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Trout Fishing in America is an American musical duo from
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. The members are Keith Grimwood (vocals, bass guitar,
upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
,
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
) and Ezra Idlet (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo,
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
, percussion). Both musicians were previously members of the folk rock band St. Elmo's Fire. They took their name from the novel ''
Trout Fishing in America ''Trout Fishing in America'' (1967) is a novella written by Richard Brautigan. It consists of short pieces linked by recurring characters. Technically it is Brautigan's first novel, as he completed it in 1961. But his book '' A Confederate Ge ...
'' by
Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...
. The duo has released 24 studio albums through their own label, Trout Records. Trout Fishing in America is known for varied musical styles, with albums alternating between
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
and
children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...
, as well as their dynamic stage presence. In addition to their music, Trout Fishing in America holds songwriting workshops with children. Four of their albums have been nominated for
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
.


History

Guitarist and vocalist Ezra Idlet was attending college in
Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...
, on a basketball scholarship when he decided to perform music instead. He worked at a
dinner theater Dinner theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. In the case of a theatrical performance, sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to th ...
in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, and then joined the
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
band Wheatfield, which evolved into St. Elmo's Fire. Bassist Keith Grimwood, a native of
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, originally performed in the
Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...
and chose to join St. Elmo's Fire in 1976 when the symphony went on strike. When several St. Elmo's Fire gigs in California were canceled, Grimwood and Idlet began performing together on the streets in order to earn money. They also performed for patrons of a local restaurant and entered a local talent competition. When St. Elmo's Fire disbanded in 1979, Grimwood and Idlet officially began performing and recording as Trout Fishing in America. They took the name from the
Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...
novel ''
Trout Fishing in America ''Trout Fishing in America'' (1967) is a novella written by Richard Brautigan. It consists of short pieces linked by recurring characters. Technically it is Brautigan's first novel, as he completed it in 1961. But his book '' A Confederate Ge ...
''. The two released their debut album ''You Bore Me to Death'' in 1979 through their own label, Trout Records. Shortly after its release, keyboardist and vocalist Rom Rosenblum joined Grimwood and Idlet. Drummer and vocalist Orville Strickland joined the lineup in 1981, thus making Trout Fishing in America a quartet. He appeared on their second album, ''Hot to Trout''. By 1985, Bill Berger had replaced Orville Strickland on drums and vocals, and Rosenblum had left. Trout Fishing in America renamed themselves Pavlov's Band in 1986. By 1988, Berger left as well, reverting the lineup to a duo of just Grimwood and Idlet. It was also around this point that the act's name reverted to Trout Fishing in America. They released two more albums, ''Yes, the Fish Music'' in 1987 and ''Stark Raving Trout'' in 1988. At this point the duo began performing shows for children and their parents, as opposed to their previous shows which were mostly held in bars. These children's shows included songs such as a cover of David Egan's "When I Was a Dinosaur". Twelve songs from their first four albums were reissued on a compilation called ''The Dusty Dozen'' in 2018. The duo recorded an album of
children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...
titled ''Big Trouble'' in 1989 and released the 9-song project on cassette. In addition to a studio recording of "When I Was a Dinosaur", this included original compositions tailored to children, such as a
nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...
mashup called "The Window" and "Lullaby". "When I Was a Dinosaur" received regular rotation on the
Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
radio show after its release. The recording of ''Big Trouble'' overlapped with their studio album ''Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin, a folk album released in 1990 on CD and cassette. It included a cover of Emily Kaitz's "The Day the Bass Players Took Over the World" and
John Gorka John Gorka (born July 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement." Personal life Gorka was raised in the Colon ...
's "Prom Night in Pig Town". ''Big Trouble'' was ultimately rereleased in 1991. The title track is about a child who makes excuses for destruction done to the family house in the parents' absence.


