vocally and musically as he sings songs such as “Right Before,” a somewhat alternative, indie rock song to “Okay, Okay, Yeah” which is a softer, gentler song that turns loud and crashing: a definition of creativity and perfection when it comes to blending several sounds together to form one great and cohesive song.

This band has achieved a small amount of success and has gathered their fan base solely on word-of-mouth advertisement and underground playing. Some side projects Don and/or Lori have worked on has achieved minimal mainstream airplay but Waterdeep’s projects yet to have had any major mainstream buzz. They have toured recently with Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken in the fall of 2008 and their latest album Pink and Blue hopefully might get the mainstream recognition it deserves; due to its passionate singing, deep and enticing lyrics, and its overall musicality.

To learn more about this artist, visit http://www.waterdeep.com and http://www.myspace.com/waterdeepmusic

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