Water Bear is an avant-garde rock band with classical and jazz overtones. The music is complex and orchestral, yet rhythmic and hard hitting. Like their namesake, they are versatile, able to traverse such styles as jazz, bossa nova, and impressionist parlor music.

Steven Coolidge was playing keyboards with various local musicians and had an idea for a rock opera. Flyby was performed at the W. J. Geery Theater in 2016 to rave reviews. The core of that ensemble was the beginning of Water Bear, consisting of Billy Maerdian on drums, Jason Fagerlie on bass, Rick Marcroft on the EWI, and Steve on keyboards and vocals. The band performed a handful of Sacramento area shows, recorded some tracks (2020) and developed a small following, but fell apart after COVID. They reassembled with renewed vigor in 2025 by drawing on area academia with Michael LaPilusa on saxophone, Jon Chengary on drums, and Sean Metcalfe on bass and briefly Thomas Molina on trombone. A couple of more tracks and shows went down. By mid 2026 Michael and Sean were out, replaced by Alexander McClintock on all manner of wind Instruments, and Alejandro Giles on bass. Rick Marcroft returns on EWI, with Steven handling all manner of keyboards and vocals. The band is working on an album of original music which will be released in 2026.