1990s

After ''Big Trouble'' became popular among fans with young children, Trout Fishing in America began releasing more children's albums alongside their existing repertoire of folk music. Their 1992 album ''Over the Limit'', one of their folk-oriented releases, was named by the National Association of Record Distributors (now
American Association of Independent Music The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...
) as Independent Pop Album of the Year. The album included several
session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
s and other personnel. This included drummer Mitch Marine and Carl Finch, who played keyboard and guitar in addition to serving as producer. Grimwood played both bass guitar and
upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
, while Idlet played both acoustic and electric guitars. The two wrote most of the album by themselves except for "Sing It One More Time Like That", also a cover of David Egan. Also by this point, the duo relocated to
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. In 1993, Trout Fishing in America was approached by representatives of the television network
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
to create a
television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
called ''The Trout House'', but it was not picked up for a series. This was followed in 1994 by a pair of albums targeting both demographics: ''Mine!'' for children and ''Who Are These People?'' for adults. Terri Langford of the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
wrote of these two albums that "sometimes it's hard to tell which CD is for which target group" while speaking favorably of the duo's musical diversity. They returned to folk rock for 1996's ''Reel Life'', a mix of live and studio recordings. Once again, Grimwood and Idlet wrote most of the album themselves, excluding three cover songs. These were of
Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical version ...
's "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs" (a parody of "
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" is a country song about a man away from home who is worried that his paramour may unwittingly stray from their relationship. It was written by Winston L. Moore (whose stage name was Slim Willet) and published ...
"),
Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...
's "Ode to Big Blue", and
Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in ...
's "Dixie Chicken". Finch and Marine also played on some tracks on this album, while session musician Milo Deering contributed on
steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...
and
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
. Writing for the
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...
''
Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
'', Rebecca P. Lindwall praised the album's instrumentation, as well as the "homespun" lyrics of the ballad "Lightning". This was followed by 1997's ''My World'', another children's album which the duo recorded in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. After it was 1998's ''Family Music Party'', their first live album. Paul Collins of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote of this album that it was "a fine addition to any parent's collection of children's music." In 1999 the duo released the album ''Closer to the Truth''. While this was one of their folk albums, Idlet noted that "there's nothing on it that a kid couldn't hear". It peaked at number 26 on the
Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...
albums charts of ''
Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...
''. Tom Infield of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' thought the album displayed the duo's musical influences and variety. He also noted that the duo's music had become popular on
WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...
, a college radio station in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
which at the time had a show dedicated to children's music.


2000s

The children's album ''inFINity'' followed in 2001. This accounted for the duo's first
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nomination, in the category of Best Musical Album for Children, at the
44th Grammy Awards The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won fo ...
in 2002. In addition, the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...
named it a Notable Children's Recording. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. of Allmusic described the album as "fun music for kids and adults". 2003's ''It's a Puzzle'' was also a children's album. At the time of its release, Sony Hocklander of ''
The Springfield News-Leader The ''Springfield News-Leader'' is the predominant newspaper for the city of Springfield, Missouri, and covers the Ozarks. The ''News-Leader'' has a daily circulation of 32,363 and a Sunday circulation of 51,402 as of September 2013. Sunday si ...
'' noted the popularity of children's albums such as
Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...
' ''
Return to Pooh Corner ''Return to Pooh Corner'' is the eighth studio and first children's album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. The title is a reference to A.A. Milne's 1928 book ''The House at Pooh Corner''. Released in 1994, it features songs written b ...
'' and
Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...
and
David Grisman David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...
's '' Not for Kids Only'', and thought that Trout Fishing in America's music would appeal to fans of those albums. The title track featured a number of
tongue twister A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
s, while Grimwood's wife Beth co-wrote the track "Why I Pack My Lunch". This was followed a year later by an album of
Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...
titled ''Merry Fishes to All''. Reviewing this album for AllMusic, Lankford praised the duo for writing original content instead of covering traditional Christmas songs, while also finding influences of
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
and
jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...
in the arrangements. At the time of its release, Trout Fishing in America were playing over 100 shows a year. In 2006 they released another live album titled ''My Best Day'', which was also issued on DVD as a video album. By this point, Fred Bogert had taken over as their producer. He occasionally joined them as a backing musician, playing guitar, mandolin, and
cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
. Bogert also contributed to the recordings of ''My Best Day''. Both ''Merry Fishes to All'' and ''My Best Day'' were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children. In 2007, Trout Fishing in America released a five-song
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
titled ''Who Knows What We Might Do'', which was available exclusively through their website or at concerts. In 2008, Trout Fishing in America released another album titled ''Big Round World''. Musicians from the Louisiana-based dance group Bamboula 2000 contributed to this project. The duo promoted the album with a concert at Red River Revel, an annual music festival in
Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...
. It accounted for their fourth and final Grammy Award nomination, again in the category of Best Musical Album for Children. In addition, it topped
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's 2008 list "The Year in Music for Kids", an annual compilation of recommended children's albums by that organization.


