Serapis is a classic American band in every sense of the word.

Originating in garages of a Midwestern town, and with millions of hours logged in smoke filled bars since 1982 these guys have really learned how to play.

Since the beginning their choice has always been to play "something different", to champion the unsung heroes, not to simply recite the mega hits of the day. This is a risky policy for an ordinary "bar band". The only way they have been able to pull off this stunt for so many years is to simply be really good musicians and entertainers. And the fundamental reason they keep getting better is that they honest to God love playing music.

At one time or another the Serapis catalog has included songs by Frank Zappa, John Hiatt, Graham Parker, Sonia Dada, Delbert McClinton, Taj Mahal, Paul Simon, Hank Williams, Third World, and Todd Snyder, just to name a few. By drawing on such a wide spectrum of sound, they find it easier to "sneak in" their original compositions which in fact are every bit as good as the covers in the rest of the set.

In 1982 Tony Chambers, Gene Carroll, and Steve Snyder were playing a gig as a 3-piece band in Washington Missouri when a sax player named Rick Clifford came up and asked to sit in with the band. Rick was working at a summer camp for kids and had just one night off for the week. He brought his sax just in case. Hmmm, a three-piece power trio with a sax, sounds weird, but they made it work. It worked so well that they called Rick the next day to find out what he was doing after the summer camp was over.

Meanwhile, the boys had bumped into Brian Casserly at a club on the riverfront in St. Louis where they had come to see a favorite St. Louis band Street Corner Symphony. Brian was working as a baker at a popular restaurant in St. Charles. He was an old buddy that had played trumpet with them before in a show group and was immediately convinced to join the band.

The first thing to do was to come up with a name, and to differentiate themselves from The Stone Mountain Band which was the name they had in high school and college years when they were primarily a southern rock band, performing largely in St. Louis and Columbia Missouri. Several names were floated without any really catching fire but at the time the boys were more interested in getting busy rehearsing than debating names, so they gave themselves a deadline. Rick came up with the name Serapis from a book he was reading on mystical religious figures. Serapis was a combination of a Greek and Egyptian deity that was supposed to inspire artists and musicians (at least that's what Rick said). It took a little getting used to, often patrons at the end of the night couldn't even pronounce Serapis, but the name stuck and the band began to pick up some exciting gigs and really began to gel.

For the next four years this original lineup became a fixture as a house band on the riverfront in St. Louis and playing throughout the Midwest in Kansas City, Chicago and Memphis. In 1986 they recorded a live album at Uncle Sam's, which was the club where they built a loyal following and had some legendary performances and many memorable evenings.

Later that year, Brian had an opportunity to become the front man of a band being formed by a subsidiary of Six Flags. He would be featured on a new riverboat entertainment venue, which was exactly what Brian should have done at the time. It was tough to lose such a talented and charismatic entertainer, but the guys were able to pick up one of the best solo performers in St. Louis to play acoustic guitar and keyboards with them. The addition of Mark Moebeck provided an opportunity to change course and expand the repertoire of songs once again and to feature the vocals of Tony and Mark as one of the premiere duet combinations you will ever hear.

Not long after Mark joined the band, Serapis was in search of a drummer. Bob Gleason who was running sound for the band one night piped up and said, "Hey, I play drums". This was an understatement. Gene had met Bob at his studio called Imagitrax. Bob had for years been a solo performer where he played guitar, sax, flute, clarinet, harmonica and anything else that made music all along with backing tracks of himself playing drums, bass, keys and all of the other stuff he couldn't carry to the gigs. So Bob sat in and just like Lou Gehrig, has never left.

After several years Mark decided he needed to get back to performing on his own as he really is a solo performer and gifted songwriter, although he often pops in and sings a few songs with the band from time to time. Eventually Rick moved to California and after playing as a three piece and then off and on with Gordon Bland on keyboards and guitar, Serapis was able to get an old friend and gifted singer and multi instrumentalist Todd Luerding to take over full time on keyboards and also play drums, vibes, and accordion. The addition was easy, as Todd had for many years played drums and keys back in the "southern rock" days of The Stone Mountain Band.

This is the current lineup of the band Serapis. Tony Chambers on guitar and vocals, Gene Carroll on bass and vocals, Bob Gleason on drums and vocals, and Todd Luerding on keyboard and vocals. Sounds simple, but don't let that fool you, they switch around a lot.