The Kaleidoscope Family Series continues in March when Rockefeller Arts Center presents a musical performance by Grammy-nominated duo, Trout Fishing in America.
The performance takes place on Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. The event is being held in this special location due to the ongoing renovation of Rockefeller Arts Center.
Trout Fishing in America is an eclectic folk/rock band best known for family music and kids鈥 songs.
Songs like 鈥淢y Hair Had a Party Last Night,鈥 鈥18 Wheels on a Big Rig,鈥 and 鈥淲hen I Was a Dinosaur鈥 have earned them a place in the hearts of kids and parents everywhere. Their music has won multiple Parents鈥 Choice and Indie awards and earned four Grammy nominations.
Bass player Keith Grimwood and guitarist Ezra Idlet, together, are Trout Fishing in America. They met in Houston more than three decades ago and have been playing together ever since. Their songwriting workshops have been described as 鈥渓ife changing.鈥
As individuals, they are about as different as one can imagine. Together, they blend seamlessly in a way that has captured the imagination (and hearts) of audiences of all ages for more than three decades. Idlet, on guitar and banjo, stands 6 feet 8 inches tall while bass player Grimwood 鈥渟tretches to 5 feet 5 and one-half inches on a humid day.鈥 Idlet is more playful and extroverted while Grimwood is more serious and reserved.
The duo recently released 鈥淩ubber Baby Buggy Bumpers.鈥 The CD features tongue twisters, mind-benders, spooky situations and instantly identifiable slices of a kid鈥檚 life. Also included in their catalog is a children鈥檚 book/CD 鈥淐hicken Joe Forgets Something Important鈥 published through Secret Mountain.
The spoken-word tale is followed by 11 original songs relating to the story. Real people and animals in the duo鈥檚 lives inspired the characters in the songs.
In 1976, Idlet and Grimwood met as members of the Houston based eclectic folk/rock band St. Elmo鈥檚 Fire. They became the best of friends and musical partners. When St. Elmo鈥檚 dissolved in 1979, Trout Fishing in America 鈥 named for Grimwood鈥檚 love of Richard Brautigan鈥檚 writing and Idlet鈥檚 love of fishing 鈥 was officially born.
Trout Fishing in America was in the first wave of artist owned labels (Trout Records) to successfully record and market their own music. In 2008, Performing Songwriter Magazine chose Trout as one of the top 100 most influential independent artists in the past 15 years.
Their infectious mix of folk/pop and family music is the result of their diverse backgrounds as well as growing up in the musical melting pot that is Texas.
In 1992, Trout Fishing in America relocated their families to the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas. Besides being a 鈥渓ovely place to live and raise a family,鈥 this central location helped to expand their touring territory to all 50 states and several Canadian provinces.
Sharing knowledge and encouraging art has become another musical mission of TFIA. In the past few years, they have developed a variety of songwriting workshops for teachers and students that illustrate how art and music come from the fabric of everyday life.
Their willingness to make fun of our people鈥檚 most annoying habits in one song, then turn around and touch hearts with tender and passionate images of family life in the next is what makes the connection between Trout Fishing in America and their audience so real.
The Kaleidoscope Family Series is sponsored by The Observer as part of the Lake Shore Savings Season.
Tickets are available through the Campus Ticket Office in the Williams Center, online at and by phone at 716-673-3501.
