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What's Happening Corvallis Sen.
Frank Morse When it comes to gay rights, Oregon state Sen. Frank Morse, a vocally Christian Republican, doesn't toe the party line. Instead he bases his actions in the Legislature on personal experience, his desire to represent his constituents and his own interpretation of the Bible and its teachings. During the 2005 legislative session he co-sponsored SB 1000 to legalize civil unions and stepped right into the crossfire.
Morse admits that before he ran for office he had "tendencies of intolerance" around the issue of homosexuality. "I've held biases with respect to homosexuality that on deeper reflection, I don't think were valid," he said. Convictions that come out of that kind of reflection have helped Morse earn the respect of his peers and colleagues, whether or not they agree with him on all the issues. "People have great confidence in Sen. Morse's integrity," said Patty Evans, pastor of Morse's church, First Christian Church in Albany. "It comes from a place of deep faith, so even those who disagree with him respect him." Republican state Sen. Jason Atkinson, who recently announced his candidacy for governor, didn't vote for SB 1000 but has a great deal of respect for Morse's ability to build bipartisan consensus. "He's a good friend of mine, and a fantastic hardworking senator," Atkinson said. "His appeal to people crosses all kinds of political issues." But when Morse sponsored SB 1000 after voters overwhelmingly passed Measure 36 amending the Oregon Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, many of his constituents, supporters and other Republicans questioned his actions. In May 2005, Randy Killen, chair of the Benton County Republican Central Committee, wrote a letter that was later posted on the Benton GOP website urging Morse to withdraw his support for SB 1000. "The voters who supported Measure 36 believed that they were preserving the marriage relationship, not just the name," Killen wrote in the letter. "In our view, SB 1000 is in violation of the state Constitution as amended by Measure 36. We also see a direct conflict between protected status for religion and protected status for sexual orientation." Some of Morse's constituents, especially Christians for whom the Bible is central when discussing homosexuality, were also critical of his decision to support the bill. "The state gave us a chance to vote for our convictions and we did," said John Breitmeier, senior pastor at the South Albany Community Church, who opposes civil unions. "My faith community believes there is a distinction between marriage and homosexuality. One is affirmed by God and another isn't." But Morse's convictions are also biblically rooted. "When the opposition came out so strong and the attacks on me occurred from, by and large, the faith community … I felt very comfortable in coming forward with my own faith," Morse said. It became a battle of conflicting Christian views and for Morse, the belief in love and acceptance is vital to Christianity. And while many openly opposed his stance, Morse has found others who were more willing to look at the issue in a different light. "I respect him for his courage to let it be known where he stands," said Dick Busic, a friend and former pastor to the Morse family. "My understanding is this comes from his understanding that God's love is for everyone." This isn't the first time Morse has taken a sometimes unexpected stand on controversial social issues: When he ran for the Senate in 2002 he supported civil rights for gays based on his belief that sexual orientation is determined at birth, and he also supports abortion rights. In a statement he mailed to his constituents prior to running, Morse wrote, "we are called to treat one another with dignity, respect and love." It was during the process of clarifying his own views for himself as he prepared to run for the state Senate that the issues surrounding civil rights for gays really came home for him. Morse's wife, Laura, called her sister and read her the statement over the phone — for years, they had thought that maybe Morse's nephew (Laura's sister's son) was gay. Laura's sister "broke down and was emotionally overcome," Morse said. "Why was that never shared?" Morse asked, rhetorically. Why, in a loving and supportive family, hadn't they openly discussed these issues? "It was, I believe a fear that Bob would not be accepted," Morse said. For organizations like Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), which promotes gay rights, bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans like Morse is key. Personal stories like his make all the difference when it comes to breaking through to people who oppose equal rights for gays. "Fundamentally it's about personal connections," said BRO Communications Director Rebekah Kassell. "It might be about hearing a story that's compelling, hearing that a family member is gay." Morse testified before the Senate in support of SB 1000, shared his family story, and urged the Senate to move towards a policy of acceptance. The bill passed in the Senate, but was later defeated in the House. "How do we recognize people in long-term relationships?" asks Morse. "That's the question before the Legislature, and we failed to answer it." Now Morse's reputation with his conservative constituents remains in question. Morse recently announced plans to run for re-election after an independent survey (that he paid for) of District 8 voters showed that 46 percent of respondents held a favorable image of Morse, while 14 percent held an unfavorable image. Corvallis was the first city in the state to legalize civil unions for homosexuals but Albany is far more conservative. Other socially liberal Republicans are watching Morse closely. State Sen. Ben Westlund (R-Bend) also co-sponsored SB 1000 and will use Morse's race as a barometer for his campaign. "Morse is in a more vulnerable position because he's newer," said Westlund's aide, Stacy Dycus. "Westlund has served as a representative for three terms so he has some name recognition." But Atkinson is confident that Morse will be reelected if he runs. After the SB 1000 vote was complete in the Senate, "people for and against came up and shook his hand, because he was doing it based on principal and integrity," Atkinson said.
