Flowmotion

I hate to cast myself into the cesspool of writers who declare from mountaintops, barstools, or blog posts that any one band is “going to be the next big thing.” But I suppose it’s time I hop into the cesspool. Flowmotion will soon be a huge player on the live music scene. There I said it.

In the outfit’s eight-year career, it’s never played a single show on the East Coast and haven’t signed a record deal—but somehow Flowmotion are the host and headlining act of an annual summer music festival that is quickly becoming one of the Northwest’s premier multi-day music gatherings and has garnered some national attention.

Flowmotion has long been a hit in Seattle clubs and a mainstay on the Northwest touring circuit, but they’ve existed for nearly a decade as a roots music gem largely hidden within the dense evergreens of the region. This year the band’s Summer Meltdown festival drew about 3,000 revelers and sparked a spread in the national music magazine, Relix.

Like others who’ve had Flowmotion on their radar over the past decade, I’m surprised this success hasn’t come their way earlier. Flowmotion’s lead singer, guitarist, and all-around front man Josh Clauson takes a stab at explaining the band’s peculiarly gradual path to the spotlight.

“We’ve been such an independent organization, almost to a fault. We’ve been really careful about stretching ourselves too thin,” Clauson says over the phone from Seattle.

“I know a lot of bands who through the years have just jumped in the van and went to the East Coast. Usually the result is that they come home broke, pissed off and breaking up,” he says.

Flowmotion has never actually broken up, but Clauson is the only surviving member of the original lineup. In many respects, Josh Clauson is Flowmotion. Aside from serving as the lead singer, founder and author of much of the band’s material, he’s been the driving force behind the band, employing until quite recently a hardy do-it-yourself mentality to the band’s operation. Flowmotion has been his baby since his days living on a boat docked at San Juan Island in the late 1990s.

“I’m the reason Flowmotion still exists. It’s definitely a ship that I’ve been spearheading, but everyone has a say in it,” Clauson says.

This might lead some to see the red flags of rock star egomaniacal behavior rising above Clauson’s head, but Flowmotion’s percussionist Bob Rees says that’s hardly the case with the band’s patriarch.

“I’ve always felt like it really is his band. I really feel like it exists because he’s still in the band, but even then, he truly believes that we should all have some say,” Rees says.

Rees, as well as two other members of Flowmotion, were recruited by Clauson from their previous band, a Seattle-based (via Spokane) jazz fusion unit known as Bee Craft. Clauson says Bee Craft knocked him hard enough over the head the first time he saw them play that he immediately made some headway by jamming with the guys, calling the hybrid act “Flow Craft.” In the following few years, the entirety of Bee Craft would be enveloped into the Flowmotion lineup.

Flowmotion, like a host of other multi-genre bands, often fall victim to the “jam band” label, but the band prefers the phrase “world funk blender” to best describe its sound. This blender spits out tastes of Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies era guitar rock, African beats, jazz, bluegrass tastes—all flavored with liberal amounts of funk. Differing from your dread headed neighbor’s favorite jam band, Flowmotion pays attention to songwriting, which is clear on their latest studio effort, Is That Right.

“Right now in the music industry, as wacked out as it is, there’s still a strong desire for really good songs and I don’t think people get it very often,” Clauson says.

But you really can’t get a grasp on Flowmotion’s history without touching on the Summer Meltdown festival. The success of the Meltdown—the 2008 edition (eighth annual) is already tentatively set for August 7-10—is intriguing not only because of the number of bodies that pass through the gates, but more so in part because it’s made Flowmotion a regional success and given them an opportunity for national success without a heavy tour schedule.

At one point the band was playing nearly 200 shows a year, but have now scaled things down into the 80-90 range in recent years, a slim figure for a band marked by its live show and improvisational skills.

“We’ve taken it upon ourselves to host a festival so that we can do more than just play in our area – we’re trying to cultivate a scene and it’s helping us spread without touring,” Clauson says.

For many Northwest audiophiles, “Flowmotion” is synonymous with “that funky band that throws the Meltdown.” It’s a remarkable marketing plan and while maybe not a wise approach for every band, it’s been pretty damn effective for Flowmotion. And it seems like the “Meltdown” association is OK with the band and perhaps a reward of sorts for the labors they, along with friends and family, have personally put forth over the years to make Meltdown a success.

