Bivalve, a brief bio
Bivalve is a movable feast.
Jim Stewart – Not your typical jukebox. Jim
has been performing live since the Cherub Choir did a
Christmas concert on TV in Buffalo, New York in 1957.
After escaping the piano and hours of practice, he took
up guitar in 1962. He claims it was because of the singing cowboy who did the Saturday morning cartoon
show. Really, it was because he knew he had to play,
might as well get off like a rocket during those hours of
practice, and the guitar offered a quicker, more portable
way to write songs. After learning three chords, he
wrote his first song, something about the Revolutionary
War, rhyming “red tide” with “died,” and “brown
trousers” with “severe howitzers.” No apologies. He
says a lot of great tunes still only have three chords. “It’s what you do with them. Heck, I’m working on one right
now with four, and I might throw a minor seventh in
there just to freak people out.”
Jim has dragged himself around North America
playing music, opening for acts that most people have
actually heard of. Life goes on. He’s having more fun
than ever playing with Bivalve. He says: “This is the gig
I was born for.”
Craig Abrahamson – A stellar
combination of creative energy, rhythm, and musicianship.
It started with a drum, a toy drum. Talk about
throwin’ a fit. Craig had to have it! And nothing for that
9th birthday made him happier. As a kid, Craig sang in
his dad’s church choir and took the usual two or three
piano lessons, but the drums had taken hold. Classical
music was his first love. (You know those drums in
Beethoven’s Ninth and Prokofieff’s “Peter and the
Wolf”?) Then, there came a fateful Sunday night back in
‘63 when a short Englishman sat behind a drum set. His
name was Ringo. Rock and Roll happened. Craig rolled
and rocked through high school and college, from LA to
Leningrad, from BC to New Orleans. “Music is one of
life’s greatest pursuits. Where would we be without
music in our lives and loves? It’s all vibrations!”
Craig was one of the original California Raisin voices and he still plays tympani with the North Coast Symphonic Band. He says: “But playing music with Jim in Bivalve is quite possibly the most musically expressive, and fun thing I’ve ever done. I kid thee not! It’s the real deal.”
Other Stuff- Bivalve’s mutual admiration society quote: “We make each other laugh. When all is said and done, that’s basically it. We love to create steaming piles of art and share them with people. The musicianship is consistently impeccable.
What more can two beach kids ask for? It’s as loose as dry sand. It’s as tight as high tide. If we’re having too much fun, why stop?”
For the last several years, Jim and Craig have played in and around Portland. A lot of their gigs lately have been at the North Coast, where they have a very loyal following. Why are they resurrecting the ridiculous notion of playing more gigs?
Well, for one thing, they are absolutely, certifiably, nuts. For another, it’s just too good to not present it to as many people as possible. They want to make a difference, something the day-to-day blue-collar-corporate-kiss-ass grind just doesn’t get.
They make people happy, make them feel, make them want to get up and move, and think about something other than the next problem that needs solving. It’s a calling that they both want to answer. Life is not all about greed and who’s got what and
who’s cool and who’s not cool. It’s about connecting with other humans, dogs, cats, goldfish, marsupials, chickadees and, yes, bivalves, to establish mutual respect and affection. For Bivalve, music is the best way to contribute. It works. It is strippeddown,
lean, and powerful. You can feel it rattle your ribs and you can feel it bring a lump to your throat. It’s music. It’s life.
Okay, okay, enough. It’s fun. That’s what it is.
In this world, that’s a Very Good Thing.