A
Map to the Future? For the next few weeks, Corvallis residents and business owners will be spending a lot of time thinking about what kind of city they want to live in, asking hard questions about balancing economic growth with quality of life. What makes Corvallis a great place to live? What kind of business and industry will fit with the values of the community? How much do we care about the health of our rivers and forests, and how will we encourage sustainable growth in the city? Those are just a few of the questions the Economic Vitality Partnership (EVP) hopes to answer in a two-part survey released this month. Part of the 2020 Vision project for the city, the survey is the first step in creating a specific action plan for meeting the broad economic goals laid out in that document. "The 2020 plan is a blueprint," said EVP Chair Mike Corwin. "But it's not specific, it's a vision piece. The survey will help us create a business action plan that will detail how we'll accomplish that vision." The EVP will actually be conducting two surveys: one 20-question survey that goes out to the community in general, and a much longer 86-question survey distributed to local businesses. The strategic planning committee of the EVP, which includes representation from 11 of the 14 members, created the questions. Some are multiple choice, some are short essays. "Is Corvallis and Benton County government friendly to new businesses?" is a typical yes/no question, while "What is your personal vision of Corvallis in the next two decades?" is one of the essay questions. The survey will be out for just a few weeks. Then the real work starts. The city will hire a consultant to crunch the data, they'll hold town hall meetings for the public to weigh in on the results, and by June of 2006, the EVP hopes to have an action plan for increasing economic vitality in Corvallis. "I don't necessarily see this as a strategy for growth," said City Councilman Rob Gándara who's also the council's liaison working on the survey. "I see it as a strategy for change. Certain businesses are leaving the city, jobs are disappearing. We can choose to do nothing, or we can choose to manage the change that's happening in Corvallis." The survey comes as Corvallis faces some of the most extensive layoffs residents have ever dealt with. "HP is downsizing and makes no bones about the fact that they're going to continue to downsize through 2008," Corwin said. "That's going to dramatically affect the economy of Corvallis. We lack diversity in our primary wage jobs and that needs to be addressed." But the real question is, what is that "change" going to look like? Some local business owners are concerned. "Will it end up being a meaningful government document or will it end up gathering dust on a shelf?" asks Bob Baird, owner of the Book Bin and also a member of the EVP's strategic planning committee. "Is this something that could keep us from going the route that many small cities have, full of McDonald's and Home Depots? We have a lot of small businesses and a thriving downtown core full of locally owned businesses. I don't want to see us becoming a generic place full of those stores that you can find anywhere. Because then, why would anyone want to come here?" The City Council has allocated $30,000 for the EVP to do this first phase of research. And in the 2020 Vision plan's section on economic vitality, the first thing you read is "Corvallis recognizes that its livability is a primary source of its economic vitality." The plan goes on to list a predominance of small, locally owned businesses, family wage jobs, a regional transportation system and improving the quality of water and air as top priorities. City Manager Jon Nelson said he expects the project will balance the different voices in the community in the same way that the 2020 Vision plan has. "In a community that loves to debate for the sake of debate, this [2020 Vision] plan has been very well accepted. People can see their piece in it, how they fit in." And while the survey and the action plan that comes out of it may become very important documents that guide Corvallis' economic growth, ultimately, they're just a part of the 2020 plan that also includes strengthening the city's center, culture, recreation, education, human services, government, civic involvement, the environment and much more. "This survey is a sliver of a much bigger pie," Nelson said.
