Waterdeep
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- This is an article on Waterdeep the band; see Waterdeep (city) for the fictional city of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Waterdeep is an independent Christian band from Kansas City Missouri, currently on hiatus from touring. The roots of Waterdeep can be traced back into the beginnings of the New Earth Coffeehouse in KC. Sometime in the fall of 1993, Don Chaffer took to the stage with a guitar to give the owner of the coffeehouse a sample of his songwriting. Don became a regular fixture in the shows at the New Earth.
Several early attempts at forming bands, "Whalebelly Exit", and "Hey, Ruth" were aborted, and finally Waterdeep came into existence in 1995 featuring Don on rhythm guitar, John Flynn on lead, Brandon Graves on drums, Jay Pfeifer on keys, and Danny Krause on bass.
Shortly after their release of their May 1995 debut, To Chase Away the Birds, they were joined by Lori Chaffer, who supplemented the bands material with her own songs. Sink or Swim was released in 1997 with Anthony Case replacing Danny on the bass, and without John Flynn. Live at the New Earth was released in 1998, with the last performances of Jay and Anthony. A side project with 100 Portraits yielded the worship album Enter the Worship Circle.
They were for a short time under Steve Taylor's short-lived Squint Entertainment, which lost its financial backing in 2001. During that time, however, they did manage to produce Everyone's Beautiful, with Kenny Carter on bass this time, and Brandon's wife Christina Graves on keys. Waterdeep's final album You Are So Good To Me expounded upon the simplified themes within Enter the Worship Circle and yielded beautiful, quieted tones of worship.
The final leg of Waterdeep's history has been slightly retrospective. Don Chaffer's Whole 'nother Deal brought back many of the previous musicians who had been in Waterdeep for one record. What You Don't Know was released shortly thereafter, dealing with the loss of his parents. Lori Chaffer also released her solo album 1beginning later in 2003. Another album, Waterdeep Live 3.26.03--Muncie, IN has been released, and there is talk of making an album out of their May 1, 2004 farewell to touring show.
Pulling their own weight through their 10 year career, Waterdeep's fan base swelled through grassroots and word of mouth rather than through media blitzing. By remaining under the radar, they've become something of a cult phenomenon.