Island-raised Caleb Klauder returns to Orcas with Foghorn String Band

Caleb Klauder, back on Orcas Island with Foghorn String Band, performing Friday, Aug. 21

Caleb Klauder’s fondest memories of growing up on Orcas are of clamming at Crescent Beach, swimming in Cascade Lake, going to the Grange to hear Dr. Dirty, roaming through Moran State Park, playing music at the Library Fair, and laughing, dancing and singing around backyard bonfires.

Now he travels the country and the world, playing traditional music with the Foghorn String Band, and says he hopes he never stops learning.

Klauder, on island this week for the performance of Foghorn String Band at the Odd Fellows Hall on Friday, Aug. 21, says, although he’s “dabbled” in other career choices in college, “as early as I can remember” he’s been totally involved in music-making. Starting with the harmonica, his dad’s trumpet and musical records, he was more often than not off by himself, jamming in a corner.

As soon as the school offered music, he was there, starting with learning to play the recorder in 5^th grade, and picking up the saxophone in middle school.

Meanwhile, he and his lifelong friend David Andrews “would be begging for drums and electric guitars.

“Our first band — that never formed — was named “Cats’ Eyes,” said Klauder, describing how he and Andrews instructed fellow would-be members David Windell and Ervin Richards to request musical instruments for Christmas presents. Andrews got his drum kit and Klauder his electric guitar, and Andrews’ mom Marilyn would fill in on piano and vocals, and the duo formed the basis of their band Calobo, named for Caleb and “Hobo,” David Andrews’ nickname.

During high school, both Klauder and Andrews’ went away to boarding school, but they’d got together, making up songs, every summer on Orcas, and performed at the Library Fairs. “We were just so passionate about it,” Klauder says.

Dave Zoeller taught Klauder basic guitar, though most of his training was by ear and in the school band. A roommate back at school taught him new chords. Calobo’s first recording was with a tape recorder on top of the piano, no microphone: “We desired it so much – we had to do something.”

His obsession with making music ran deep and was contagious. He tells of a time during study hall when his dorm supervisor busted him twice for playing guitar instead of hitting the books, but both times Klauder couldn’t resist going back to his guitar. The third time the supervisor came into the study hall, he brought his own guitar and joined Klauder.

At 18, Andrews and Klauder recorded two songs they’d written at a tiny studio in the University District in Seattle,

After high school graduation, Klauder and Andrews took a year off and moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, and spent most of their time songwriting and thinking about music. “David is really a prolific songwriter,” Klauder says.

The pair went to different colleges in Oregon, but added five other musicians to Calobo and toured the country for 7 months – this after Klauder failed a music class in college. “I was crushed. That was really bizarre, but I had little understanding – even of the blues, and that’s a basic form of music. I had all this learning, but I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Despite his academic “failure,” the seven members of Calobo were selling out thousand-seat venues, working with a manager and booking agent. “We learned a lot about touring when we were young and resilient, getting a guaranteed, writing a contract, promotion and publicizing,” Klauder says.

After two years, Klauder decided to “go for it – not so much stepping off the edge as cutting out all the other distractions.” He moved to Portland and attended Marylhurst College nearby, where he got straight As in music classes – piano, voice, ear training and music theory among others.

He also was thrilled to learn to play fiddle. “I never thought I’d have that option,” he said. “The fiddle turned me on to folk music for real.

“Folk music kicked me into a different gear – this music rang true. My voice projects in mountain music.” His love of traditional music was deepened when Radio Free Olga’s Bruce Harvie shared his mandolin with Jim and Eric Youngren, and through them to Klauder. “When Eric showed it to me, I thought, ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.’”

He joined a new band, Pig Iron, a “traditional, old-time band,” where he was amazed at the body of music known by many throughout the world. “That was another level, because I wasn’t writing the songs — it’s way bigger than any one person. There’s less a sense of ownership, more like taking a ride or putting my own stamp on it.”

Foghorn String Band was formed later, and though Klauder doesn’t take credit for starting the group, he says, “I had a lot to do with getting it off the ground.” He and the fiddler rehearsed four hours a day so the sound would be tight when they were joined by the other musicians in the band.

“That band took us around the world,” said Klauder. “I’ve been humbled by it – I still feel room to grow. I’m still learning, still having experiences that wake my interest.”

He’s branched out to form his own band, and is still a songwriter. He’s been through several band “crashes” and now wants to have his own career. “That way, it only falls apart when I quit. If the band quits, I’m still Caleb Klauder.”

He admits that being a musician is not very income-stable; although Klauder has interests in woodworking and architectural design, he describes his stint working at an architectural firm as “miserable.”

“The rewards of what I’m doing are huge – though I’m relatively broke,” Klauder says. He tells of traveling the world and throughout the United States (except Arkansas and Hawaii), and of having friends everywhere. But the greatest reward, he’ll say, is always making music: “It’s not my goal to be in front of thousands of people.”

This Friday, though Caleb Klauder and Foghorn are sure to be in front of  an enthusiastic hometown crowd to perform their traditional music of ballads and folksongs, and then “open it up for everyone to dance.”

Foghorn String Band will also play at Darvill’s “No Entry” venue outside the bookstore on Friday, Aug. 21 between 5 and 6 p.m.

The Odd Fellows Hall performance will begin later that evening at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, and the concert is sponsored by Radio Free Olga.