With an East Coast tour on the horizon, a new management and publicity team signed on, and more and more dance happy folks flocking to shows, it looks like the pieces are in place for Flowmotion to explode. And they damn well better or I’m going to look like a freakin’ idiot.

No pressure guys, no pressure. - The Source Weekly

The Buffalo. A dark, sweaty place that sold out online before the doors opened. Here in the Northwest, we all kind of know each other, so there were a lot of smiles and nods--it's a lot like New York that way, only out here, all roads lead to Flowmotion, and at this time of year that means the Meltdown.

Led by Josh Clauson, a nuanced guitarist and charismatic frontmand (a quintessential rock star), Flowmotion--Clauson, Zack Stewart (who compliments him with meticulously tight guitar and a great hat), Sabu Miyata (bass), Bob Rees (perussion, drums) and Scott Goodwin (drums, percussion, vocals)--play the kind of collaborative music live music lovers find so endlessly interesting. Together with their extended family, friends and fans, the band had built a homegrown music festival--the Summer Meltdown--into a premier event in the Northwest. The success of the event--not to mention its sheer existence--speaks volumes about how positive people create positive vibrations to achieve positive outcomes.

Imagine this: Early August. Looming, glacier-capped Whitehorse Mountain, fine weather, blue sky, friendly, familiar people. A sweet little river of mountain-born, ice-cold water runs through the trees below. Go ahead, walk down and cool your feet. Chat with a new friend. And there's music! The high-caliber of Northwest music is proudly on display with Bill Frisell, Skerik, Zilla and other national names rounding out the talent. Vince Herman's inimitable cry--"Festivaaaal!"--resounds across the valley.

Relix.com said about 2006's meltdown: "Flowmotion has been quietly toiling away, perfecting its songcraft and establishing solid cred as first-class festival operators. Summer Meltdown still has that elusive, undefined element, which has you feeling like you've come home to a family reunion with thousands of friendly strangers...with ample campsites shaded by old-growth cedars, easy access from points north and south and perfect warm days and cool nights."

Flowmotion may be a Northwest gem, but through constant live shows they have matured into stage veterans about to break onto the national scene...But back to the Buffalo. As an observer I sense (Flowmotion’s) confidence. The band had already played a killer rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” and renewed an old song with fresh energy-Clauson ripped into a wicked solo and just as it was reaching its limit, the band went double time for a triumphant finish. And what happened next was… Sabu went insane on his bass.

When Sabu began his late-night run, the band naturally began to chug underneath him, both leaving him the space and encouraging him to fill it. Sabu’s bass became a beast, and he beat it into submission. By the end of the jam, he was on his knees, a beatific smile on his face, winding up the neck and then gently back down. He wrangled that jam and then laid the reins at the feet of the band, and, and like it was rehearsed, they roused the song up for one final crescendo while the crowd whooped and hollered.

It was that elusive peak that people follow a band across the country to climb.

"It's very much a mutual experience," agrees Clauson. "That is what we consistently work toward; that's the muscle that's constantly being flexed. We get lost in the 'trying,' and when the crowd lets us know, we grab hold of what we're doing and ride it." - Relix Magazine

It's been about nine months since they last dropped into Bend, but Seattle's Flowmotion is returning once again for another high-energy, multi-genre rock and roll explosion.

It's been fun to watch Flowmotion grow over the past two-plus years of playing in Bend. A jam-packed show at the Annex in late 2007 (which was capped with a cover of Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same") led to a laser-lighted 4 Peaks preview show, which then brought them to the actual 4 Peaks main stage. At that performance, the band woke up the campgrounds, bringing the music fans to the stage early for an early afternoon performance that showcased how big the band's sound can spread when it has the room.

Fronted by the smooth yet strong vocals and guitar of Josh Clauson and further fueled by the lead guitar of RL Heyer, Flowmotion plays quintessentially honest rock and roll, but can get funky when needed. The band's new single, "How I Know" is a perfect example of the band's evolution from jam band to all-encompassing rock act.

