Great Northwest Music Tour Brings Grassroots Country Band Cloverdayle to Oly Club in Centralia

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Chad and Rachel Hamar consider themselves to be 9 miles down a 10-mile road in their country music careers.

The married couple that performs under the band name “Cloverdayle” has been traveling the 10th mile of that road for about a decade now, they said. 

The road in 2013 took them away from the Pacific Northwest to Nashville, where they currently live. It brought them three studio albums, and it has also brought them bumps and bruises along the way.

The road brought Cloverdayle to the McMenamins Olympic Club in Centralia on Tuesday.

Mile marker 10 isn’t on the horizon, and nor do they wish it to be. The two songwriters and performers say they are more than content with the committed fanbase they have acquired over 12 years.

“We feel really fortunate because we’ve always just done this,” Rachel said. “It’s that slow and steady thing.”

Chad hails from Lake Oswego, Oregon, and Rachel from Bend, Oregon, so when they were asked to headline McMenamins’ 2020 Great Northwest Music Tour, it was a no-brainer.

“(McMenamins) actually reached out to us about it two years ago but the scheduling didn’t work out,” Chad said. “Finally, an opportunity opened up for a spring version of this tour, which we said was ideal.”

“We knew (our fans) would be surprised by it, like it would be something different than what we’ve done in the Northwest,” Chad added. “And sure enough they were. When we made the announcement that we were doing this full blown Mcmenamins tour, seven shows in eight days, they were thrilled.”

Their stop in Centralia will be their fifth show in eight days, with two more performances to go in Troutdale, Oregon, and Portland.

The two songwriters characterize Cloverdayle as grassroots country with a hint of soul. The elements of soul in Cloverdayle’s music are evident in their song “It Is What It Is,” which is  featured on the TV series “Heartland.”

Chad and Rachel are strong advocates of promoting their music in a personal way, but they also acknowledge they have flirted with stardom.



Cloverdayle has opened for the likes of country music superstars Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and Eric Church. They have received offers — which they turned down — to participate in NBC’s reality TV show “The Voice.”

Why did they turn down the latter opportunity?

“That’s great for a lot of people … but we like to own what we put out there. We’ve invested a lot of time, our fans have invested a lot of time, so we just want to keep that,” Chad said.

If fame is to ever come their way, Rachel says they want it to fit in with the steady trajectory they feel Cloverdayle has always been on.

“My dad used to tell us, ‘it’s like you guys are 9 miles down a 10-mile road,’” Chad said. “Which was his way of saying, ‘don’t give up, you guys are on to something.’”