Clay Rose & Don Ambory of Gas Pops @ Black and Blues Music and Brews

423 North Cleveland Avenue,Loveland CO 80537

01 June, 2023

Description

Clay Rose - Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Storyteller Although his career as a band leader has only spanned a decade, Clay’s solo songwriting career began in 1997. He has written and released nine all-original albums to date. Clay Rose’s ability to tell stories that seamlessly cross genres from folk, to punk, to klezmer, to country, has won him an array of awards. These include: Best Music Video at the Mile High Horror Film Festival 2012, for “Don’t Be Afraid; It’s Only Death” by The Widow’s Bane, Gasoline Lollipops’ Best Country Band Award, by Westword Magazine 2015 and 2018, as well as Colorado Daily’s Best Local Band award for 2015, 2016, and 2017. Clay Rose was born to a draft-dodging pot farmer on the lam, and a country songwriter. What did these two have in common? They both did business with Willie Nelson. Clay’s mother, Donna Farar, wrote “Last Thing I Needed” which was recorded by Willie on his 1982, Always On My Mind. Clay’s father provided Willie with medicine throughout the 70’s until the law sent him skipping to Colorado from Arkansas on a midnight train. When Donna’s song hit number 1 on the Billboard charts, she moved to Tennessee to be closer to Nashville, and Clay began his disjointed childhood, straddled between the Rocky Mountains, and the backwoods of Tennessee. Don Ambory - Electirc Guitar Don Ambory began playing guitar seriously as a young boy. He grew up outside of Detroit playing a wide variety of music. Choosing to study jazz at the prestigious University of North Texas, Don had the privilege to study with world renowned music educators including Jack Petersen and Rich Matteson. While at NT and playing around Dallas, Don also wrote music for advertising and multimedia. Seeking a larger market, Don left Texas for Chicago and began playing regularly, immersing himself in the historic blues scene, playing with legend Lefty Dizz, among others. Soon Don fell deeply in love with Soul music; writing and recording with many notables including Dell Brown of The Chi-Lites. While spending nights in the Chicago clubs, Don spent days writing music for commercials and freelancing for many jingle houses. It was at this time that Don formed a love for country music, playing with Chicago legends The Sundowners. Over the next several years Don moved around the country, to New York, Atlanta and then back to Detroit where he finished his education at Wayne State University studying with Detroit legend Matt Michaels (Barbara Streisand, Peggy Lee, Joe Williams). Immersing himself further in music education, Don earned his masters degree from Northwestern University. Don continues to strive for musicality in everything he does, especially in his role as a member of Colorado’s Gasoline Lollipops.