The Dirt Something that has received very little attention is the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) study of the replacement options for the Van Buren Bridge, which spans the Willamette River between Linn and Benton counties. There have been rumblings here and there that ODOT has called together a committee of Corvallis citizens to examine the options, yet very little information is readily accessible. Perhaps it is that gag order placed on members of the citizen committee — an interesting policy for the examination of a public resource. Still, two of Corvallis' advisory boards have provided written comments to ODOT, favoring the option to maintain the bridge even if a modern bridge is constructed nearby. A similar process was carried out over a decade ago to look at options for this bridge, with the conclusion from that committee being that the community should keep the 1915 swing-span bridge, the oldest remaining in Oregon. The latest tidbit, uttered by an elected official, was that it appears the current committee is headed in this same direction, with the bridge slated for a new life as a pedestrian and bike concourse over the river. However, demolition remains number one on the list of options being considered.
For many, a visit to the Book Bin wasn't complete without a quick visit with Eloise, the resident cat, and many mourned her recent passing. Now a new cat has taken up residence. It took the staff at the Book Bin three rounds of voting before they finally named her Tess. The other top choices were Abbey and Madeline.
With the beginning of a new school year, the OSU neighborhoods are buzzing with new residents and activity. Except, that is, for the old Sigma Pi fraternity house on Monroe Street. The fraternity moved out of the house last year for new digs a few blocks away on Harrison Boulevard. Since then, the Georgian Revival style house, originally built in 1922 as a single-family home for OSU professor Frank Magruder and his family, has remained empty. The "For Sale" sign disappeared early this summer. Was it carried off to serve as a dorm room decoration, or has someone decided to breathe new life into this worn but glorious structure? Rumor has it that a well-known Northwest eatery is in the process of purchasing the property for conversion to another one of its popular restaurants and pubs. The house fits the profile of a property in which they might have an interest, and certainly this would be a prime location directly across the street from the OSU campus.
Shortly following three OLCC busts for allowing under-age drinkers into the bar, the Headline Café has closed its doors for good and rumor has it that the owner is taking an extended vacation in Africa. Well known by students as the place to go drink if you're not yet 21, Thursdays at the Headline Café were packed, with the crowd often spilling out onto the street.
The bar was also the site of the recent altercation between OSU football player Brent Bridges and Christopher Mattocks. As a side note, on Sept. 27 Bridges was convicted of two counts of fourth-degree assault and sentenced to 24 months supervised probation along with 100 hours of community service for punching Mattocks. So it's no surprise that Headline Café was on the OLCC's short list. According to OLCC Inspector/Investigator Mark Jaehnig, the bar was busted for failing to card a minor and for allowing alcohol to leave the bar on Nov. 18, 2004. Shepherd Family Inc., the owner listed in the OLCC's licensing paperwork, paid a reduced fine of $297. Just one month later, on Dec. 16, the bar owner was again ticketed for not carding a minor and also for allowing a minor to enter the bar. Those fines totaled $1,683. Then on June 3, 2005, shortly before the bar closed, the OLCC busted the Headline Café again for not carding a minor. This time the option was pay a $4,950 fine or face a 30-day license suspension. Looks like letting in the kids only helps out business for so long. The Dirt includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the Corvallis staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Melissa Bearns at 484-0519 or melissa@eugeneweekly.com
Rising
at Sunrise The bell above the door of the Sunrise Sourdough Bakery in Philomath chimes and another customer walks from the crisp chill of a sunny fall day into the 100-degree heat of the room. The young woman pauses, inhaling deeply, breathing in the sweet, yeasty smell of rising dough mixed with the aroma of the whole wheat, yellow potato and oat bread that's baking in one of the three wide black ovens.
