B I O G R A P H Y
First live performance, age 10.
Olem began playing guitar at around age nine. After studying blues with James Thornbury (a Eugene blues guitarist/vocalist who later joined and became front man of the famous blues band Canned Heat) for a year at age ten, he played his first live performance at a local Eugene restaurant and was hooked. He continued to take guitar lessons throughout his younger years and was a regular at Rooster’s blues jam in Eugene honing his guitar skills weekly with local blues legends.
As Olem began to grow musically he started studying jazz at the University of Oregon. After a few years of jazz training he became a regular fixture at the old Jo Federigo's Jazz Jam (named one of the top 10 jazz clubs in the U.S.) and performed regularly with the house band where one night they played an entire set with famed trumpeter Roy Hargrove who happened to drop by after a gig with Herbie Hancock he had in town. He soon formed his own blues/funk group, the Olem Alves Band (later named Inner Limits) making its debut in 1996 on the main stage at the Oregon Country Fair. They put out their first Album entitled “Make It Right" in 2001 and continued performing at local and regional festivals such as The Willamette Valley Folk Festival, Art and the Vineyard, Tayberry Jam, Corvallis Fall Festival, Black Sheep festival, again on the Oregon Country Fair main stage in 2011 and other festivals.
As Olem began to grow musically he started studying jazz at the University of Oregon. After a few years of jazz training he became a regular fixture at the old Jo Federigo's Jazz Jam (named one of the top 10 jazz clubs in the U.S.) and performed regularly with the house band where one night they played an entire set with famed trumpeter Roy Hargrove who happened to drop by after a gig with Herbie Hancock he had in town. He soon formed his own blues/funk group, the Olem Alves Band (later named Inner Limits) making its debut in 1996 on the main stage at the Oregon Country Fair. They put out their first Album entitled “Make It Right" in 2001 and continued performing at local and regional festivals such as The Willamette Valley Folk Festival, Art and the Vineyard, Tayberry Jam, Corvallis Fall Festival, Black Sheep festival, again on the Oregon Country Fair main stage in 2011 and other festivals.
Olem has performed at many clubs and music venues such as the old Wild Duck Music Hall in Eugene, the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, the McDonald Theatre in Eugene (opening for Maceo Parker and releasing a live album from this concert), Sam Bonds Garage, the Jazz Station (where in 2013 he was asked to be in the house band which performed a night of music with Louis Bonilla, the famed NY trombonist). Craving more jazz training, in 2011 he entered graduate school at the University of Oregon School of Music. In 2012, while at the U of O and a member of the Oregon Jazz Ensemble, Olem performed with Saxophonist Seamus Blake and NY trumpeter Ingrid Jensen.
In 2013 he received his Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon and just recently released his first straight ahead jazz album entitled “Standards” with bassist Tyler Abbott (instructor of bass at the University of Oregon and Willamette University) and drummer Ryan Biesack (drum instructor at Oregon State University and Willamette University). Olem is currently on faculty at Lane Community College and Linn-Benton Community College as a guitar instructor and continues to perform both locally and regionally as a solo performer and with groups both big and small.
He resides in Eugene with his wife, 3 children and 1 fat cat. In addition to performing as a solo guitarist or with various groups, Olem's biggest joy is playing music with his kids.
In 2013 he received his Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Oregon and just recently released his first straight ahead jazz album entitled “Standards” with bassist Tyler Abbott (instructor of bass at the University of Oregon and Willamette University) and drummer Ryan Biesack (drum instructor at Oregon State University and Willamette University). Olem is currently on faculty at Lane Community College and Linn-Benton Community College as a guitar instructor and continues to perform both locally and regionally as a solo performer and with groups both big and small.
He resides in Eugene with his wife, 3 children and 1 fat cat. In addition to performing as a solo guitarist or with various groups, Olem's biggest joy is playing music with his kids.