Ambar Ramirez
Meet Chalk Tiger
Words by Ambar Ramirez
By day, Bryce Powell handles home loans, Ryan Cobb troubleshoots IT systems at a law firm, and Blake Powell builds pools under the Florida sun. But when the sun dips low and the clock-out chimes hit, a different kind of work begins. Bryce picks up his guitar and mic, Blake slides behind the drum kit and Cobb straps on his bass.
Different jobs, different paths—what ties this trio together isn’t just blood or years of friendship. It’s Chalk Tiger, a Jacksonville-born punk band that trades routine for distortion and quiet for something loud, fast and real.
Two years ago, Chalk Tiger was a newly-formed punk outfit playing their first few sets in dimly-lit venues across Jacksonville, at college-house parties and Kona Skatepark. Now, they’re packing crowds at established venues like Underbelly, Vooswar and sharing the stage with Wine Lips, Agent Orange, Las Nubes and other national acts.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. One doesn’t just pick up an instrument one day and is in a band two years later. The journey toward underground punk shows and downtown venues is a long one, and for Bryce, Blake and Cobb it began in their childhood bedrooms and in-between classes. If you haven’t already picked up on it, Bryce and Blake have known each other all their lives, sharing a last name and all. Cobb came into the picture not too long after in a third-grade classroom.
Music and skate parks tied these three together, and not just any type of music, though they weren’t picky, but artists like Green Day, Nirvana and Black Lips were a guiding force for the three of them. Bryce picked up guitar in the seventh grade and shortly after so did Cobb and Blake. But to be in a band together and it not just be a one big guitar solo, Cobb switched over to bass and Blake found solace with the drums.
“We always listened to the same type of music so throughout our lives, just kind of bounced ideas back and forth,” Bryce shared. “Then when we got a little bit older and we stopped skateboarding, we started playing instruments and were in and out of bands throughout high school together. We’re at this point in our lives now where we decided to start this band.”
The three played with different bands, the same bands and cover bands over the years. Eventually, when they started writing their own music, the music they listened to as kids naturally bled into the lyrics and sound they were creating.
The name Chalk Tiger traces back to Bryce’s teenage years. His room at the time featured a chalkboard wall — an inheritance from his younger brother who had it before him. One day, a strikingly realistic tiger appeared on the wall.
Then, Bryce was in a band called Lookout Lizards with his friends Sam and Blake, playing garage and punk rock. Inspired by the chalk-drawn tiger, Sam wrote a song called “Chalk Tiger,” simply because he thought it sounded cool. The name stuck with them. Years later, when the idea for a new band started to take shape, they leaned into that same sonic energy — and the memory of that old song.
At first, they called themselves Look Out (!), a nod to their earlier band, but it didn’t feel quite right. Eventually, they circled back to Chalk Tiger — a name born out of teenage graffiti and inside jokes.
As the band has grown, so has their sound. What started as a grunge-infused garage rock band gradually shifted toward punk, and over time, Chalk Tiger has continued to evolve. Their music now explores more psychedelic territory with longer, more expansive songs that pay homage to their early influences while adding a fresh layer of flair.
“It’s just maturing as we’re getting older,” Bryce shared.
Two years ago, the band released their first full-length album, “High Charity,” recorded at Warehouse Studios — the same studio where “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd was mixed as well as where many of Jacksonville’s music legends recorded their music.
“I don’t want to say it’s not a fully realized album. It’s more just like, these are the songs that we have and that we are playing at the shows currently,” Bryce explained. “We just wanted to get something out there so that there’s like a way that people can go listen to the music. We have plans to have a more cohesive album in the future.”
The album captures much of the raw grit and energy of their early days, much of it recorded live. 
“‘Rapture’ is pretty sweet. We never play it live anymore, but it’s just got, like, some cool tempo changes, and it’s just kind of got, like, a different feel. And then Bryce has a really cool guitar solo towards the end and then Blake’s drums on it,” Ryan shared. “ I think that’s our only song where we have, like, a really slow breakdown, a long, drawn-out breakdown, but I think ‘Dance Close’ is probably my favorite to play,” Blake added.
The album also reflects their growth as a band, showcasing some of their newer, more refined songs.
“I like ‘Fit the Mold’ the most,” Bryce shared. “It seemed like people connected to it a lot, and I did as well, just because it feels like the right kind of vibe of where we found our footing.”
Regardless of whether it’s an off-the-cuff jam session or a more polished, thought-out track, Chalk Tiger, at its core, is still just a group of longtime friends sharing their love for music in the public eye. Many of their songs are laced with Easter eggs from their early days — nods to old jokes, late-night conversations and weird recurring bits like mayo and milk that somehow keep finding their way into lyrics. One of my favorites on the album is “Brain Milk”—a track that perfectly blends their raw, unfiltered energy with a more layered, evolving sound. It’s messy in the way all good punk music is.
“We’ve always had an infatuation with ‘Mayo.’ I don’t know. It just came from when we were kids,” Bryce shared. “I think we were on a golf cart and we were like, going over a bunch of bumps. And it we were like, ‘oh, man, oh, man, oh, man,’ And it just kind of turned into like, ‘oh, mayo, oh, mayo.’ And then we stuck with it,” Ryan said. “Now it’s like a part of our whole friend group. We’ve been the Mayo Boys for a long time. So we like to include that, I mean, even one of our songs, ‘Misbehave,’ I have lyrics about smashing jars of mayonnaise in it,” Blake added.
With just a handful of singles and one full-length album under their belt, Chalk Tiger is still carving out their place in the Jacksonville punk scene. But like all of us, they’re learning as they go — figuring it out show by show, riff by riff. With each show, whether it’s under bridges, in venues or at sweat-packed house parties, they’re growing more confident, more dialed in and with better equipment and consistent crowds. They’re a band in motion, loud, unfiltered and evolving.
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