Writers in the Round brings TFIA and other artists to Rice

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by Debbie Kaplan

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I was optimistic in my venture to see Trout Fishing in America play here at Hamman Hall. My excitement was heightened when I entered the auditorium and noticed that the stage had become an MTV "Unplugged" set, complete with a floor rug, acoustic guitars, coffee cups and a random assortment of chairs.

This concert brought together four songwriters (TFIA, Tim O'Brien and Tom Bisad) in the hopes of creating some exciting music as they played together for the first time.

Linda Lowe, the only other individual on stage, was responsible for this meeting of talents, and therefore served as host of the event. Unfortunately, that apparently gave her a right to sing, so she started the concert.

Linda Lowe is talented in writing lyrical poetry and skilled enough to create songs from the apparently limited number of chords she can play. But she cannot sing.

Her first song greatly resembled Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About," and the music started off well as the other artists gradually added harmonies with their various instruments.

Lowe's voice, though, just didn't have the strength or range to pull off the song. She was zero for one at the conclusion of the piece and was still batting zero at the end of the night. Indeed, her words were thoughtful and her melodies often catchy and riveting, but she should have written the pieces for someone else to sing.

Crooning was not Tom Bisad's strong suit either. But his voice still fared better than Lowe's. His songs generally sounded like Marc Cohen or Billy Joel; they were soft, poppy and somewhat engaging, but not amazing. The audience of mostly middle-aged family types enjoyed his music a great deal, but it certainly would not have appealed to the average college student.

The highlight of Bisad's performance was when he sang a song about Newt Gingrich. After calling the speaker "a little Mussolini" with a small heart, he proceeded to make fun of the size of the man's "penie." The song was rather entertaining. In fact, one of the biggest pluses of the show was the amount of humor -- in the songs and in the banter among the artists and with the crowd.

One man determined to make the audience laugh was Tim O'Brien. But when his jokes fell through, he was quick to grab a violin, guitar or mandolin and prove his worthiness as a popular Irish musician. His songs were very unique and varied.

He was also very talented at following the lead of others. O'Brien often supplemented others' songs with back-up chords and filled in the breaks with very deft riffs on his mandolin.

One of the best moments of the concert was when all of the artists followed O'Brien's lead and created a beautiful, wordless song.

By the time Trout Fishing in America had their turn to play. I was skeptical. I had heard that their music was eclectic and eccentric, but I wasn't ready for any more relaxed, "light" music. I wanted to hear something as loud and coarse as the middle-aged crowd would allow. I was not disappointed.

TFIA was jolted with energy as high as their amps were turned up -- and the music was loud . All of their songs were fun, exciting and extremely entertaining. And none lasted a second too long, as some from the other performers over-stayed their welcome. TFIA left me wanting more.

They first played "Baby's Got the Car Keys," a bouncy ditty filled with middle-aged humor. It didn't take me long to understand why all of the fans had brought their little kids along; the music was funny, clean and very uplifting.

The duo of TFIA reminded me of Penn and Teller as they played off of each other during the songs and during their chit-chat afterward. One of their funniest tunes, called "Mine," was a tongue-in-cheek song about how kids fight for toys. TFIA brought a smile to many faces.

Even though many of the songs TFIA write are geared for children, band member Keith Grimwood informed me that the music can "really rock when it wants to." He noted that TFIA caters their concerts to the audience and that an older, college-aged crowd would find their show as enjoyable and entertaining as a very young or middle-aged crowd would.

Although "Writers in the Round" showcased a number of talented musicians, Trout Fishing in America absolutely stole the show. The three-and-a-half hour program was understandably long because of the number of artists in the concert. Nonetheless, it eventually grew weary.

Yet, I would have stayed longer to hear more of TFIA. They uplifted my spirits and played some great music without being unnecessarily loud or obnoxious. Their "kiddie" music allowed me to reminisce about when I younger and forget my school troubles for the night. If only "Writers in the Round" had been just songs from them..

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 15, 1996 issue.

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