2010s and 2020s

After a number of children's albums, they returned to folk rock with 2010's ''Lookin' at Lucky''. This was their first "adult" album since ''Closer to the Truth'' eleven years prior. Jonathan Takiff of the ''Philadelphia Daily News'' rated the album "B+", as he thought its songs would appeal to people who found humor in growing older. Although Trout Fishing in America recorded fewer albums throughout the 2010s, the duo continued to perform across the United States at venues such as museums and schools. They returned to the Red River Revel in 2013 to promote their next album of children's music, ''Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers''. By this point in their career, Grimwood noted that they had been performing long enough that they were beginning to play music for the grandchildren of some of their earliest fans. Idlet had begun to play
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...
in concert as well as guitar, while Grimwood began to play
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
as well as string bass and bass guitar. The album's title track included a number of tongue twisters, while Idlet stated that the track "My Sister Kissed Her Boyfriend" was intended to be "annoying" to children. In addition, the track "Don't Touch My Stuff" was inspired by the duo having had equipment stolen from their van while at a concert in Texas. The duo returned to folk music with 2017's ''The Strangest Times''. Prior to its release, they performed some of its songs live on the radio station
KUAF KUAF (91.3 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, serving Northwest Arkansas. The station is owned by the University of Arkansas, with studios and offices near the school's campus in Downtown Fayettevill ...
in
Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...
. Grimwood played fiddle on the track "Quiet Alleys", and Idlet played
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
on both the title track and "Where Did Everybody Go?" Grimwood said that he considered "The Strangest Times" one of his favorite songs the duo had ever recorded due to its "driving beat" and the "real things" in its lyrics. Trout Fishing in America continued to incorporate further instrumentation into their live shows, such as Idlet covering "
Foggy Mountain Breakdown "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is a bluegrass instrumental, in the common " breakdown" format, written by Earl Scruggs and first recorded on December 11, 1949, by the bluegrass artists Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys. It is a standard i ...
" on banjo. They also began to look for songs from their earlier albums which they thought had been forgotten by fans, such as "Big Boys in Bad Shape" from ''Closer to the Truth''. Trout Fishing in America took a brief hiatus from recording and touring in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. According to the members, the pandemic kept them separated from each other for 37 days, the longest hiatus of their career. Because they were unable to tour, they decided to resume writing songs together, in addition to performing songs on
livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...
s from their recording studio. Once they felt it was safe to start recording together again, they began preparing songs for their next album ''Safe House''. Once again, Idlet played bouzouki on the album as well as guitar, banjo, and percussion, while Grimwood played bass, fiddle, and piano. Trout Fishing in America promoted the album with concerts in Texas once pandemic restrictions were lifted enough for them to resume touring. The duo also promoted the title track with a
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
uploaded to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, which features pictures of both members' families.


Other works

In addition to their albums and tours, Trout Fishing in America conducts songwriting workshops. During these, the duo encourages children to provide ideas for songs. The tracks "My Best Day" on ''inFINity'', "Alien In My Nose" on ''It's a Puzzle'', and several tracks on ''Big Round World'' were all inspired by comments made by children during such workshops. Trout Fishing in America has also written two children's books with accompanying CDs: ''My Name Is Chicken Joe'' and ''Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important''. Both books were published by Canadian publisher The Secret Mountain, and illustrated by
Stéphane Jorisch Stéphane Jorisch is a Canadian artist and illustrator. He is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award for French-language children's illustration, winning in 1993 for ''Le Monde selon Jean de ...'' and in 1999 for ''Charlotte et l'île du ...
.


