WE HAVE BIG NEWS! September 6th marks the official release date of our new children’s book/CD “Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important.”

Mark the date on your calendar so you won’t forget something important! In case you don’t know already, Chicken Joe is Keith’s oldest and smartest cat. He got his name because he sleeps in the hen house, not because he’s cowardly. Published by The Secret Mountain, the book is beautifully illustrated by Stephane Jorisch. The CD includes our reading of the story and 11 new Trout tunes. Many release party events have been scheduled for September and October. They include radio broadcasts, a showcase at Symphony Space in New York City, a concert in Houston at the Mucky Duck, appearances in bookstores like Barnes and Noble, Nightbird Books, and That Bookstore in Blytheville. Check our calendar for dates and times. On a side note, the real Chicken Joe is demanding extra rations. Cats can be extremely demanding!

We were stuck in a traffic jam in New York City a few years ago. As we watched the hundreds of people in their cars beside us we realized that most of them had never heard of us our our music. That was a pretty amazing feeling. There are just so many people in this country! That being said, it’s equally amazing how many people have heard us. It’s always a pleasant surprise to have someone we don’t know walk up to us and tell us how much they have enjoyed our music through the years. It used to be that we’d buy albums, play them for our friends and talk about the music. It seems these days that the paradigm has shifted. People share videos and “like” them or comment on them. This month we have two new videos for you to watch, share and comment on. We did a video interview here in AR for the new release, “Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important.” You might enjoy watching this and perhaps forwarding it to your friends who’ve never heard of us.

We also did a music video with our friends Montie and Jayna. It’s a song from our CD “Lookin’ at Lucky.”
\”The Car\’s Running\”
It’s our first step into making music videos and we’d love for you to post your comments on Youtube and share this with friends.

Trout also has a bit of frightening news. Keith has taken up the violin. Why? Why? Why? Isn’t life difficult enough? Perhaps it’s some sort of retaliation for Ezra’s banjo playing. Anyway, Keith is having lots of fun. He tried practicing outdoors for a while until he noticed the For Sale sign on his neighbor’s lawn. He showed his violin to the guy at the music store who quickly recommended a mute. Oddly, Chicken Joe seems to be the only animal that actually enjoys Keith’s fiddle playing.

Troutfully yours,

Ezra and Keith

A few years ago, we wrote and recorded a song called “Almost September.” That seems like an appropriate title for this letter because it’s almost September and almost time for the highly anticipated release of our new book/CD release for children!!

It’s called “Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important” and the o-fish-al release date is Sept 6th. Pre-order your copy HERE. Our publisher, The Secret Mountain, is setting up a huge showcase for September 25th in New York City at Symphony Space. Read more about our new Children’s Book at this link .

It’s true that it’s Almost September, but don’t forget about August just yet. Otherwise we’d have to skip Ezra’s birthday and we don’t want to do that. We have some August Trout shows booked in Arkansas and Louisiana and also a Wheatfield show with Craig Calvert and Connie Mims in Houston, TX at The Mucky Duck. In early September, we’ll be returning to Michael Hearne’s Big Barndance Festival in Taos, New Mexico. If you can’t get out to see us in August, here is a video from our concert at the Jones Center in Springdale, AR. Share it with your friends!

We’ve been told that our newsletters often mention the weather. Talking about the weather is pretty mundane and frankly not all that interesting, so……. We’ll not be talking about the blazing sun in Winnipeg or the egg frying temperatures in Ohio. We’ll also not mention that the high 90′s temperatures in Seguin, TX were actually lower than the 100 plus degree weather we experienced in New York City. Discussing the drought and the effects on our gardens would be bad form. No, weather has just not been on our minds very much. Mostly we’ve been actively pursuing lofty goals and achieving new career highs.

Troutfully yours,

Ezra and Keith

PS Trout has a brand new T-shirt for Kids using the creative artwork from Beans Barton. It’s called Traveling Trouts and we have sizes youth extra small to youth extra large.

Dear Fisherfolk,

It’s about 4am on Hwy 412, about 50 miles west of Enid, Oklahoma. Enid spelled backwards is dinE. It’s a lonely stretch of straight road. We’re driving back from Colorado to Arkansas. Ezra is driving with his brights on. A full grown buck deer appears in the distance framed by the headlights of our van. Ezra slows down and moves into the next lane, away from the deer. The deer moves away from the van towards the side of the road. Then things go terribly wrong. What do you get when you cross a deer and a van? We’re not exactly sure, but it’s not something that we really want to discuss. The encounter diminished the Oklahoma deer herd by 1 buck. It’s going to cost Trout a whole lot of bucks, but everyone in the van arrived home safely for the 4th of July.

This summer promises to be a good one for us. By the end of July we will have visited 8 United States and 1 Canadian Province. Our Colorado trip on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad train was fabulous (other than our way too close encounter with that deer) and we hope to get back there again next year. If we do, you do not want to miss it! We’re not home for long because we’re heading to the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Manitoba this week. Then it’s off to Ohio, Connecticut, New York, and Texas, just to name a few.

