Chinook Blues

Alice Di Micele is a singer and songwriter with 16 albums whose brand of Organic Acoustic Groove has delighted audiences over the last 35 years. The song Chinook Blues was originally released in 1996 on her album Demons & Angels and is a playful exploration of the plight of the salmon. Her audiences often sing along with the chorus during Di Micele’s live shows. “I’m a wild Chinook salmon, ain’t no hatchery child.”

This version was recorded live in the studio with her band during recording sessions for her 2011 album Lucky Dogs and features Damian Erskine on bass, Russ Kleiner on drums, The Applegate Horns (Mikey Stevens on trumpet and Duke Davis on tenor saxophone), Jeff Pevar on electric guitar, and Di Micele on acoustic guitar and vocals. The track was produced by Rob Seifert Gage (The Eels, Mike Watt.) Unreleased until now, this version is a fun, funky, upbeat, bluesy number with an important message to boot!

Alice explains: “I stand in support of the Klamath River Tribes and their efforts to remove the dams on the river as well as the Winnemum Wintu people working to return their ancestral salmon into the McLoud River near Mt. Shasta. The salmon and the people of the Pacific Northwest are linked. Indigenous folks are salmon people and the fate of the salmon is linked to the survival of their cultures. Farther north in the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea the fate of the Orca (aka killer whale) is dependent on the fate of the salmon which is their main food source. Pacific Northwest First Nations people are calling for removal of the dams on the Snake River. I will do what I can to support the people and beings whom have lived on these lands and in these waters for thousands of years.”

Thanks for sharing this and helping to spread awareness about the plight of Pacific Northwest peoples, Orcas, and salmon. We are all connected!