CHAD DELL
Guitar and Vocals, 1999 - 2003

Back to Main Page | Back to Past Members Page




Chad made his debut with the Profs at their gig held in Bob Kubey's Backyard, Highland Park, New Jersey, on May 15, 1999

Chad started singing professionally in a church choir in Pennsylvania when he was 8 years old. He began playing guitar at age 11, and composing a few years later. Since that time, he's never stopped! Chad sang and played solo in a duo and in bands throughout high school. At Beloit College, Wisconsin, Chad was active in the campus music community through the Campus Activities Committee, primarily as a buyer and promoter. After Beloit, Chad took a job at a booking agency in Madison, Wisconsin, where he booked a wide variety of local and regional bands, from rock and blues to bluegrass. While there, he booked dates on touring bands as well as Chicago blues artists Willie Dixon , Mighty Joe Young, Jimmy Dawkins, and others.

In Madison, in the late '70s, Chad played in The Fast Eddie Band, a rock band in the REO Speedwagon/Boston/Cars vein, and also Scott Free, another rock band. He also played guitar in a major show entitled "The Meeting," which was produced by sax player "Fat" Richard Drake, and included among its 16 members pianist Ben Sidran (now of NPR fame) and organist Jim Peterik, both formerly of the Steve Miller Band.



Getting tired of being a weekend road warrior, Chad joined a variety band in the mid-'80s called Night Music. Though the band played a wide range of music (from '50s to current hits, including country and even polka), it specialized in Motown arrangements and intricate harmonies. It was great fun, for the most part, playing parties, weddings, and clubs in the Madison area. Chad is proud to say that the band never played the most aggregious "variety" songs that are so often requested by drunks. For instance, when asked to play "Wipe Out," Chad would look the guy straight in his/her blood-shot eyes and respond: "We'd love to, but the drummer doesn't know the words." The requestee would usually nod and say, "Oh, okay," and walk away. It worked every time.

While in graduate school at at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Chad played with The Media Weasels, a collection of folks who primarily worked by day (and night) at Wisconsin Public Television, where Chad worked for six years. The Weasels were more of a recording band than anything else, but performed gigs from time to time as the opportunities arose.

Chad moved to New Jersey in 1996 and kept his musical head down until joining the Professors in 1999. The rest, as they say, is history.




Chad Dell performs a soulful "Stormy Monday"
Hennessey's Pub, Morristown, NJ, December 8, 2001
Videography by Marie Radford




This page last updated July 6, 2013 by Gary Radford.
Many thanks to Kurt Wagner, Marie Radford, and Jon Oliver.