BLUESIC NEWS:

This is where we'll announce the most recent additions to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first.

May 16th, 2008  Recovery Zone is here! And sister project, Jam Zone has arrived too!  This is a very special musical project full of heart and one you simply must hear!  It is now available for sale, just click on CD Releases or drop us an email and we will get it to you in the mail!

Sept 7th, 2007  Well, it is official, Sea Changes now have their first CD out - and it is wonderful! They had their CD release party at the South Beach Open Mic on August 25th, complete with balloons, a cake and an encore performance.  And the CD is  getting stellar reviews. They are already musing about their next release, so bring it on, Scott, Renea and Kate!

One new group of friends we have found is the Bayside at South Beach Senior Assisted Living Center (formerly Spencer House) just south of the Aquarium. We played for their open house and what a nice facility this is. And a fun place to play. The barbecue was fantastic - and what a lovely courtyard for music and food and fun. Kid friendly, non-smoking and protected from the wind. And indoors is just as nice - with a lovely dining area and recreation space. They are making a concerted effort to renew their involvement and commitment to the local community and will be hosting more open houses and activities, so stay tuned for future events.

From the lyrics of one of our favorite songs...what a long, strange trip it's been (this summer that is...!)  It has certainly been busy, but wonderful - and productive if somewhat chaotic. We hope to be playing more frequently as a duo again - with some fun additions to our playlist and some subtle equipment modifications, that should bump the sound quality in a positive manner. My shoulder is nearly back to better than normal after my surgery, and Gary and I are back on track to finish our eagerly awaited CD - Recovery Zone.  We will keep you posted on our progress!

July 18th, 2007  Looks like it has been a long time since my last entry! The year has just flown by - and summer is upon us. We have had a wonderful time performing out, as well as working in the studio. We recently finished a recording project for that terrific local group, Sea Changes.  They have been playing for a number of years and will now have something concrete to show for it.  If you haven't caught them yet, keep an eye open for local gigs - or swing by the Open Mic that they host in South Beach the fourth Saturday of each month. It is held at the South Beach Community Center.  They hope to have the CD in production very soon. 

We have also been working in the studio with a fantastic local talent, David Wood - who some of you may know as the owner of the newly reopened music store in our very own Waldport...The Groove!  David is working up some of his originals and we are having a blast with it.  If you haven't checked out The Groove yet, stop by when you get a chance. The store is a very cool mix of some of the Coast's favorite activities. It is a music store, but also sells skateboard gear and scuba equipment! 

Our own newest recording project is making headway as well.  This latest will feature original songs from the "Recovery Zone" and we hope to have it out before the end of summer.

Some of you may be aware that we recently took a quick trip to Australia to check out an amazing job offer - but we decided against leaving our little woodland paradise. Because of the offer we were reluctant to book additional music gigs until a decision was made, so our schedule is a bit thin after July.  We will post any additional venues we pick up, so check back frequently over the next 4-6 weeks. In the mean time we plan to put our energy into our studio work, which will be time well spent. 

We also wanted to mention our good friend, Ken Petersen will be playing at the Summer of Love festival over in Cottage Grove the first weekend of August. Should be an amazing concert, so if you get a chance check it out!

Well, I've got a lovely bass guitar calling to me, so I'm signing off for now.  Love to hear from any of you - if you are so inclined, drop us an email! 

January 28th, 2007  Well it is finally a done thing!  As some of you know, we have been busy in the Recording Studio with Ken Petersen's project, 7 Days North of Crazy.  Yesterday we all listened through the final mastered project and declared it a wrap.

This is a wonderful CD with 10 original songs written and arranged by Ken.  Oregon Coast Recording (our studio) recorded, produced, mixed and mastered the project.  Ken Petersen played acoustic guitar and lead vocals, plus added a distorted electric on one of the songs.  Gary Brooker played electric and slide guitar, ukulele, harmonica, keyboards, backup vocals, various percussion, and banjo. Vallorie Hodges played bass, backup vocals, and various percussion.  Dan Norton played drums, various percussion and added a second bass on one of the songs.  Paul Biondi played saxophone and flute and provided the brass arrangements.  What wonderful musicianship has gone into this CD!

