Lonesome Moonlight String Band

 Jon Pachter performs on 5-string banjo and sings lead vocals and harmony. He is also an accomplished player on guitar, flute, and harmonica, and offers banjo lessons. Jon studied with Tony Trischka on banjo and John Carlini on jazz banjo. He was a founding member of Maplegrass in New Jersey in the nineties, before moving to Long Island. He has also performed as a member of the DeWitt Dixies barbershop quartet and Roaring Twenties vocal group, and has appeared in several musicals. Jon is the band leader, especially in directing the band’s impressive three-part harmony. By day, Jon is the Sr. Director of Cancer Biological Research at a Pharmaceutical company on Long Island.

 Deb Schaarschmidt is the newest member of the band, and has greatly enjoyed branching out into bluegrass and swing jazz. In addition to the Lonesome Moonlight String Band, Deb is the first violinist of the Chameleon String Quartet. Deb started her musical career at California State University at Stanislaus where she did numerous performances, traveled to the former Russia, and won a concerto
competition in 1990. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music at SUNY Stonybrook. Deb currently has an extensive private studio and can be reached for private lessons at stringlessonswithdeb.com. She has been teaching and playing professionally for over 15 years and plays as a freelance violinist in the area.

John Deliso provides the backbone of the band with his powerful guitar playing. He is an extremely versatile musician who could easily be playing mandolin or bass with the band instead of guitar. Once in awhile Johns puts his guitar down and adds some impressive playing on dobro. John is originally from Brooklyn and played extensively in the beach bar scene in the Hamptons back in the seventies. He also plays bass with a few oldies group when he is not strumming his six-string Martin with Lonesome Moonlight. By night he is a mechanical inspector with GKN.

Wendy Pachter keeps the band in order on stand-up bass and adds some wonderful vocal harmonies. Wendy was also a member of Maplegrass in New
Jersey. Outside the band, she plays flute and piano. She sings competitively in the Greater Nassau Sweet Adelines Chorus. Wendy was a voice major at University of Connecticut and received a Masters in Music Education at Montclair State University where she minored in piano.  She is certified K-12 in vocal/instruments and has taught vocal/choral K-8 for five years. She offers private lessons in flute, piano, and voice.

 Wayne Krush fills out the band on mandolin, adding lead vocals and harmony. He is also not shy about taking out a harmonica and adding some bluesy licks or fast paced train sounds. In addition, he plays guitar, banjolin, mandola, and dobro. Wayne is self taught, listening and learning on everything from bluegrass to zydeco. He performed in Bob’s Attic for years playing in clubs and coffee houses. Wayne performs in an annual folk concert, “Nothin New”, with Prof. Hank Dondero, and is currently offering a library program titled “A Medley of Mandolins”. Wayne has been chair of the Visual Communications Department at Farmingdale State College for the past six years.