Mike Bookey
The Source Weekly
Bend, OR - The Source Weekly

Flowmotion took off without a second's pause. This is primo melodic rock grounded in rhythms that draw from Latin rock and juke joint blues to create expansive, dexterous groove music with hair on its chest and a quick step. This Seattle band has garnered a large, fervent following in the Pacific Northwest (including their annual Summer Meltdown Festival), and there's gleeful rock gusto to what they do, they seem ripe for wider discovery.

On some surface level, I can see Phish lovers falling for Flowmotion, though lead singer-guitarist Josh Clauson is a stronger, more passionate singer than anyone in that famous quartet. This set ebbed and flowed from balls-out chargers to quite tender ballads, different sections showing Southern rock, Pink Floyd and other classic FM radio influences given a morphing, graceful turn of their own. High energy, charismatic performers and excellent, limber musicians, Flowmotion deserve an audience well beyond Washington State. - Jambase.com

In the days following the ninth installment of Summer Meltdown Festival I have twice dreamed myself back to Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater. This is a first for me in all my years of fest attendance but something about this experience, even for a first time attendee like myself, spoke powerfully to my subconscious, transporting me back to the snow covered peaks and lush forests ringing the Main Stage or once again happily jostled like a roiling water molecule inside the late night tent (or "Boogie Dome" in veteran's vernacular). In most fundamental ways, this is a perfect festival, striking to the heart of the gypsy soul that makes one set up a temporary home away from home, finding kinship, kindness and carefree jubilation amongst folks who were once strangers but by fest's end have joined one's extended family.

And while the lineup isn't household names, from hosts/curators Flowmotion on through, the level of musicianship and raw talent held its own against anything out there, and perhaps resonated more because so many acts proved such a happy surprise. The anticipation of the known has its own value but there's no replacing the ontological smack of coming face-to-face with an amazing unknown quantity that rocks your world – something that happened repeatedly every day of the Meltdown. Like kindred spirit Las Tortugas – Dance of the Dead, Summer Meltdown is a celebration of great players and perseverance, a stupendous harnessing of wondrous music unleashed with the wholehearted goal of delighting one and all.

Flowmotion :: 9:00 p.m. - 10:30 a.m. :: Main Stage :: Thursday

the main attraction on Thursday was Flowmotion's first bite at the apple before their Saturday night, first-ever two set headlining performance. While clearly beloved by the 3,000-plus crowd, the band is much less known outside the Pacific Northwest and Seattle in particular. That's a goddamn shame because these guys are possessed of such undisguised beauty, muscular musicality and "holy crap, they're good" chops, all in service of material that anxiously reaches out and seizes you with sureness. They are a rock band in the open-minded mold of the 1970s, able to synthesize distinctly funky, jazzy elements into a tough whole. Listening side stage much of the set, watching them closely as they plied their trade with broad, mischievous grins, I was reminded of my childhood days listening to AM radio, where Al Green sat comfortably next to Steely Dan, Charlie Rich, Hall & Oates, Springsteen and Bob Marley – all inflections of broadminded groove, thoughtfully textured and possessed of a craftsmanship and intelligence almost entirely absent from today's mainstream.

Their music seems designed for the long haul, both in its construction and lightly philosophical character. It's easy to imagine singing "Please Don't Forget" or many others in the shower, a tuneful splash that wakes us up to the moment at hand instead of leaving us lost in our mistakes and miscues. While I'd enjoyed the few times I'd seen them before, this exhibition on a huge stage in front of their core audience was stunning, a revelation of a band simply MUCH greater than one realizes in hour-long opening slots for out-of-towners. That they've literally built this stage, this opportunity, for themselves speaks to their dedication and vision. While they remind me in spots of two of my personal faves - The Black Crowes and Marillion - this band hums on their own frequency, easy to like but layered in such a rewarding way.