It may be a little early to begin talking about it, but we are so excited about it we can’t control ourselves. In September, our new Children’s book/CD will be released by Secret Mountain Publishing. It is called “Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important” and includes 11 all new Trout songs with illustrations by Stephane Jorisch. It will also feature the two of us reading an original story about a day in the life of Chicken Joe. In case you don’t know, Chicken Joe is one of Keith’s cats. He got his name as a result of sleeping in the hen house, not as a result of a personality weakness or character flaw. Some of the song titles include “16 or 17 Hours of Sleep,” “Hello, My Chicken Thinks He’s a Dog,” and “Where Did Everybody Go?” The story is about forgetting. Seems like we wrote a song about that but we can’t remember what it was. You write about what you know, even if you forget it.

Troutfully Yours,
Keith and Ezra

June 1 marked the 19th anniversary of the Grimwoods arrival in West Fork, AR. They left the Kerrville Folk Festival, drove to Houston, packed everything they owned and moved. Keith has always been a city guy and the move was surprising to everyone who knew him. The family arrived with 3 cats in tow, no tools, and a car that wouldn’t start again if you turned off the engine. When they arrived, they found 3 other cats living at their new residence. Introductions were tense. A day later it rained heavily and kittens started falling off the roof. Yes, it was raining cats, but not dogs. 4 kittens rained from the roof and the alarming cat total was suddenly 10. Since moving to Arkansas the cat total has ranged from 7 to 17. The current count stands at 9. When Keith cleared the field next to the house he found a Cadillac. No kidding. You may have heard Jeff Foxworthy’s bit about “You may be a redneck if you mow your lawn and find a Cadillac…” Well, there it was. For years Keith wandered around humming the Green Acres theme song. Currently he owns several tools and knows how to use some of them.
Time to Get Out!
All you have to do to know that summer is here is open your door and walk outside. If you walk outside and don’t know where to go, take a copy of our newsletter with you. We have several great ideas for holiday plans. We highly recommend the Colorado train ride in late June and early July. This is awesome! We did it last year and fell in love. Never been to Manitoba? Get your passport ready and head to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. We’ve played there 3 times in past years and it is wonderful! We’ll be passing through 10 states in the next 3 months – PA, KS, TX, TN, CO, OH, CT, NY, AR, LA! If your state isn’t listed, why not? Hey Idaho. Where ya at?

Send us your pictures

Through the years we’ve received quite a few pictures of people whose hair is having a party. This has been a touching glimpse into the generally unseen lives of our fans. It takes a lot of courage to reveal the wild and unusual shapes our hair makes, but it can be cathartic! How freeing to know that your hair can be totally messy and people will still love you, perhaps even love you more. We’d like to give you all an opportunity to share and bond with others who have this common experience. If you happen to have pictures that you would be willing to share of your hair having a party, we’d love to post them on our website and facebook. Send to karen@troutmusic.com

Troutfully yours,

Ezra and Keith

   So what’s up with this weather? It’s about the strangest spring we can remember. We played a show in New Jersey last week and they had a flood. Major streets were under water and closed. We had an exciting time trying to get back to our hotel after the show. In stunning contrast, the next day was bright, shiny, and perfect. Two days later we flew home to Arkansas, arriving just in time for a huge storm with baseball-sized hail! Someone posted pictures of people juggling hail. We hope Mother Nature is getting it all out of her system so we can have a great late spring and summer!

Cove Creek flooding near Ezra’s place

   On April 28th, Keith’s Mom and Dad will be celebrating their 67th wedding anniversary.Jim and Hilda Grimwood Wow and congratulations! In all those years of living together, you can bet they have learned to share. Hey, we have a song about sharing. It’s called Mine. Many of you heard it playing on NPR’s show “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me”. Thanks for the letters and comments. Mine also made an appearance in a movie short by Greg Thompson. The film is called Mine. We’ve got some really great shows coming up in the next 2 months and you don’t want to miss them. We’ve got some new songs we’d like to share with you.

Poetry Corner – Here’s a little poem Robert redFord would like to share with you. Robert was our old truck, he was a red Ford. 

A Forgettable Day

It was a forgettable day, nothing to remember,
   No tragedies or miseries to mark it on the page.
A forgettable few hours, touched and tossed away.
   Nothing scary, nothing hairy, minutes filled with ordinary.
 
It was a forgettable day, nothing too exciting,
   No hospitals or catastrophes to mark it on the page.
Remarkably predictable, like thousands I can’t recall.
   My favorite kind of day, a special sort of day,
      A perfect day I won’t remember at all.

 Troutfully yours,

Ezra and Keith

There’s a time of year in the Ozarks when the flowers of spring are up and in their full glory. The trees have buds on them and have not yet leafed out. We’re in that time right now. What’s so beautiful about it, aside from the incredible colors (bright enough for even color blind Ezra to see), is that you can still see the lay of the land. The mountains are visible behind the leafless trees. It’s April. The time when monkeys fall out of the sky! WHAT you say?!

Q: When do monkeys fall out of the sky?
A: During ape-rill showers
Sorry about that. We couldn’t resist. You’ll find you can’t un-hear this joke.
 