All day long people drop in, the chiming of the bell marking their arrival — men in business suits, moms with kids in tow, young men in ripped jeans, old friends in town for just a few hours. They come for the crusty loaves of vegan, organic, sourdough bread that Bill Hotchkiss carefully lines up on a metal rack, the shelves filling up with different types of bread that he slides out of the ovens throughout the day. They come in the morning for the sticky, gooey whole wheat cinnamon rolls, loaded with sweet raisins, made with apple juice and brown sugar. Then they come back later for the pumpernickel rye with caraway seeds or the garlic onion bread. They come to warm up inside the sunny room where the walls are painted with bright yellows and splatters of red, decorated with intricate batiks and small tapestries. They stop by to check the black chalkboard on the wall with today's "menu," and to ask when the bread they want will be ready. And they come to hang out with Bill. After 17 years, he's a legend in this small town of just more than 4,000. He started the bakery with a partner back in 1988 but, "The bakery wasn't making money that first year and we had to decide who wanted to keep the business," Hotchkiss said. "And I definitely did." Fit and wiry, with a prickly gray stubble, Hotchkiss, 57, greets his customers by name as they walk through his door. He glides across the room to give a quick hug, then moves back to the tasks at hand: He walks briskly from the Hobart where the dough for yeast-free French bread with sunflowers is mixing, brushes yellow cornmeal off the wide, flat boards he uses to slide the bread in and out of the ovens, then walks over to the piles of dough he neatly measured just minutes before and shapes them into loaves. In the early '80s Hotchkiss was living in Massachusetts and delivering bread for the local bakery to shops in New York City. When a position as a baker opened up, he took it and learned to make bread. As the delivery guy, he says he liked having the hustle and bustle of the city, but then returning home to the quiet calm of his house in Massachusetts. That's how Sunrise is for him too. When the bakery is open, he's on. The rest of the time, he enjoys his solitude and describes himself as a recluse. "How was your camping trip?" asks Sarah Doggett, one of the many regulars. The bakery is only open on Thursdays and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm. On Tuesdays, Hotchkiss frequently heads up into the hills around Philomath and Corvallis, spreads his sleeping pad and bag out under the stars and spends the night. Doggett pulls out a county map and the two of them huddle over it, tracing the lines that mark obscure logging roads and out-of-the-way, wild places with their fingers.
Many people know Hotchkiss as the guy who commutes 5 miles from his house in Corvallis to the bakery on a unicycle, umbrella in one hand on rainy days, bouncing a basketball with the other. At one time you could buy his bread in most of the natural food stores in Eugene. For Hotchkiss, that meant working 50-60 hours a week. "I paid off my mortgage and said, 'I'm just not going to keep doing this anymore'," he explained. "I'd rather chase time than money. Because that's the only true freedom there really is." Now he delivers his bread by bike on Fridays and Mondays to both First Alternative Co-op locations in Corvallis. "He loves movement and balance," says Tom Sorenson, 28, an old friend who now lives in Bend but recently stopped in to visit Hotchkiss. "People talk about living a sustainable lifestyle, but it's people like Bill who are actually doing it." Hotchkiss takes summers off and uses the time to travel around on his bike. On the door of the bathroom in the back room of the bakery he has a map of the U.S., black lines crisscrossing the country, marking the routes of his trips. "Biking just gets in your bones," Hotchkiss says. "Kind of how movement gives you that glowy feeling, the endorphins. Once you have a few relationships with those … well, it's a great way to feel alive."
"Bill also loves to kayak," adds Tom's twin brother, Eric. "It goes back to the movement thing — he loves moving on anything powered by human means." These days, Hotchkiss is drawn more to the water than the roads. He dreams of closing up shop, buying a houseboat and paddling down the Mississippi River. "I've been chasing pavement for so long," he says. "I think it's time for some water adventures. It's scary to think that there might be a time when I don't do this. But I'm not sure how healthy it is to keep doing just one thing." He pauses, as though pondering the day when the Sunrise Sourdough Bakery will no longer be the focal point of his life, then looks up, his blue eyes sparkling and grins. "I definitely have to row a boat down the Mississippi."