Opener "How I Know" was the ideal slow boil, a twinkling, contemplative tune that makes one look up at the stars and sigh a little. Later, "Mind Cell" proved a steady blossoming classic, so lovely and intrinsically strong that it cemented in one fell swoop my move from being an enthusiast to being a full-blown fan, especially as guest John Fricke's trumpet entered late in the game shifting things into loose Latinismo. "A Thousand Little Things" showed guitarist/singer RL Heyer to be kin to vintage Dickey Betts in his delivery, while "Future's Following The Sun," written by percussionist/keyboardist Bob Rees was a luscious simmer full of twists and inflection I can see Phish diehards getting down to in a big way. Ending the night with the largely untapped cover resource of Elton John's "Take Me To The Pilot," Flowmotion closed out their opening salvo on a fab gospel-rock note.

Flowmotion :: 9:15 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. :: Main Stage :: Saturday

Despite putting this shindig together, Flowmotion had never given themselves two sets at their main Saturday performance before. Given the rich rainbow of flavors they presented one hopes they never have this oversight again. Beginning with a light Latin feel, Rees on seriously ripping triangle behind the twin guitars of Heyer and co-frontman/guitarist/founder Josh Clauson, one of those everything-in-the-right place musicians that reeks talent, charm and enormous stage presence, Flowmotion set out on one of those double headers that feels like a real journey, where one travels while standing still, a story unfolding in real time that involves every listener in a bold way. The first set leaned heavily on propulsive grooves including a blasting, hard rock reinterpretation of The Meters' "Give What You Can" and an as-good-or-better-than cover of Wilco's "Walken" that bloomed into gnarly, unexplored territory. New cut "Without Warning" had the metallic bop of Living Colour's "Love Rears Its Ugly Head," while set closing "Don's Funk" > "Pleasure Opp" featured Earl Klugh's saxophonist Lenny Price (who showed up a lot in cameos all weekend) and Seattle's keyboard whiz Joe Doria on Hammond organ. That they made room for more delicate, country-leaning fare with Tony Furtado (who unfurled some of the Bach in his soul during a brief, sighing intro) only shows their broad range. As good as Thursday had been, they seemed determined to spill some blood on stage, let something of themselves seep into the wood and us, and by the end of the first round many of us, myself included, felt nicely tenderized.

Second set opened with "Ghost Pepper," another number I think Phishheads would delight at, especially with a saucy percussion break from Rees and trap drummer Scott Goodwin and more intertwined Allmans-worthy guitar play and organ stings. Clauson and Heyer share something akin to the six-string chemistry one finds in The Mother Hips, a language of their own making where each shines VERY brightly on their own but really burn hottest when finishing each other's sentences. Ballads, reverb-laced, laser sharp funkathons and soaring rockers – the second set had it all, including a glorious take on Supertramp's "Take The Long Way Home" that they nailed right down to the angelic end section harmonies. In the end this was about as good as ANY headline set I've ever seen anywhere, tying together place and moment and people. Flowmotion is an undiscovered country that one needs to explore in depth.
- Jambase.com

The five-piece Flowmotion delivers enticing grooves and rhythms guaranteed to keep any audience in motion. The band’s instrumental work sparkles with originality and flows with precision and purpose. Flowmotion blends funk, rock, jazz and more with intoxicating African and Latin rhythms and emerges with a warm sound. Originally formed in October, 1999, the band now averages about 180 shows a year. It has opened for national acts such as Widespread Panic but should soon be headlining in its own right. Like many other grassroots bands, it hosts an annual festival, “The Flowmotion Summer Meltdown,” in which other up-and-coming Northwest acts are also featured. To date, Flowmotion has released two CDs. The latest, Know By Now, is a finely-crafted effort with a dozen diverse cuts woven together with recurring thematic elements. “Drop In the Flow” and “Tasty” (both over 11 minutes) highlight the band’s instrumental prowess, while the title cut and the melodic “Mountain Grove” show that they can write and sing great songs. It’s been a long while since I’ve played a new disc so many times in such a short space of time.


- Relix Magazine

6th Annual Flowmotion Summer Meltdown
Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater, Darrington, WA, August 10-13, 2006


We at Relix get some pretty sweet perks of the job—year-round festival attendance, super-secret special shows, bunches of new music, hobnobbing with musicians—and while that may sound like the sweetest job on Earth, it sometimes wears you down. (Just ask Mike Greenhaus, our intrepid pod-casting Staff Editor, who racked up close to 40,000 miles in flights in a three-month period.) So when we get the chance to unwind and take a break, we do, often at a festival we like to keep on the QT, which is why we jumped at the chance to visit our buddies from Flowmotion (Seattle, Wash.,) at the 6th installment of their homegrown Northwest festival, “Summer Meltdown,” in the shadow of White Horse Mountain, just north of Seattle.