We are all very excited for Ken and pleased with the final product.  Ken is finalizing the artwork for the CD now, and will be getting it sent off for replication in the next week. We will keep you posted on where it will be available. Good Luck Ken!!!!

January 17th, 2007  With the trio now playing solidly and having added new material to our set lists we decided we needed something to show for our new sound - but until we finish with Ken's recording project we didn't want to get things too complicated, so we decided to cut a demo disc. We now have two distinct ensembles - a full electric sound and now a scaled back acoustic sound for those smaller, more intimate venues. So this demo features our acoustic mix - with 16 tracks that feature a variety of the things we do. A couple of the tracks are originals - with music and lyrics written by Gary- other tracks feature harmonica, slide guitar, blues rhythms, and bass/percussion trade offs/solos. This isn't a mastered studio production - it is just a demo, but if you want a copy, shoot us an email.  We will get an electric demo out soon, too for those that are after that full electric sound. 

Here is our instrument layout for each set up:

Acoustic Mix:       Gary Brooker: Larrivee acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocals.     Vallorie Hodges: Hofner Acoustic Club Bass, tom drum and cymbal with brushes, cabassa, vocals.        Dan Norton: Snare, cymbals with brushes, small jazz kick, Panell handmade Bass.

Electric Mix:  Gary Brooker: Rick Turner Model One electric guitar, harmonica, vocals, djembe kick with shaker, Analog Man pedals.                   Vallorie Hodges: Landing Bass, tom drum and cymbal with brushes, cabassa, vocals.                       Dan Norton: Modified Peace drum set, Panell handmade Bass.

The two different ensembles are fun, challenging and a sonic treat. We hope to share them both with you over the next several months at upcoming gigs!   And as soon as Ken's project is done (any day now!) we will begin recording full swing on our new project, The Recovery Zone - an inspiring group of home grown originals.

December 31st, 2006---Happy New Year!  Tonight we will play our last gig of 2006 and bid farewell to another fine year of musical fellowship. We will welcome in 2007 at the Yachats River House, a wonderful new dining adventure that recently opened here on the coast. For a brief two hours we will celebrate the old and the new, and hope some of you will be able to join us - if not in body, then perhaps in spirit. Thanks so much to all of our loyal fans who have supported us all year- your enthusiasm has been a blessing. We hope to see you at some of our performances in the new year, and wish you the best in the New Year. --Gary, Vallorie and Dan. 

November 27th, 2006---Into the cool of fall and winter: Fall has brought a lot of work on Ken Petersen's project, which is nearing completion - and what an amazing project it is. Ken's history with John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band has melded with his passion for songwriting and playing, and Nearly Normal has put in an incredible performance interpreting these pieces musically. We look forward to getting this CD out and into the ears of what we know will be an appreciative audience. Mean time, get a sneak preview at the upcoming gig at the Landmark on Friday December 8th.

Clean Slate Trio has worked nonstop on a host of new material, including some exciting originals that we hope to unveil soon. We are so happy with our progress and the unique sound we are developing. Can't wait to share it with you!  Catch us at the Bay Haven Friday and Saturday, December 1st and 2nd.

Posted July 31st, 2006---Summer News: Man, has it been a busy summer! We have had a great time playing with our friends, Ken Petersen and Dan Norton - working on the Nearly Normal material, but also working on Ken's  originals. 

In the mean time we built a yurt, got our music studio fully operational, launched into a recording project for Ken (7 Days North of Crazy) and all the while playing/performing out as much as we could find time for!  Clean Slate has had a pretty full slate with that, so it has been a great summer so far. 

