Chase Cundiff and the Co-Pilots

Ask anyone at Lon Morris Jr. College, Stephen F. Austin State University, or Tarleton State University about Chase Cundiff and they'll probably tell you all about his stellar baseball career (notably All Conference Honors his senior year at TSU). Ask any of his past roommates or anyone who has heard him sing a tune or strum a guitar though, and you will certainly find them praising him for something other than America's Pastime. As a tenth grader at Weatherford High School, Cundiff hooked up with younger teammate, Austin Ries, and began jamming together after practice, working together a repertoire of cover songs and a few originals written by Cundiff. Adding Austin’s younger brother, Morgan Ries, on drums, the band began playing local bars around the DFW area, gaining a solid fan base while also increasing their list of originals.

After Cundiff and Austin Ries left for college, the band fell apart. Once his freshman year at Lon Morris Jr. College in Jacksonville, TX began, Cundiff met Josh Owen, a fellow dormitory inhabitant who helped "show him the ropes." Late-night jams and a constant thirst for more chords and guitar riffs fueled the pair through their freshman year. His sophomore year at SFA in Nacogdoches, TX was where the bulk his writing really began. His final years of baseball were played at TSU in Stephenville, TX. Between classes, practices and tournaments, much to the dismay of his coaches, Cundiff spent his nights and weekends in local bars playing every open-mic he could get his hands on. In the fall of 2008, Cundiff recorded his first album in Austin, Texas while looking around for the perfect group of players for his band. As fate would have it, Cundiff reconnected with Austin Ries who had been playing music and going to school in Austin, Texas, and Morgan Ries in May of 2009, hoping to refuel the chemistry and music experience they had before. With the addition of Barrett Boswell on bass, Chase Cundiff evolved into Chase Cundiff and the Co-Pilots and began their search for musical fusion.

As a band, Chase Cundiff and the Co-Pilots have played with Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, Brandon Rhyder, Kyle Park, Maren Morris, Susan Gibson, Reckless Kelly, Owen Temple, Dave Perez of the Tejas Brothers, Joey Green, Josh Abbott, Kyle Bennett, Monte Montgomery, Jackson Taylor and Roger Ray of Jason Boland and the Stragglers. They have also played at professional venues at Stubb’s Barbeque and Nutty Brown Café in Austin, Texas, Paragon Casino in Louisiana and Cherokee Casino in Oklahoma.