First, a nod to two very well run events of much different scales, events which make me appreciate the way humanity comes together and organizes itself for our own enjoyment... What makes us slightly more fun to hang out with than monkeys!
I had the opportunity to bring my own band, creatively titled "The Trevor Jones Band" for lack of more time to think of a cool band name, to The Realm Festival: Campout for the Cause II located in Rancho del Rio Colorado. As you might be able to discern from the name of the venue, a perfectly paced river flows through a picturesque valley where a stage is trucked in for festivals every summer. Now, I play lots of gigs and have to make up fun for myself to keep from getting burned out. For this particular set, I shaved my head with a razor and painted myself and the rest of the band with tribal markings. Fun times for one in the afternoon and the band killed it, consisting of Mark Levy (Frogs Gone Fishin') on drums, the uber-funky Cristian Basso (Little Hercules) on bass, KT Homes (Boxcar Daisies) on acoustic guitar, the world-class Tony G on keys and DJ Also Starring. I think we achieved my goal of deviating from the norm when post-fest, an acquaintance mentioned we "really freaked him out" in his altered state.
On a much larger scale, the World Cup provided endless distraction and procrastination justification for the last month. When I should be songwriting or update myspace or something, I find myself engrossed, rooting for teams I should never care about like Cote D'Ivoire or Spain, and getting truly upset when the USA lost to Ghana. I think Americans of my age were taught that our hegemony in the world was gonna last and not that the Netherlands are going to be a world superpower any time soon (again), but not getting first is just about as cool as getting last as far as sports fans in the Red, White and Blue section are concerned. Still, the political implications which spread far beyond the tournament, especially in a country like South Africa, make the World Cup arguably more important than the Olympics, given that people need and crave football like a Catholic priest at Boy Scout Camp.
Now that my blog just showed up on the Vatican's Google Alerts, I'm gonna change IP addresses. I don't stay in one spot very long these days. A typical week for a Frog involves rehearsals, solo gigs, duo gigs, teaching lessons and lots of commuting. I play music every night during the week and weekend, AKA never a night off. Not including solo, duo and side project shows, Frogs have played 350 shows in 25 cities around the country. Add those other shows in, and you realize we play music for an audience just about every day. Can anyone say booking agent?
Our responsibilities in Frogs, endlessly nebulous but direly important, were discussed at a record label meeting up at Mountain Size Records last week. Our label, consisting of lawyer, producer and now a full-time intern, have a great manner of making work fun and are not afraid to let us take the lead, or push us when necessary. They are heavily interested, and invested, in making Frogs Gone Fishin' all we can be as a Frog Army. Fish have schools, birds have flocks, we have an army. Simple.
Frogs have been entered into a voting contest for the yearly Yarmony Grass Fest and would love your vote. VOTE HERE If we win, we float down the river on a giant raft, playing music!
Actual Natural continues to sell around the country on iTunes, Amazon, and soon Rhapsody, although we are starting a promotion soon at Mountain Size which will put a t-shirt and other schwag in your hands for free when you buy the album.
Things are busy and the temperature down in Denver reached 101 degrees yesterday as I played the afternoon set at the Farmer's Market. It could be the one moment in which I don't intensely miss New Orleans, although after going out in Denver last night, cherishing a Saturday off, I realized we have to move here next for a number of reasons, musical and social alike.
The rest of the summer will be spent playing all over the state, including the THC fest in Alma (VERY HIGH at 10,000 ft) and a fest of our own, FROG FEST at Finnigan's Wake in Avon. September will see a tour to the West Coast and I'll head out to NYC again in October to record and play some shows.
This nationwide traveling in just a few months time is comforting in a way, like our influence is expanding in the right direction, the global direction.
