Pine Creek serves up Trout Steak w/ spirited two-night run
After winning the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition in 2014, Trout Steak Revival emerged on the roots music scene to listeners anticipating the often-heard dose of progressive bluegrass with a hint of jam. Their unique brand of mountain music stood out, though, and quickly the band caught the attention of fans and folk radio DJs alike.
Over the last several years, the Colorado quintet has further refined its style and, with Spirit to the Sea, delivers a mesmerizing and soul-quenching array of original songs resonating with the finer points of folk and Americana. The band’s latest album is a reflection of the depth and honesty of songwriting that is possible when a trusting and encouraging band of friends – Bevin Foley (fiddle), Steve Foltz (guitar, mandolin), Casey Houlihan (bass), William Koster (guitar & dobro), and Travis McNamara (banjo) – grows together into a band of musicians.
In anticipation of their Southwest Montana performances, the Rolling Zone spoke with Trout Steak bassist Casey Houlihan about their grand return and collaborative approach to music-making.
RZ: Trout Steak is returning to the Treasure State later this month with, count ‘em, two shows at Paradise Valley’s Pine Creek Lodge. What can folks expect from these back-to-back performances?
CH: We’ve been coming to Montana for four years now, I think, and this’ll be our second time at Pine Creek. We’ll probably play two different shows, two sets of music each night with very little overlapping so people that come both nights will get a lot of different music. We put out our last album at the end of 2017, now here we are in 2019, and we’ve got a bunch of new tunes that aren’t on a record necessarily. We’re playing some new stuff out, got some covers in the works. We’re just trying to keep it fun for the audience and for ourselves, keep it fresh and exciting and, you know, take some chances and be fearless. That’s our new approach to the live shows. And we’re stoked to get near Bozeman – the crowds are fun, people are into it and we have a lot of friends there.
RZ: Let’s talk a little bit about that latest album, Spirit to the Sea. Content-wise, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. What were the band’s motivations behind crafting this collection?
CH: We have five songwriters in the band, so that’s what makes the ‘mixed bag’ happen. Sort of impossible to avoid, I guess. We all have different influences, different approaches and different things that kind of tug on our heartstrings. Overall, it’s cohesive in the sense that we’ve been a band for quite a while and we all get behind each other’s songs and support them as best we can, whether it’s backup vocals or just instrumentally. There’s songs about loss and there’s songs about love, and it was also the election, so we had a lot of strong, emotional things that we wanted to get out there, whether or not they’re specific to those. We were definitely all feeling the conflict going on within our country, within our families, and life in general. It was a bit of a darker album than the one previous, Brighter Every Day, which was pretty wholesome and positive. I think [Spirit] just reflects a couple years of touring and real life changes happening.
RZ: Showing your evolution a little bit.
CH: Exactly. I think the next album will, I don’t know if it’s a pendulum swing back to the positive, but it’s more of a progression of what we’ve been doing.
RZ: Because each member of this band contributes to the songwriting, is there any one song you’re particularly proud of and would care to share the story behind?
CH: The second track on the album is called “You Are Not Alone,” a song I wrote while out on the road. It has a lot to do with outdoor imagery, sort of being connected to nature, being gone on the road for extended weeks at a time and still being connected to your loved ones at home. Without getting too specific about all the lyrics, that’s the basic gist of it – even if I’m gone, I’m still with you, spiritually and thinking about ya.
RZ: Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous Stringdusters produced the LP following work on 2015’s Brighter. Compared to earlier Trout Steak releases, how did his techniques elevate this group’s output?
CH: The producer wears a bunch of different hats, and one of the most important things to do is project manage. Keep us on task, help us make decisions whether or not a take was good. Arrangement-wise, we were pretty solid going into the studio. Chris was a positive reinforcer of what we were doing – sort of like when you’re just not sure you’re doing the best you can do, he was there to let us know when he thought we could do another take better or when we were spinning our wheels and he’s like, ‘Hey guys, I think we have it.’ When you’re in it, it’s just hard to see what’s going on. We’re our biggest critics, so having an outside perspective of ‘that was really good’ or ‘you guys can do better,’ that’s the stuff you need when you’re in the studio.
RZ: So the new tunes you mentioned, what’s the status on those?