So
Hoppy Together Beer without hops would be something like Kool-Aid without sugar: just plain bad. The art of hop cultivation, which has developed over hundreds of years, began with 10th century era home brewers. In those days, the most common brewers were monks, who brewed beer for their lodgers, and used the wild, often low-quality hops native to Bavaria.
Hop growing spread to England, where the plant mainly served as a preservative for beer on long voyages. India Pale Ale, a local favorite, was invented when English brewers added more hops and alcohol to their original ale in order to keep the brew fresh on the British voyages to and from India. Within the last 100 years hop cultivation spread to the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., specifically Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where the climate proved ideal for hop cultivation. Today Oregon is home to more than 15 growers, the majority of which are based in the Willamette Valley. Oregon is not only one of the major producers of hops but also home to one of the publicly funded hops research facilities in the nation — the USDA—ARS/OSU Hop Genetics and Breeding Program, located right here in Corvallis. As head of the facility, John Henning is concerned with breeding high-yield and disease resistant hops that add the unique flavor to your favorite beer. But before we get into the importance of the research Henning and his colleagues are doing, let's first explore the importance of hops in beer brewing and look at the qualities hop geneticists and growers look for when researching them. The hop plant (Humulus lupulus) is used primarily for the purpose of bittering in the brewing process. Without hops, beer would simply be a sweet alcoholic drink that tastes a little bit like oatmeal. Not too appetizing. A high concentration of alpha acids in hops is commonly what brewers look for when analyzing the quality of a certain hop plant. A high percentage of alphas mean that the brewer can use fewer hops in the process, thereby lowering their costs. Henning's predecessor as project leader of the facility, Dr. Al Haunold, threw much of his research effort into creating a hop plant that would yield this desirable high alpha acid concentration. Beginning with a standard hop variety and breeding it with other less extensively grown varieties, Haunold developed the Willamette, Nugget, and Cascade hop varieties — just to name a few. The Nugget variety of hops is extensively grown and used in the brewing process today. As if to reinforce this point, Dave Wills, owner of Oregon Trail Brewing, says he uses the Nugget variety of hops as the stock hop base for all of his microbrews. Also the creator of local hop outlet Freshops, a company that sells a wide variety of hops for homebrewing use, Wills says he often uses Cascade, Mount Hood, and Willamette varieties of hops in his brewing process for their bittering properties.
Haunold laid the foundation for hop research during his 30 years with the facility, and as current head of research, Henning is expanding on that foundation while making significant progress in the breeding and development of new hop varieties. Although Henning's team carries out research and development of high alpha varieties of hops, they are also making remarkable progress in another area of hop usage. While adding bitterness to the brew, hops also serve another function in the brewing process — they can add a distinct flavor and aroma to your beer. Henning is focusing much of his efforts on flavor and aroma types of hops in hopes of developing varieties that have a better yield and are more disease resistant than the current flavor and aroma hop plants on the market. "My primary research is the development of superior hop lines for the American grower," Henning says. "I like to say we're building a better beer for tomorrow." Henning, who confesses that he'd never seen a hop plant before taking his current position, says the research he and his colleagues do is groundbreaking, especially in terms of the detailed genetic approach they're taking to develop a hop plant that is both disease resistant and has a high yield. "We're determining what is related to what, and making sure the hop plant has genetically different parents so that the offspring that comes from them isn't inbred. That's never been done in the past," Henning says. Bet you didn't know there was so much science behind your favorite lager or stout. And although science probably isn't what's on your mind when you sit down to a cold pint, people like Henning, Wills, and the researchers at the USDA hops facility are working hard to make sure you have the best beer experience possible, one hop at a time.
Small
Batch Beer It's brewing day Oregon Trail and owner Dave Wills stands enshrouded in a cloud of steam, stirring a vat of malt with a ladle as long as he is tall. His assistant, Chris Haveman, keeps running up and down the stairs of the small brewery, checking on a bubbling pot of wort. And in between sterilizing everything from kegs to little metal fixtures, Ken Day, who apparently helps brew in exchange for free beer, periodically checks out back for the grain truck that's supposed to be bringing in 10,000 pounds of pale malt. The truck is four hours late.
