Flowmotion back to rock the region

Playing 190 shows in 2004 wasn’t enough to keep Flowmotion out of prison.

The Seattle-based band was behind bars just long enough to perform a set to inmates of Sacramento, Calif.’s Folsom State Prison, a venue made famous by a performance and live album from the late Johnny Cash. Seeing “guys literally in a cage” was intimidating, but surprisingly rewarding.

“As nervous as we were, and freaked out as we were, when we started playing, it all went away,” said Josh Clauson, the band’s lead singer/guitarist. “So many of the songs that we played made more sense there than they do at some of our bigger shows. We played funk, and they were losing it.”

The experimental rock band performs this weekend in slightly less hostile venues. Flowmotion plays a 9 p.m. show today at Mootsy’s, 406 W. Sprague Ave., with a $6 cover, and on Saturday is taking part in Moscow, Idaho’s Mardi Gras celebration, playing a 10 p.m. show at John’s Alley, 114 E. Sixth St. The cover for Mardi Gras events at participating Moscow bars is $10, but $7 if you’re only interested in seeing Flowmotion. Both shows are 21 and older.

Formed in 1999, the group’s first gig was in the San Juan Islands at The Bistro, where Clauson used to make pizza. Audiences responded well to the group of musicians, which was not yet named, and the weekend jam session turned into a regular gig. Clauson is the only musician remaining from the original group, which all but disbanded after he heard the jazz-tinged band Beecraft at a club in Seattle.

“As soon as they took the stage and started playing, my jaw hit the floor and my ass hit the chair,” Clauson said. “It’s kind of like cheating on your wife: You watch a band and start drooling. Sure enough it became a reality.”

Clauson joined Beecraft in 2003, and the group began performing as Flowcraft. As the focus of the music shifted, calling the group Flowmotion became more appropriate. The band’s lineup includes Jesse Kansanback on bass and vocals, Don Goodwin on keyboards and vocals, Bob Rees on drums and Scott Goodwin on drums and vocals. All band members also play percussion.

The band recently began working with start-up label C&D Music, a relationship Clauson calls “a position of helping each other.” Working with the label is providing Flowmotion the opportunity to record its new album in a studio, something of a landmark for the band that until now has recorded albums in a living room.

“We’re dusting off tapes we’ve been sitting on for nine months now,” Clauson said. “Everything is just a little bit stepped up. We know it’s growing.”