The County Line - Circa 2019

In 2018, after a chance meeting in the halls of The School of Rock in Schaumburg, IL, Phil Chester and Poul Freitag started jamming regularly. Poul’s son Jake had traded his tenor sax for a guitar two years earlier and was progressing quickly. Jake began sitting in on their sessions, and the idea of “another Chicago based Grateful Dead band” was discussed.

The County Line performed a few shows as an acoustic trio. They were invited to perform at Mars Hotel Blotto in 2019; it was time to add a drummer. Although Jim Farmer was not available for Mars Hotel, he did come out for the next gig. That day The County Line began the journey to become the psychedelic jam band that it is today.

With a solid rhythm section, Poul’s soulful voice and Jakob’s extended improvisational jams, The County Line is true to The Grateful Dead with every show being unique, and making every jam their own.