It's just another normal day at Corvallis' locally owned and operated brewery. Walk into Squirrel's and you can sample the Oregon Trail wit on tap, one of the more popular brews. Better yet, just stop by the brewery for a taste of everything they've got on hand including the wit, kolsch, IPA, brown ale, ginger porter (if you're lucky) and their seasonals. Or stop in any day from 4-6 pm when you can get a whole pint for just $2. Wills started the brewery in 1987. Last year he brewed just 280 barrels, or about 8,680 gallons. His concoctions have won numerous awards including the People's Choice award at the Newport Microbrew Festival last October. And his brown won a silver medal in both 1994 and 1995 at the Great American Beer Festival. Originally from Minnesota, Wills, 49, started brewing his own beer after he followed his then girlfriend, now long-term partner, to England and says he discovered that "over there, there was no such thing as a microbrew. I started drinking all the good beer and I learned what good beer was." After he got back he moved to Eugene then up to Corvallis to finish his degree. He took a home-brewing class because Bass and Guiness weren't cutting it after his European tour and has been brewing ever since.
The
Black Poets Society In the Black Poets Society you can speak your mind. The society exists to promote self-expression that opens and engages the minds of others. When all the colors of the rainbow come together, they make black — and that's the essence of the group's philosophy. OSU Associate Professor Michael Ingram co-founded the now 15-person group in 1998. Today he acts as a role model and advisor and is also an active participant in the society. "As an organization, we try to maintain a socially active and aware presentation," said current society president Brian Dekker. One of the key parts of the group is friendship. Members often become close at meetings and are always at readings to cheer each other on. "I first got involved with poetry because of hip hop," said former society president Alex Johnson, "The Black Poets Society allowed me to bridge the gap between academics and spoken word." He met society co-founder Melvin Young when he first came to the campus and was inspired to keep the group going after most of the original members finished school. Now he serves as an advisor. "I help current members keep perspective on the history of the group and where they want to go with it," Johnson said. Anyone can join — all you need is an open mind, a desire to perform and an interest in poetry, any poetry. While slam poetry seems to be the preferred style of many of the members, at Sunnyside Up on Sept. 28, Black Poets big and small spoke, yelled and whispered lines. In front of a packed room, members read aloud as they shook with rage, leaned in close to the audience or stood, looking shy and frail, in front of the microphone. Members don't have to perform if they don't want to, but making it to meetings is important. Starting this year, new members will also have to participate in diversity awareness training. "One of the main purposes of the group is to develop cross-culture bridges," Dekker said. "It's not as racially diverse as it is ethnically diverse." Colin Wonnacott went to his first society meeting after a local poetry slam. "They went first, and said they were from the Black Poets Society," he explained. "I went up and mentioned that I wasn't a member and Brian shouted out 'You are now!' The first meeting I went to, I felt kind of intimidated, like I didn't belong. But everyone was so friendly." His own writing stems from listening to hip hop and he said the goals of the society haven't influenced his writing so much as reinforced it. "It's still writing and expressing opinion," he said, "It's just different in meter and sound." The society hosts at least two events per term at OSU, and members often read at events held by others. "On campus we get asked to do a lot of multi-cultural events," Dekker said. They're also considering competing in the next National Collegiate Poetry Slam. Off campus, members are often at venues that host open mic nights, poetry readings or benefits such as the relief effort for hurricane victims that happened at Sunnyside Up in September. Now is the best time to join if you're interested. "It feels like a renaissance we're riding right now," Johnson said. "It feels like a rise in membership and in community support." Contact the Black Poets by e-mailing blackpoets@oregonstate.edu
Take
the Stairs As the music begins, listeners do a double-take. Is that Zeppelin? A sort of "Rock on, kudos to the men who gave the world 'Stairway to Heaven'" ripples through the crowd. But wait…this is live, and it's pretty certain Zeppelin isn't touring these days…especially not in Corvallis. It can only be Corvallis' own Zeppelin tribute band, Stairway Denied.