(Photo manipulation by DJ-CorazondeDios)

  Keith has planted potatoes in his garden. He missed his traditional St. Patrick’s Day planting by a few days, but was able to plant by the full (super) moon. Hopefully, this will make a positive difference when it’s harvest time. Keith would also like to wish the Houston Astros luck this year as the baseball season opens. They’re gonna need it. Ezra’s basketball season ended early this year as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane was defeated in conference play and didn’t make any postseason tournament. Bummer. As Keith always says about his Astros, “Wait ’till next year”!

   For years we’ve played in northern VA at the Reston Community Center in the winter. This year is different. We’ll be there May 1st. Wonder how it will feel to drive there with no snow on the ground! On our way to Reston, we’ll be taking a side trip to Brooklyn, NY to attend Kindiefest. It’s a big confab with a lot of children’s entertainers and presenters. This is our first time there, and we’re really looking forward to it. Ezra will be on a panel discussing aspects of the music business.

Festival season is beginning. We’ll be part of Artosphere in Bentonville, AR, Spring Gulch in PA and Riverfest in Little Rock, AR. Also look for us at the Kerrville Folk Festival later this year. Check out our calendar. Stay in touch.

Troutfully yours,

Ezra and Keith

PS Here is a link to an interview and video from Stillwater, OK when Trout visited the Stilly Studio last week.

Ezra and Keith 
We have a sale on selected CDs! Check our website www.troutmusic.com for the latest on Trout Fishing in America. We have secure online shopping or call us toll free (888) HEY-TFIA (439-8342)

Dear e-Fisherfolk,
We are enjoying a lovely Spring day in Arkansas. Rows of daffodils are blooming along the road. Peeper frogs have started singing at night. What an amazing contrast to just a couple of weeks ago when we had record-setting snow over a foot deep and temperatures down to 17 below zero! Kyle Kellams, one of our local radio personalities at KUAF, went outside and repeated the trick seen on Youtube of tossing boiling water into the air. It turns into a snow cloud. To see Kyle, facebook users can watch here!

Last week in Austin, TX we got to attend the Austin Jugglefest. People of all ages came from around the world to juggle a wide variety of objects. Clubs were passed, torches were tossed, unicycles were pedaled, wires were walked, and coins were competitively juggled. Ezra on the tightropeIn the coin juggling competition, the last person to remain juggling gets to keep all of the dropped coins. The hitch is that the winner has to pick them all up. Here’s a hint for aspiring coin jugglers. Dollar coins are the easiest to juggle. Of course you stand to lose more money if you drop. Hey, wait a minute. Maybe they just told us that to increase their winnings.

Above is a photo from friend Deborah Campbell of Ezra on the tightrope.

We’re excited about the new dates popping up on our calendar. Some are new faces and some are old friends. We’ll be in Newark, OH and Westfield, NJ for the first time. We return to Dallas, TX, Springdale, AR, Stillwater, OK, Macomb, IL and New Hope, PA. We also look forward to returning to Spring Gulch and Kerrville Folk Festivals.

Poor David’s Pub in Dallas is celebrating its 33rd anniversary this year. They’ve been at it as long as we have! We’ll be doing an afternoon kid’s show and an evening adult concert there just next week. It’s funny to think that some of the parents at that kid’s show might not even have been born when we started playing together. But no matter how old or young you are, come out to see us when we come through your neighborhood. You’ll be glad you did.

Troutfully yours,
Keith and Ezra

Dear e-Fisherfolk,
What’s white and covers the ground in winter? OK, that was a stupid question. We’ve seen plenty of the white stuff this season. We played in Ocean City, NJ for New Year’s Eve and we saw a snow man built on the beach! It snowed in Branchburg, NJ on January 7th for our concert at Whiton Elementary School.

Most recently, our show in Alma, Arkansas was cancelled twice due to bad weather conditions and now it will be rescheduled for the fall.
Trout music has recently appeared on two family compilation albums. Sara Hickman (Texas State Musician) releases an album this week called “The Best of Times“.

The CD was created to benefit Theater Action Project, which brings art, music and theater to kids in Central Texas schools. Artists on this CD include Willie Nelson, Marcia Ball, Shawn Colvin, Brave Combo and Robert Earl Keen, to mention a few. Another project we are part of is the 2011 Grammy nominated “Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough To Eat.” Our song, “Count on Me,” was used as part of this fund raiser. All profits from this project are going to the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. There’s a stellar list of performers on this CD as well including Julian Lennon, Justin Roberts, Sara Hickman, Tom Chapin, Kathy O’Connell, Gene Shay, Beatle Bob, Sweet Honey and the Rock and others.

We’ve been driving through sunny Texas on clear, ice free roads. Hope you’re staying safe and warm this winter. If you get snowed in, check out our new website design by Sharphue and Haden Interactive. Heck, even if you’re not snowed in, our office has been hard at work revamping troutmusic.com. Take advantage of our thank you sale for being on our email newsletter list and get 15% off everything on the website this month.

Troutfully yours,
Keith and Ezra