Oreo Blue

 

About, It is nearly impossible to sum up thirty years of Oreo Blue in one statement. However, one word comes to mind: Perseverance. In 1990, Brian Crowne had a vision to form a relevant blues-rooted band and he had the work ethic to drive the band through a multitude of personnel changes and musical market luctuations to reach that goal. Hailing from the industrial- manufacturing city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Brian had been influenced early on by The Blues Brothers following their hit movie in 1980. “I saw the Blues Brothers in the early 80s and the music really intrigued me and I liked the horns in the band,” Crowne says. He quickly took to the saxophone, learning to play, without any musical training. “I had to go back and teach myself how to read music. What I would do is read it and remember it and I had it memorized and faked my way into being in a big band.” Brian teamed up with local University of Arkansas African- American vocal music major, Billy Rigsby, schoolmate and bassist, Rod Williamson and guitarist friend, Bryan Martin. The mix of black and white players in the band formed a visual for what they believed to be the coming together of African-American blues rooted music and "blue-eyed" soul music that was being leveraged by white rock and blues bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and, of course, The Blues Brothers more specifically. The name of the band might have started as a tongue-and-cheek pun on the blended genre, but Oreo (like the cookie...black and white together) and Blue (like the color, but more so, the genre of the Blues) stuck together as Oreo Blue and helped summarize a racial harmony in music celebrating all contributions. Brian used his blue-collar instincts to quickly ramp up Oreo Blue into local clubs and parties getting fast mentions from regional music publications such as Nightflying and The Arkansas Traveler. The drum chair in the band was a bit of a revolving door with local drumming ..heroes, Darren Novotny and Chuck Platt often filling in when needed and that spot even included for a short stint, Doug Huffman, who was the touring drummer for the arena rock band, Boston. Singer, Jennifer Beaver, was added for a short time and ultimately, before the end of the second year, Billy Rigsby had left the band and a new direction was needed. It was around November of 1994 when the band took its most prolific direction with the addition of powerhouse vocalist, Chrissy Payton and otherworldly guitarist, Gary Hutchison. It was with this lineup and the solidification of the drum chair by Nashville session player, Mike Lovelady that saw Oreo Blue become a legitimate contender on the regional stage… if not further. The lineup of Brian Crowne (saxophone, guitar, vocals), Rod Williamson (bass), Chrissy Payton (vocals), Gary Hutchison (guitar, vocals) and Mike Lovelady (drums) was as strong as the region had seen top to bottom. For more visit on site: http://www.oreoblue.com/