Chance Gardener (the band) formed in the Spring of 1999. The band originally consisted of Mark Nensel (guitar, vocals, songwriting), Mark Frayman (drums), Joe Basso (bass), and Bob Sima (guitar, vocals, songwriting). They wrote and recorded and performed together for 2 1/2 years, playing at various venues throughout the DC metro area, and released two CDs -- "The Letting Go" EP (1999), and "Prove Yourself" (2000).

In the summer of 2002, following the departure of Mr. Frayman and Mr. Sima, Mark Nensel and Joe Basso met David Chambers, a guitarist-vocalist-songwriter transplanted to DC from Oxford, England. Soon after, drummer Matthew Richkus filled out the group and Chance Gardener version 2.0 was up and running. This version played throughout the DC Metro area from 2003 to 2005, playing the Taste of DC festival in 2004, being included on Potbelly's Best of Local Bands DC compilation CD, and completing their full-length CD entitled "Spinning Plates." (2005) In the wake of the album's release, Mark and Matthew left the band to pursue other ventures, and Joe and David continued to work on new songs and play the occasional show.

Fast forward to 2006, where Chance Gardener found their new drummer in Potomac-native Dan Freedman. Dan, in his third decade of drumming, brings a solid beat and creativity to the band that has brought new arrangements to old songs and supercharged the new material. As a trio, Chance has been rehearsing and fine-tuning and recording demos since then and are now officially back and ready to play their music for you -- music that is melodic and acoustic-based, with the occasional guitar crunch and deep thought thrown into the mix.