Rodney "Chip" Jaeger was born in Staten Island, New York. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to Virginia where his father started Air Virginia, a commuter air line based in Lynchburg. Jaeger graduated from Fork Union Military Academy.
Chip Jaeger's passion for music began with his stint in the academy's military drum corps. From that point on he was obsessed with drumming. Says Rodney: "My parents wanted to see me go into the Navy, but I told them I'd had enough after seven years, and I became a rock drummer.'
Chip Jaeger played drums with various bands in the Lynchburg area until the rock scene died in the mid-'90s.