Bart Chucker plays nearly 90 gigs a year, but none mean more than this one.

“I’m so excited,” said Chucker, a 1986 graduate and Henrico County General District judge. “I’ve been asked to play before but have never been able to do it because I’ve always been booked. I really wanted to go to the reunion because it’s my 40th.”

The alt-country Bart Chucker Band will take the stage on May 30 from 9 p.m. to midnight on Lakeview Lane, overlooking Westhampton Lake as part of Reunion Weekend, May 29-31.

Chucker’s setlist spans Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and Prince alongside newer artists like Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, and Billy Strings. The band’s fiddle player, who used to play for Martina McBride, performs an electrifying “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

The band plays monthly at River City Roll in Scott’s Addition and appear at events and festivals within a few hours of Richmond, drawing audiences of all ages. They recently played for the Class of 2026 at the Senior Greek Theatre Party sponsored by Annual Giving.

“I certainly didn't expect at my age to be playing so much and for such an expansive audience, age wise, but that's what we're doing,” he said. “It's really been a lot of fun.”

Musical beginnings

His path to the stage began on campus.

Chucker bought a guitar the summer before his first year at Richmond, and as he put it, “tortured everyone on his hall with having to listen to me learn to play it.”  By his junior and senior years, he was performing regularly at Richmond bars and fraternity houses.

Although he majored in biology, with plans to become a doctor, he found it was not his calling. A summer internship at a law firm changed his direction.

After law school, he joined McGuireWoods, working on a toxic tort litigation team handling about 50,000 cases nationwide. Despite the pace and prestige, something was missing, so he made a gutsy move.

“I worked really hard, but it just wasn’t for me,” Chucker said. “I made the decision that I wanted to play music for a living. And I did that for a few years, and that was a great experience.”

Living the dream

Chucker eventually returned to law, opening a small law firm in his Fan District home. He lived upstairs and handled everything himself “from janitor up to lawyer and everything in between,” he said.

The firm grew steadily, eventually including six attorneys, all of whom would go on to become judges. Chucker joined the bench in 2013.

Through it all, music remained a constant. He’s been able to devote more time to it since his three children have grown older. By day he wears a judicial robe and rules on cases, and on nights and weekends he rehearses with the band and performs about eight times each month.

“Sometimes I'm hyperventilating, but not that often,” he said, with a laugh, of his busy schedule. “And you know, I love both jobs.”

Reunion bound

Returning to campus for Reunion Weekend brings it all full circle.

“It’s in college when you don’t have many obligations, to family and profession, that you really get to develop those deep friendships,” he said. “There's such a sense of community at UR. I would really encourage people to come back and enjoy it.”

He stays connected with classmates through the Class of 1986 Facebook page and looks forward to seeing many of them in person.

Even after four decades, he said, those connections haven’t faded.

In November, he reunited with a fraternity brother he hadn’t seen in 40 years.

“It was like we didn’t miss a beat,” Chucker said. “The only thing different was maybe we were a little more gray and we had kids.”

Over 30 events are planned for Reunion Weekend, with special events for those classes celebrating a milestone year (ending in ‘6 or ‘1)