Enjoy music on the streets of Maplewood Village!

Band of Strays is an American band that performs an eclectic mix of neotraditional country, R and B, pop, and rock music. Conceived on New Years Eve of 2016 in MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey when Lou Ledesma and Chip Thompson started talking about guitars, the music they loved and the burning desire to “get out there” and start performing! Soon after, Bill “The Thrill” Grafton was invited to join Chip and Lou for evening rehearsals where they explored playing together and working out the kinks after a hard days work.

Between 2016 and 2018 the band developed a repertoire of cover music and started performing at local venues in the South Orange/MAPLEWOOD area. Musicians were welcome to join in to round the sound when needed and that was the birth of Band Of Strays. A place where good friends could enjoy performing good music and having fun.

2020 and COVID brought about many changes including more original music and a new band member, bassman John Kreiger. Performing often in the beach town Ocean Grove brought inspiration for new original music and the first recordings being prepared for release by Band Of Strays.