Chris began playing the guitar in the 6th grade by taking lessons from Lester Hess at Hammond Music in Towson Plaza (located in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA). Chris, his best friend, Kevin Kidd (bass) and Craig Sellman (drums), all students at Immaculate Conception School, Towson, MD, formed Reign in 1980/1981. The band played original instrumental 5 chord rock. While there were some brief flashes of creativity and things to come, ultimately, the band’s music was commensurate with the experience of it’s members.
In high school, as great fortune would have it, Chris befriended Matt Zoll (drums) and Bob Bartram (bass). To this day, Matt and Bob are highly respected musicians among their peers on the Maryland music scene. Together, this trio formed various skate-rat/speed metal bands such as If None Remain Insane and Hallowed Bane. In college, the same trio formed Europa, a jazz fusion band writing and performing original music. Europa bloomed after the band became heavily inspired by Jeff Beck and Billy Cobham. This stint lasted for a few years and they added pianist/vocalist Sallie Skruggs (descendent of Earl Skruggs, American bluegrass banjo legend) to the lineup to round out the sound. Europa played such venues as The Johns Hopkins University, Max’s on Broadway, the Rev and others. Chris was the principal songwriter of the music in these bands.
Lifelong Pink Floyd fanatics, Scholtes, Zoll and Bartram went on to form in 1995 Several Species Pink Floyd Experience, considered by many to be America’s premier Pink Floyd tribute band. They have performed for audiences in excess of 7,000 people at various locations, most notably Pier 6 Concert Pavilion, Timonium Fairgrounds (Tri-Fecta Festival), and ClassicFest at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Ohio. Several Species provides a full A/V experience including the use of a 16’ circular projection screen, quadraphonic surround sound, intelligent lighting/moving heads, laser lighting, inflatable pig (ala “Animals” album), and many other production elements.
The band consists of 11 expert musicians who together faithfully reproduce the music of Pink Floyd across its vast catalogue. Several Species continues to perform to this day. Several Species has won various awards/accolades including Maryland’s best tribute band.
Chris resumed guitar lessons after many years of being self-taught and studied under Maryland legend Tobias Hurwitz for a year. About this time Chris was happy to join his brother, JP (drums), for a project called Lost Causey which performed annually at a large event. The band covered various classic rock artists and performed primarily for fundraising events.
A fun side project began in 2018 called the Natty Brohs. The Brohs were founded by a group of close friends at the L’Hirondelle Club of Ruxton (Baltimore County, Md). With a nod to National Bohemian beer (and beer in general) and the Baltimore Orioles, the Natty Brohs play frequently for audiences at various area venues including private social and sports clubs, The Green Turtle, Valley Inn, Inverness Brewery, private schools, fundraisers and big parties. Their music includes covers of ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Allman Bros, Little Feat, etc.
Chris was introduced to the idea of home recording and digital audio workstations by friend and fellow musician, Carl Negin. Chris began the Gammalon project to scratch his long neglected creative itch to return to writing original music (something he had put aside following Europa’s break-up in the early 1990s). Inspired by such artists as Pink Floyd, Rush, Tangerine Dream and the Pat Metheny Group, Gammalon: Instrumental Music and Sound is the perfect vehicle for Chris to take command of all aspects of a musical production. In addition to composing all the music, he plays all the instruments on the albums. Gammalon has aired on several radio stations and continues to grow its progressive rock audience.