CH: We spent three days in the studio in June and recorded a handful of songs. We actually don’t know how we’re going to release our next album, with the changing landscape of the music biz. Are we going to put out a full-length, are we going to release singles, are we going to do an EP, are we going to press to vinyl, are we even going to make CDs? A lot of questions. We don’t know exactly what the next step is, but we’re currently working without a producer. We’re not opposed to working with another producer, but we haven’t found that person yet or organized it in a way where their schedule lines up with ours. At the same time, we’ve grown as a band and have done a number of albums. We kind of know how to work better together in the studio than we did in the past. We have more confidence, we’re definitely more mature, and we have more trust in each other. So, we’re sort of doing it like this for now because it makes sense to us. Moving forward, we might just chip away at it instead of going in and spending like ten days in the studio to do a full-length album. We’re going to book a few days here and there as the songs come to us. We’re actually probably overdue to get back in the studio – we have a bunch of new stuff that we’re playing out in our live show that I feel like are in a pretty good spot to press record.
RZ: Trout Steak plays a ton of shows throughout the year, from festival sets during the summer months to huge theaters and more intimate spaces like Pine Creek. Does venue play a role with how this band will perform?
CH: Not how we’re going to perform, but what we’re going to perform, yes. Last week we did a few club shows and then we played a house concert. So, we go from huge systems with lighting rigs, really nice venues, right down to like somebody’s living room. If people are standing and dancing as opposed to sitting and listening, we sort of cater [to] the room. We have some songs that are really loud and fast, and then we have some songs that are really tender. Looking ahead at Pine Creek, you’ll probably get more of the standing, dancing crowd, so we’ll probably be a little bit more energetic and up-tempo, but of course, we’ll definitely mix it up. And we really do love playing Montana. Some of the best music fans in the country are in that part of the state.
RZ: Some say it never went anywhere, but others might say there’s been a resurgence of this folk/bluegrass-inspired Americana, and especially in the Rocky Mountain states. What are your thoughts on that?
CH: I don’t know how to answer that question because it’s hard to tell what kind of splash it’s making. Obviously there’s a lot of talented, young bands coming out and making a go at being touring musicians and playing shows and making albums. That’s what I think is the coolest thing. It is happening and there’s a lot of talent out there, so many good bands, that it takes a special group of people to decide to go for it. Take the Smokies or the Kitchen Dwellers, or any band in that sort of realm that’s getting in the van and going out there and playing a hundred-plus shows a year. Equally, there are a lot of talented bands out there that just can’t do that, for a number of reasons, whether they have families or full-time jobs they don’t want to give up because it’s a totally different lifestyle. So, I don’t know if I can tell that there’s a difference, but there’s definitely a lot of quality musicians out there doing it.
RZ: From an outsider’s perspective, I’d say this group stands out in the genre because it’s so collaborative. A lot of bands are, but a lot of bands aren’t. What makes this ensemble unique?
CH: I think that’s part of it – and we have a female in the band. Without mentioning that, I think I’d be making a mistake. The genre is very dude-centric. Bevin brings a lot of feminine energy, great fiddle-playing and great singing. And as you mentioned, we all write songs and we all sing, but we’re truly in this for friendship and for the love of the music. I think that comes across to our audience most nights.
RZ: Trout Steak has been going strong for more than a decade, but where do you go from here?
CH: That is the big question for a lot of bands. For us, we want to continue to be creative and relevant. We have been doing it for ten years but we’re still just breaking through the surface trying to reach and let people know who we are and what we’re all about. Really, we’re just [going to] continue hitting these markets once or twice a year, build a fan base and continue to connect with people.
RZ: A final message before we see you at Pine Creek?
CH: I think I said it, but we’re just really excited to be back. We love playing in Montana.
Trout Steak Revival comes to Paradise Valley’s Pine Creek Lodge with a two-night run on Friday and Saturday, February 22nd and 23rd. Ryan Acker from The Last Revel and Lena Schiffer from Laney Lou & the Bird Dogs will get the music going at 8pm. Advance tickets to the shows are $25 at www.pinecreeklodgemontana.com/events. Limited availability.
Learn more about the band at www.troutsteak.com or find them on Facebook for updated tour details and other announcements. Their latest album, Spirit to the Sea, is available now. •
