Save Mount Diablo’s all-volunteer band, Blue-Eyed Grass, has just released their new album containing mostly original songs about nature and conservation.
Of the 11 songs on the album, which is entitled “Blue-Eyed Grass” after the band’s name, nine are original and two are cover songs the Grateful Dead played, one of which has an environmental message.
There are five members in the Blue-Eyed Grass band: Ted Clement, Save Mount Diablo’s Executive Director, on guitar and vocals; John Gallagher, who serves on Save Mount Diablo’s Board of Directors, on dobro and vocals; Bob Loomis on ukulele, harmonica, flute, and vocals; Dave Schneider on bass and vocals; and Rich Silveira on drums (made out of a recycled suitcase!) and vocals. All are supporters and volunteers of Save Mount Diablo.
“I’m really grateful to be able to play with John, Dave, Bob and Rich,” Clement says. “They’re really talented musicians. Bob, John and Rich have been in the music scene for years. Dave played in a band that opened up for Creedence Clearwater Revival. Dave’s band was really big in Concord back in the day.”
“We got to do that when I was a kid,” Schneider elaborates. “We won the California Amateur Battle of the Bands, and the reward was for the winners of those battles to open up for Credence Clearwater. They had just come out with a new song called ‘Susie Q.’ For me as a kid, that was the highlight. It got me hooked on music so bad that I haven’t been able to shake it in 70 years.”
Blue-Eyed Grass’s original songs on the new album cover various topics: loving Mount Diablo, protecting land, appreciating native flora and fauna like the Mount Diablo globe lily, honoring the Mount Diablo Beacon, hiking in the Diablo area, dealing with the climate crisis, addressing invasive species, and being a kid in nature.
The band threw an album release party at Luigi’s Deli downtown Martinez on December 21 and played to a full house. Those who made a donation of any size to Save Mount Diablo received a free CD.
“We thought it would be a nice holiday gift for nature lovers, and music lovers.” Clement said. They sold a lot of CDs that day. Clement says if demand requires it, they will order more CDs.
However, who buys CDs anymore? Everybody is streaming through Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and others. Fortunately, even by listening on streaming services, Save Mount Diablo will receive royalties for each time a track is played. To listen to the new album, visit any of the major online music platforms. You can start listening now by scanning the QR code, then listen and like each song.
The band will be grateful if you enter your likes for all their new songs you enjoy, thus spreading love for Mount Diablo and its Diablo Range, our incredible natural world and for the band and its music that is delivering a positive message about nature and conservation.
“By liking and subscribing, the streaming services will keep track each time a song is selected, and royalties will enter into an account that will go directly to save Mount Diablo,” Schneider explains.
The band worked with recording engineer Bob Byers, of Clayton, on recording the album. Music and events artist, Edward Sortwell Clement, III, Ted’s son, created the art for the band’s new album cover.
“Our music is a mix of blues, folk, country, rock, bluegrass. It’s real classic Americana music, and we’re real proud of it,” Clement says.