Musical style

Trout Fishing in America is known largely for their children's music, although many reviewers have noted the appeal of their music not only to parents, but also to adults who do not have children. While their early work was more conventional folk rock that often contained adult themes, the duo said that they chose to record more material suitable for children after both of them became fathers themselves. Specifically, "Big Trouble" was the first children's song they wrote. Grimwood also noted that due to this song's success with fans, schoolteachers would often attend their early concerts and encourage them to perform more children's music. By the release of ''inFINity'', Grimwood had a teenaged son while Idlet had a son and daughter, both of whom were in college. Once the duo's music for children became popular, they initially dedicated some shows specifically to children's music and others to folk music. However, they ultimately decided to play "all ages" shows that mixed both styles. Despite this, the duo noted that they tended to avoid love songs or songs with longer solos if they saw that more children than adults were in attendance. Many of the duo's performances include
audience participation An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
. For example, on the song "My Hair Had a Party Last Night", Idlet encourages children in the audience to tousle each other's hair. Tom Infield of ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' thought that the duo were able to include a variety of influences in their music due to them mostly handling distribution and production by themselves instead of through a major record label. He noted influences of
Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...
,
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
,
The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
, and
Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...
in songs from ''Closer to the Truth''. Of their music, Andrew Griffin of ''The Town Talk'' thought that the duo's vocal harmonies and musical influences would help make their children's music appealing to adult fans as well; in particular, he thought the track "Wrong Right" from ''It's a Puzzle'' sounded like a 1960s pop song. A 1995 article in the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...
'' described the duo's music as "not pedantic, nor does it pander to children, but merely deals with topics that kids can relate to or those that will make them laugh." Grimwood told ''
The Springfield News-Leader The ''Springfield News-Leader'' is the predominant newspaper for the city of Springfield, Missouri, and covers the Ozarks. The ''News-Leader'' has a daily circulation of 32,363 and a Sunday circulation of 51,402 as of September 2013. Sunday si ...
'' in 2003 that he intended to write songs that captured the imaginations of children and did not "talk down" to them. Many sources have also highlighted the significant difference in height and personality between the duo's two members: Idlet is and Grimwood is . Of this difference, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic wrote that they "delighted children with their rather arresting physical appearance". In relation to their height and stage presence, an uncredited article in the ''Kent County News'' also described Idlet as "playful and extroverted" and Grimwood as "serious and reserved".


Discography

All releases under the Trout Records label. *''You Bore Me to Death!'', 1979 *''Hot to Trout'', 1983 *''Yes, the Fish Music'', 1987 *''Stark Raving Trout'', 1988 *''Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin, 1990 *''Big Trouble'', 1991 *''Over the Limit'', 1992 *''Mine!'', 1994 *''Who Are These People?'', 1994 *''Reel Life'', 1996 *''My World'', 1997 *''Family Music Party'', 1998 *''Closer to the Truth'', 1999 *''InFINity'', 2001 *''It's a Puzzle'', 2003 *''Merry Fishes to All'', 2004 *''My Best Day'', 2006 *''Who Knows What We Might Do'' (EP), 2007 *''Big Round World'', 2008 *''Lookin' at Lucky'', 2010 *''Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers'', 2013 *''The Strangest Times'', 2017 *''The Dusty Dozen'', 2018 *''Safe House'', 2022


References


External links


Trout Fishing in America's official website

Interview of Trout Fishing in America
by
Renée Montagne Renée Montagne () is an American former radio journalist and was the co-host (with Steve Inskeep and David Greene) of National Public Radio's weekday morning news program, '' Morning Edition'', from May 2004 to November 11, 2016. Montagne and ...
for
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, Jan. 9, 2004.
Interview of Trout Fishing in America on The Front Row KUHF Houston Public Radio, June 2, 2009.

In Memory of Rom Rosenblum, January 5, 2022
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trout Fishing In America American children's musical groups American folk musical duos American male musical duos Musical groups from Arkansas Musical groups from Houston Musical groups established in 1979 1979 establishments in Texas