Claw Hammers Out Major-Label Deal

Claw Hammer, a bluesy rock band with Orange County roots, has joined the major-label ranks. Interscope Records has signed the group, which was founded by Jon Wahl and Christopher Bagarozzi in 1986 after Wahl’s hitch with the esteemed Pontiac Brothers band from Fullerton. Wahl fronts Claw Hammer with a distinctive, wired yelping vocal delivery and joins Bagarozzi in sizzling interlocking guitar arrangements. Brett Gurewitz, the Bad Religion guitarist who produced all four previous Claw Hammer albums, is expected to work with the band on its Interscope debut.

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The Orange County Musicians Foundation raised $13,000 with a recent benefit concert featuring the Righteous Brothers, Jann Browne, Jason Chase and other local performers. The show at the Airporter Garden Hotel in Irvine brought the nonprofit group’s funding to about $24,000, according to its founder, bandleader Greg Topper.

The foundation issues grants to help full-time musicians in Orange County pay emergency medical bills. Topper said the organization is trying to set up an insurance program in which musicians would be able to buy major medical coverage at group rates. Information: (714) 362-4200.

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The Coach House soon will have a second sister club, in Fresno.

Owner Gary Folgner--who opened the original Coach House in San Juan Capistrano in late 1985 and added the Ventura Theatre to his holdings in 1988--is planning to open a Fresno club, also called the Coach House, within three months.

He said he is converting an old roller-skating rink into a 1,000-capacity nightclub with the same dinner-and-concert format as his other two venues. He set his sights on the undeveloped Fresno market after plans for a club in San Diego fell through.

Folgner and his concert booker, Ken Phebus, expect the Fresno location to be busy because it is a natural stop for touring bands making their way between Southern California and San Francisco.

Folgner also thinks an active club in Fresno could help his San Juan Capistrano operation: Booking agents for bands that want a Fresno date, but hadn’t planned on playing Orange County, will be negotiating with Phebus, and might be persuaded to include a Capistrano stop as well.

“They ask you about Fresno, and maybe at that point we can entice them to play the (original) Coach House,” Folgner said. “Agents are going to be (discussing) more bands with us, and we’ll try to negotiate deals from there.”