These guys sound like the real thing. Though the band strongly emphasizes its desire not to be a carbon copy of the magnificent original (no dressing like the band, etc.), when vocalist Noah Stroup utters the first line of the night, the likeness gives you chills. Guitarists Brian Hunter and Dylan Nelson mimic the immortalized riffs of Jimmy Page to perfection. And rounding out the sound are bassist Dust Stallings of Jahbong fame and drummer Chris Harver who bring their own incredible talents to the mix. Stroup had wanted to start a Zep cover band for eons when he met the rest of the band through mutual friends. Three of the members (Stroup, Harver and Hunter) lived together and began the long search for a bass player. Once Stallings was on board, the only thing missing was that second guitar. Harver found him in a co-worker, and the work of building the stairway was complete. Though the group is still in its infancy, the band members are no strangers to the music scene. Harver and Stroup are also members of a well-established Corvallis band, Maryspeak. In fact, the only "band virgin" of the group is Nelson who, until drawn in by the power of Zep, was a casual player. Musical influences range from AC/DC (y'know, the band on Butt-head's shirt) to Huey Lewis (who tried to convince the world that it's "Hip to be Square") to Nirvana. Harver notes that due to a neighbor who was also a professional drummer, he listened to a lot of Carlos Santana. On the other side of the spectrum, Hunter is into death metal, which hopefully rounds things out a bit. In the seven months these boys have been together, not too many crazy things have happened. Mostly rowdy, drunken crowds abound, but that's not unusual anywhere in Corvallis. Harver does recall someone humping his leg as an expression of musical appreciation…well, to each his own. Create some crazy road stories for this incredibly talented group by catching their very first Portland show Oct. 29th at the Ash Street Saloon. Take a listen at www.stairwayDenied.com and keep an eye out – these boys are going places. Stairway Denied play 10 pm Nov. 19 at Bombs Away Café $5.
The
Free Range Chix Ladies, are you (be honest now) no longer a spring chicken? Do you look in the mirror and worry about those encroaching lines and creases around the eyes, those few extra pounds that have settled in, seemingly forever, like rude guests that refuse to leave no matter how bluntly you hint that they're not welcome? Do you worry sometimes that, well, you're just not the young woman you used to be? If so, the Free Range Chix have an important message for you: Get over it! Believe it or not, you're fabulous. If you want proof, just look at how well the Chix are doing. No spring chickens themselves, they're something much better: They're Chix, damn it. Chix with an X. Free Range Chix to be precise — four funny, spirited women who've put in their time at the family roost. Now, in middle age, they're planning to start having the time of their lives singing, dancing, and making audiences "laugh until they pee."
With songs like "I Feel Fifty," "Warrior Babe," "All Women Are Beautiful" and "Menopause," the Chix have been taking their mission of laughter and empowerment to mid-Valley audiences for more than three years. They've had sold-out shows at the Majestic Theatre in Corvallis and the Albany Civic Theater but they've also played conferences, fund-raisers and birthday parties — it doesn't matter to them. Wherever a woman needs empowerment or an audience needs to laugh, that's where you'll find the Chix — roaming where they please, proud and confident and humorously taking crap from no one. And men, if you think the Chix message isn't for you, guess again. The Chix are equal opportunity satirists, always willing to lampoon themselves, too. In one song just for men, coincidentally enough called "Song for Men," they generously reveal a female trade secret. Just as you've always suspected, you truly are damned if you do and damned if you don't. So you might as well laugh about it. In alphabetical order, the Chix are Nancy Beaudry, Barbara Case, Vicki Hannah Lein and Stephanie Long. Each woman brings a vastly different life experience to the group and the songwriting process. They met as cast members of Albany Civic Theater's 2002 production of Six Women with Brain Death, or Inquiring Minds Want to Know. That show turned out to be so much fun that once it was over, the women found it almost physically impossible to not continue with their music making. As they prepared for the release of their first CD, Free Range Chix - Unclogged, and an upcoming benefit performance for Hurricane Katrina victims, I was able to get the Chix to settle down for a brief question and answer session. WHC: I can't believe it's been, what, three years since Six Women with Brain Death. You started out because you enjoyed making