Sean C. Morgan
Cloverdayle is starting to make a habit out of Sweet Home, as the group returns to the area this week just ahead of another appearance at the Oregon Jamboree.
Cloverdayle first came to Sweet Home and performed at the Oregon Jamboree in 2009. Last year, the band donated a show to the Sweet Home Auditorium Remodel Committee’s effort to raise funds to repair and improve the high school auditorium.
Cloverdayle is a independent Nashville-based husband-and-wife songwriting team hailing originally from the Portland area. Chad and Rachel Hamar formed Cloverdayle in 2008 after meeting while studying music in college.
With a new album, “Off the Grid,” just out, Cloverdayle opens for Jana Kramer, a “One Tree Hill” actress turned country singer, at the Linn County Fair Friday night. Cloverdayle performs at 7 p.m. and Kramer performs at 8:30 p.m. The show is free with fair admission. Reserved seating is $25, including fair admission. They’ll open for Kramer again at the Tillamook County Fair.
They’ll stick around the area and play an acoustic dinner concert at Mallard Creek Golf Course, 31966 Bellinger Scale Road, on July 22. Dinner runs from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Cloverdayle plays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., and anyone with a ticket has the option to play 18 holes of golf with a cart the day of the show.
Tickets are available at eventbrite.com. Call Mallard Creek at (541) 259-4653.
Sarah Shamek, who works at Mallard Creek and is married to incoming Jamboree festival director Robert Shamek, reached out to Cloverdayle last year to put the show together.
Cloverdayle opens the Jamboree country music and camping festival at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1. Big and Rich headlines that day. On Friday, July 31, Cloverdayle plays the Spirit Mountain Stage in Sankey Park at 6 p.m.
They’re looking forward to seeing Sweet Home again, Chad and Rachel said.
“It’s such a cool community, especially after experiencing that benefit concert,” Chad said.
“It seems like it’s got that classic small-town feel, where people are interested in being community members,” Rachel said. “We’re just excited to come hang out and meet people.”
Rachel is originally from Bend and Chad from the Portland area. They met at Clackamas Community College.
“We started the music thing right away,” Chad said. A dedicated drummer, Chad originally used his guitar as a songwriting tool.
They played singer/songwriter-style music in coffee shops early on, drawing from a wide variety of influences.
“We really just love music,” Rachel said.
Bobbie Gentry caught Chad’s interest early. He enjoyed the gritty, bluesy and soulful sounds, and thanks to influence from his father, his taste ran from the Everly Brothers to ZZ Top, Van Halen and AC/DC.
Rachel’s parents enjoyed James Taylor, Chicago, the Beach Boys and Carole King, and that shaped her interest in music. King’s “Tapestry” is among her all-time favorite records and what she believes a record should be. She’s also enjoyed more soulful R&B music, like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
After playing energetic live shows, including their first appearance at the Jamboree, in 2010 Cloverdayle teamed up with songwriter and producer Terry McBride, “Play Something Country” and “If You see Him, If You See Her,” and Dwain Rowe, longtime band leader for Brooks and Dunn, to record the four-song “Young and Reckless.”
In spring 2012, Cloverdayle began work on its first full-length album, “Nine Miles Down a 10-Mile Road.” The debut single, “Like We Were Kids Again,” featured Jason Aldean’s band. The Hamars moved to Nashville in 2014 and spent the past year writing and recording, releasing a five-song EP, “Worth the Fight,” last year and, working with a Kickstarter campaign and producer Steve Sundholm, a second full-length album, “Off the Grid,” on May 19.
“It was very important to us to push ourselves as writers,” Rachel said.
“It covers a lot of aspects of the human condition,” Chad said. The album moves through a lot of different territory. “You can’t define the record by one song.”
The duo polled fans to find out their favorite songs, Rachel said.
“It really was all over the board,” Chad said, and that reflected the variety in the record.
The winning song was “Drink, Drink, Drink,” a tune they wrote after the move to Nashville, a time of high stress. It might be easy to lump it in with other party songs, but it reflects the uncertainty they faced as they made the transition to Nashville and other parts of their lives.
“We’re very proud of everything we’ve done,” Rachel said. Each EP and album was a step to get Cloverdayle to “Off the Grid,” the album that best defines them. They credit Sundholm for helping make that happen.
“This one, he instantaneously got the vision where we wanted the record to go,” Rachel said. “I feel like it’s really authentically us.”
For more information, visit cloverdayle.com. Cloverdayle’s music is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and other sites.