Connected academically through chemistry, the blues-flavored band’s shows benefit local nonprofits
When Spencer Anthony-Cahill moved to Bellingham in 1997, he stopped by Boundary Bay Brewery one day. Sitting in the taproom, he noticed a small stage in the corner of the room.
“I just remember thinking, ‘man, it would be so much fun to play here’,” recalled the bass player. “And about 10 years later, that happened.”
Since 2008, Anthony-Cahill and his three fellow band members — John Antos, Charlie Maliszewski and Scott Wilkinson — have performed locally under the name The Legendary Chucklenuts. They primarily play blues-based rock covers and rhythm and blues from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, and on Sept. 20, they’ll play Bellingham’s Boundary Bay beer garden in support of Salish Current.
The four men — who range in age from 40 to 70 — are not just friends who play music together: three of them have PhDs, and all four are associated in some way with the chemistry department of Western Washington University.
Anthony-Cahill, the bass player and percussionist, is a current professor at Western, while lead guitarist Antos is an associate professor. And yes, a number of their students have heard them play.
“I think there’s some novelty — ‘Oh, our profs are playing’,” Anthony-Cahill said. “When school’s in session, it’s relatively common that we’ll get a handful of students or more coming down to hear us.”
Maliszewski, the lead vocalist, came to know both Bellingham and his bandmates as a biotechnology consultant for Western’s biotech program before grabbing his harmonica, keyboard and rhythm guitar. He says seeing students realize their professors can jam is great fun.
“When John … starts shredding on the guitar, and it’s the first time students hear it, you can just see their mouths drop open,” he said.
Wilkinson, the band’s drummer, is an instructional/classroom support technician at Western’s College of the Environment, and graduated from the university with a chemistry degree.
The four men met on campus and began rehearsing together, but it was Anthony-Cahill’s wife who finally compelled them to perform publicly for the first time. Since that first 2008 gig, the group have performed between 70 and 80 shows, and average six or seven each year between late spring and early autumn.
And as their name sarcastically suggests, they don’t take themselves too seriously.
“The Chucklenuts was not sufficiently irreverent,” said Anthony-Cahill of naming the group. “So we had to add the superlative there, to really drive home that we’re doing this for fun.”
For a good cause
Although the group plays for fun, they do also play for more serious reasons.
Since 2016, all of their Boundary Bay gigs have also been benefits supporting various local nonprofit organizations working to either support community members or foster a better sense of community within Bellingham.
Past organizations they’ve supported include Dementia Support Northwest, HomesNOW, RE Sources, the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, Lummi Nation’s Children of the Setting Sun Productions and Hunger vs. Hunger — a fundraiser organized by local realtor Ethan Hunger, managing broker at Bellwether Real Estate and a staunch supporter of the Bellingham Food Bank.
“The Legendary Chucklenuts are simply the best,” Hunger said. “Their passion for music is overshadowed only by their determination to give back to the community.”
Over the last couple of years, the Chucklenuts have hosted two charity concerts in support of Hunger’s fundraising efforts for the food bank, he said. “The two events have combined to raise over $22,000 for those in need. The best part about having support from them is that they also happen to be an incredibly talented band. Their music gets the crowd moving, grooving and singing along.”
The group has also helped promote outdoor organizations that support women and historically marginalized community members, such as Shifting Gears and Vamos Outdoors Project. Some of the organizations are ones which the band members are personally involved in, either as board members or volunteers.
“We’re really eager and honored to help do those things that promote the well-being of all members of our community,” Anthony-Cahill said. “We like to support things that build our community, and make it a more healthy and inclusive place to be.”
The group gives particular credit to Janet Lightner, the general manager of Boundary Bay, who works with both the band and the nonprofits to make the benefit shows a success.
“It’s been a wonderful relationship [with Boundary Bay],” says Anthony-Cahill. “They have been so on board with this, and so appreciative of how our efforts blend with their efforts to build up this community.”
Performing regularly at Boundary Bay also suits the band’s unofficial motto: “A beer-drinking club with a music problem.”
The Legendary Chucklenuts will perform Friday, Sept. 20 during Boundary Bay Brewery’s Friday Fish Fry. Food begins at 4 p.m., and the band is expected to play between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
By Matt Benoit