music together too much to quit. So, what are your goals now? Chix: Entertain women. Have fun. We'd love to earn money, to be able to travel around and do our thing all over, but fun is definitely up there, equal to everything else. If we weren't having fun, we wouldn't do it. WHC: Entertain women. But you certainly don't mind if men like you too? Chix: Oh, no. Not at all! Men do like us because they either live with a woman, or they have in the past, so they can "get" our songs just as much as women do. A lot of couples come and nudge each other, "See! I told you so! I am not the only one!" We try to make sure that everyone who comes to a show goes away with a smile on their face. We have a lot of audience participation, and we're not above going into the audience if we have to get the audience going. You shouldn't come to a Chix show and expect to just sit there. WHC: Your show is very funny, but there are other shows out there — Menopause, the Musical for instance — that try to cover some of the ground you do. Have you thought of bottling the Chix and distributing it? Chix: Pat Kight (director of Six Women with Brain Death) has been wanting to help us put together a show, but if we did we'd want to perform it ourselves. We wouldn't be looking to franchise it. The Chix are too unique! (singing) "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby..." WHC: This is an amazing week for the group. Nancy is appearing in Albany Civic Theater's production of The Seven Year Itch, Stephanie is releasing a solo CD Stay in the Dream, Vickie is releasing a book, Step Into Your Greatness, the group is releasing Unclogged and you are performing in the Katrina benefit. You all stay very busy. With all the side projects going on, is there ever any fear that the group will suffer for it, that all that energy should have gone into the Free Range Chix? Chix: No, because a lot of it flows right back. A lot of the songs that Vicki wrote for one of her albums she decided worked better as songs for the Chix. And a couple of Stephanie's songs on her CD are now Chix songs, too. So even though it might be a side project, in a way, a lot of the energy does stay in the group. WHC: Thank you, ladies. Just one last question. What's the feather in your cap, the crowning glory where you say you can call it all good? Chix: (in unison) Oprah. (breaking into laughter). That's what we always say; once we're on Oprah, that's when we'll know that we've really made it. More information about Free Range Chix, including video and music clips and song lyrics, can be found online at www.freerangechix.net
Sweet
Home Harmonies The Brody Lowe Band, an interesting piece of the Corvallis music scene, released their long-awaited album this summer to the delight of friends and fans. The nine-track disk entitled Everyday Afterwards is a more serious work with themes ranging from family issues to semi-political and social commentary to everybody's favorite: love – requited or otherwise. Variety extends into the vocals as guitarist and singer/songwriter Brody Lowe shows off his ability to work the rock-y edge and softer stylings.
Everyday Afterwards is a combination of traditional BLB sounds fans will recognize and some newer elements picked up as the band grows and matures. One BLB staple, the sudden, mid-song style change, is present in several tracks such as the revamped "Laugh Out Loud." These sudden changes may seem uncomfortable at first, but keep listening for flashes of brilliance. Overall, the band maintains their Jack Johnson feel, but there are Sublime moments, possibly influenced by Lowe's recent side project, the Sublime-y Evelate. By far the most compelling and poetic track on the album is the haunting love song "Paper Cut from a Photograph." The simplicity and earnestness of the opening line is something rarely found in music today. It begins "If I only had one wish, it would be for you to come and wake me from my slumber as you crawl into my bed." What makes these words so wonderful is their very honesty, which provides the opportunity to express these kinds of sentiments without sounding schmoozy. But what makes the track phenomenal is the ending. Imagine groups who were masterful at layering harmonies like The Mamas and the Papas or The Beach Boys and you might get some idea of the beauty at this song's end. Lowe's talent clearly shows with harmony heaped upon harmony finishing out "Paper Cut" leaving the listener in awe. This talented foursome has been laying low for a while, but their star is on the rise. With the success of this album and the added support of radio play, expect great things. In the meantime, buy Everyday Afterwards at Tower Records or locally at Happy Trails in downtown Corvallis. And, as always, cds are available at every show. For tour dates, info and mp3's check out |
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