Trout Fishing in America

First of all, I think it’s important to introduce these guys to a UK audience because they are not yet well known here. In America they are the godfathers of the family music scene that is now nearing full swing proportions.
The ‘Trouts’ are two guys, both originally hailing from Texas, who are skilled musicians, performers and songwriters. Ezra Idlet is the extra tall guitarist and Keith Grimwood the puckish bass player. The name Trout Fishing in America actually comes from a 1967 novel by Richard Brautigan.

Mostly these guys play folk-rock, sometimes jazz inflected. It’s fun and often funny, the lyrics witty and the beats infectious. The voices harmonize together like two brothers yet both have their own individual style, Keith’s voice with a bit more grit than Ezra’s but both very folky.

Have a listen to Alien in My Nose.  This is a live-in-the-studio event.  It’s not on the Family Music Party album but it’s very typical of the kind of thing they do. Listen and see if it doesn’t have you laughing and singing along.

Family Music Party is the boy’s most popular album. It’s a live event, capturing them at their best. Here are the first 5 tracks to get you started.  We’re pretty sure you’ll want to come back for more.

Katherine Dines

The 38 tracks on this album are a serious attempt to get kids in touch with the sounds of nature, the so-called ‘rhythms of life,’ and perhaps even with the beat of their own hearts. Katherine Dines is concerned that through our huge advances in technology we’ve managed to interfere with or even disconnect ourselves from our heart patterns, brain waves and natural body rhythms.

Through chant and song, ancient forms of communication are recalled, ways of focusing the mind and soothing irritated spirits, perhaps even overcome some of our fears and dispel loneliness.  A lot to ask of a single CD but Katherine goes a long way towards accomplishing the goals she’s set for herself.

There’s a lot of variety on offer here, too.  Let’s listen to Me Stone is Me Stone, which is a traditional Tobago, or Caribbean Island chant. 

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Very simple, yet rhythmically you can hear how syncopated it is! Not a rhythm pattern that most of us here in the UK or in the US would have grown up with.  So, this is very much an awareness album, as well––this is world music.

Now, here’s one that’s more American.  Keemo Kyemo is part Appalachian mountains song and part African chant:

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See how the rhythm is steadier in that one?  Not so syncopated?  More verbal, though. Lots of nonsense sentences that are fun and just sound cool together.

If you’re looking for a CD that will stimulate a young child verbally or rhythmically this is an ideal choice.  Likewise, if you are looking for a CD that will put a slightly older child back in touch with nature and heartbeat awareness, this is again an excellent choice. Katherine’s voice is both soothing and attractive and her musicianship is always beyond reproach.  All of the Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta discs are a testament to that.