Calobo

Calobo, a Portland, Oregon outfit, first took shape in the early 1990s. Its founders, longtime friends Caleb Klauder and David "Hobo" Andrews, began writing and performing on Orcas Island, Washington. Acoustic guitar anchored their sound, though Klauder also reached for mandolin at times. The group soon expanded with Jenny Conlee on piano, Kenneth Erlick on electric guitar, Michelle Van Kleef handling vocals, Nate Query on bass, and Brian Bucolo on drums. Folk elements fused with extended, exploratory passages in the vein of jam-band pioneers the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers, allowing the sextet to cultivate a large, devoted following across the Pacific Northwest. Mid-decade the independent Padre label signed the band, which proceeded to issue five albums: a self-titled debut in 1995, Stomp in 1997, Running in the River and Ya Dum Di Dum in 1998, and Live at the Crystal Ballroom that same year.