trout fishing in america
Story by Mike Overall

The old saw about it not being possible to please all of the people all the time is blown to smithereens by Trout Fishing in America, the unique, sometimes wacky, oftentimes wickedly funny, occasionally serious musical duo that has been nominated for four Grammy Awards and garnered critical praise for its ability to entertain crowds ranging from the geriatric to the extremely young.

Trout Fishing in America (named after the now-vintage countercultural novel by Richard Brautigan) will perform a free concert for the whole family on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m. at the Valley View Fine Arts Center. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, a support group based at the Jonesboro Public Library (headquarters of the Crowley’s Ridge Regional Library), the concert is being held in conjunction with Jonesboro’s Sesquicentennial celebration. The presentation is also being supported by the City of Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Commission and Back Beat Music.

In addition to the concert, the duo – Ezra Idlet on guitar/vocals and Keith Grimwood on bass/vocals, both of whom live in Northwest Arkansas – will conduct two workshops for youngsters at the library, one for fourth- through sixth-graders and another for seventh- through ninth-graders.

“Our favorite kind of crowd is one that is comprised of all ages,” Grimwood said during a recent telephone interview. “We’ve seen five generations of the same family at our concerts, which are family affairs directed at all ages.... Our performances for diverse crowds will be alternately funny and serious, and we never play down to the youngsters in the crowd. We can rock, we can be wacky, and we’ll even throw in a love song or two.”

Grimwood said the duo, which has received widespread critical praise for its musicianship and originality from virtually every major media outlet in the nation, takes its inspiration from everyday life. “We’ve been working together for 33 years now,” the classically-trained Grimwood said, “and we still truly love what we do. And to boot, we get paid for it.”

TFIA was recently included in the Performing Songwriter’s Top 100 Most Influential Independent Performers of the Last 15 Years list. While here, the duo will also perform songs from “Big Round World,” which, upon its release last year, earned the two their fourth Grammy nomination.

In addition to its Grammy nomination for “Best Musical Album for Children,” the CD “Big Round World” was selected to top National Public Radio’s “The Year in Music for Kids” List for 2008.

The power of their music is that they write kids’ songs that grown-ups can share without feeling embarrassed or lowbrow. And they write grown-up songs that don’t bore kids.

“The Friends of the Library has members who have been big fans of Trout Fishing in America for many years,” said Jonesboro lawyer and FOL Board member Todd Williams. “We wanted to do something special as a part of our summer concert series this year. And the great thing about this (TFIA’s Jonesboro appearance) is that we can be part of the Sesquicentennial celebration and also do what the FOL focuses on, which is providing programs for children and involving them in the library.”

The library’s regular on-the-lawn summer concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. The remaining dates and performers for this year are: June 9, Jazz Alliance; June 16, Plain Meanness; June 23, Grant Garland Trio; June 30, Tarkington Family Band.