Building on the strong support of their loyal fan base in the Northwest and all parts West, Flowmotion has been quietly toiling away, perfecting its song craft and establishing solid cred as first-class festival operators. Summer Meltdown still has that elusive, undefined element, which has you feeling like you’ve come home to a family reunion with 5,000 friendly strangers. This year’s venue was the Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater in Darrington, WA., a step up in scale and quality from last year, and with ample campsites shaded by old growth cedars, easy access from points north and south and perfect warm days and cool nights. Next year you may have to bring a Washington resident with you to provide bona fides.

The lineup featured a heavy roster of NW talent. There are booming music scenes in Seattle, Portland and Eugene, which is not to say that others weren’t invited to the party: Skerik, Bill Frisell, Vince Herman, Zilla and Ursula 1000 all put in a showing, broadening the variety of musical styles on offer over the fours days. Thursday night provided early comers with a special fan appreciation night; a bonus set of shows in a state-of-the-art cantilever tent, with warm-up performances from the hosts as well as a late-night Zilla set were the perfect aperitif for the weekend.


Friday dawned bright and warm, an early-morning dip in a frigid mountain stream backstage being the perfect way to shock yourself awake. A couple of standout performances during the day from TapHabit, DJ Postal and Panda Conspiracy were a prelude to a solid, funked-up, stripped-down and kicking set from the diminutive talents of Vicci Martinez out of Tacoma, WA. Whether banging out percussive acoustic melodies, or strapping on a djembe, this barefooted dervish had the crowd whipped up to a storm. The ambient jazz guitar of Bill Frisell and guests came next, a change of pace that was perhaps unwelcome by some after the manic energy of Martinez. Frisell is a legend by any measure and his original compositions led the crowd on a merry auditory trip, jazzed versions of Lucinda Williams tunes being a nice little touch. The March Fourth Marching Band closed the main stage with infectious stage antics and 35-plus members rollicking through an Afrobeat infused percussion marathon. Late-night action centered around the Boogie Dome with DJ’s spinning through the night, including an astounding set from KJ Sawka, performing a live drum and bass set without any loops or samples. Nice!


With Flowmotion set to take the main stage for the Saturday night show closer, the rest of the day allowed Eleven Eyes’ reggae-funked hip hop, the Mob Law’s dirty LA punk/Seattle funk and Aphrodesia’s horn-forward rhythms to get the growing crowds moving to the beat of many drums. Critters Buggin Trio took the stage before the headliners with a reprise of the Frisell sound from Saturday night, a goosed, free-form jazz extravaganza. Skerik was in full form, wringing the most from sax and keys backed by Brad Houser and the mania that is Mike Dillon in full flight—those xylophones won’t ever be the same again.


By the time Flowmotion hit the stage some 4000 fans were crammed in front of the stage and set upon the shallow steps of the amphitheater under a full moon. To see these guys put on a solid, three-hour, hard-jamming set without a single set break after having organized and built a festival literally with their bare hands should be a lesson to all aspiring organizers and bands alike. Flowmotion put their all into it, and this party is as much a celebration as a thank-you to their fans, and they didn’t disappoint. Moving through three hours of material from their independent releases from the last ten years, Josh Clauson, lead/vocals, had ample opportunity to open up his trademark jamming licks, running through “Mtn Grove”, with Vince Herman on mandolin, the up tempo “Nu Bee”, with Brad Houser, the fan favorite “Gather Light”, a raucous cover of “Want A New Drug”, a soulful “Soukous” featuring Mike Dillon's percussive madness and the all-star final jam of the powerful “Gots Mine”, which left the crowd calling for more.


Summer Meltdown is here to stay, an annual reunion of those in the know, and we’ve already picked out our spot under the cedars for next year. So if you’re gunna make the trip out, just don’t tell them we sent you. - Relix Magazine