As if that wasn't enough, we have now also launched a new wheatgrass growing business. With such busy lives our health is important to us, so part of our daily routine over the past year or so has been daily "juicing" of fresh veggies and growing wheatgrass for the juice. Pretty soon friends and family became regulars and we had several flats of wheatgrass going at once. Finally it seemed an obvious extension to grow more flats and little pints of it too and sell them and the juice - so here we are. Oregon Coast Wheatgrass was born!  You can find our product at Espressgo in Southbeach on Hwy 101 (just south of the Yaquina Bridge on the east side of the road)- along with our CD's!  Many of you already know they make great coffee, and now you can buy fresh organic wheatgrass and other juice. We are currently working on several more retail locations. Circus World pet store is sampling one of our pint size "birdgrass" products - caged birds crave the stuff - and they may end up selling the "catgrass" too. So pets and humans alike are part of our market!  The Green Salmon in Yachats has been selling our fresh wheatgrass juice - you can get it as fresh shots, with orange juice, or a wonderful chai/coconut/wheatgrass concoction over ice that is amazing! Anyway, look for some new changes to our website with a nutrition section to be added soon.

But for now, it's back to Ken's project which is coming along beautifully ---and to this week's music!

Hope to see you soon!

New CD!   Clean Slate's latest release "Undercovered Live Set 2" is now available -  This is the sister CD of our latest  live CD release - Click HERE to check it out! 

A New 4 Piece Band!  We have joined with two excellent area musicians to form a new band called Nearly Normal. This mix includes Ken Petersen on rhythm guitar and vocals, Dan Norton on drums,  along with Gary Brooker on electric guitar and vocals and Vallorie Hodges on bass and vocals. This is a unique sound, with a nice mix of originals and covers that feature a kind of Lennon-era spirit with a Grateful Deadish groove.  We tried it out recently at the Landmark in Yachats, to a very responsive audience, so I'm guessing you will see and hear much more from this eclectic collection of Nearly Normal musicians!  Come and check it out at the Landmark on Friday, August 4th and let us know what you think!

New CD!   And speaking of CD's, Clean Slate's latest release "Undercovered Live Set 1" is now available and already selling well!  This is the first of two live CD releases - Click HERE to check it out! 

From the Oregon Coast to Friday Harbor  We will be heading up to the San Juan Islands the first weekend of March 2006 for a mini tour to Friday Harbor - we will be playing at the local favorite, Herb's Tavern, and at Friday Harbor Labs for a private party. Should be a great little road trip for us.

Ken Petersen and Friends We will playing with Ken Petersen at the Landmark in Yachats on Saturday, February 25th 9pm-1am.  Come down and help us support this wonderful local musician who has begun to make a name for himself with sound that is unique and pleasing!

Bottoms Up Blues Gang will be playing Friday, February 3rd at the Landmark in Yachats. We have been asked to do their sound for them, so come down and join the fun and support this traveling St Louis Trio that features vocals, guitar, and harmonica.

Landmark Jam Changeover beginning this week (February 2nd) we will no longer be running the Landmark Jams. This makes way for Dave to take over the helm, and for us to concentrate on the upcoming spring and summer music season. Best of luck to Dave and company.  We will continue with the Moose Lodge Jam/Open Mic every couple of Fridays each month - look at the schedule for the dates!

One more Jam in 2005!   2006 is nearly upon us - come help celebrate the last Jam/Open Mic of 2006 at the Landmark Inn Open Mic/Jam this Thursday, December 29th from 6-10pm!  

What is happening to Waldport?! We are starting to see the Moose Lodge jam/open Mic really turn into something with a much larger crowd of appreciative audience members. Finally there is something going on in Waldport!! Photos by Rockin Deb again!! Check out the newest additions on the jam photo page where we have a slideshow style version of all the recent photos of jams. Click on the little triangular button on the right side to scroll through. You might see yourself there!

And Speaking of Open Mic and Jams:      

Visit our Jam Page for more information! Over the winter months we will be hosting a jam/open Mic at two locations on the Oregon Coast!

The Landmark in Yachats on most Thursday nights from 6pm-10pm

The Moose Lodge in Waldport on the first and third Friday of each month 7pm-9pm

Bring your instrument (or just your voice!) and join in the fun.  We will do our best to make everyone welcome and offer as much variety of musical style and genre as possible. The focus is on the music, the groove and the shared experience. 

New Web Site: Welcome to our new website!  Let us know what you think on our feedback page!  You get to be the critic here, so speak up and you will be heard!

For Bluesic, Blusic or just really cool music....here on the Oregon Coast and beyond.

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Last modified: 09/29/09