Pour me a cup

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Tea Leaf Green, from left, Scott Rager (drums) Trevor Garrod (keyboards/vocals), Ben Chambers (bass/vocals) and Josh Clark (guitar/vocals) walking up Balboa near Ocean Beach. Eric Luse/Special to the Daily Get Arts and Entertainment Feeds

Sarah Dixon
February 8, 2007

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As it turns out, Tea Leaf Green is more than just a refreshing drink of choice.

The four-member band has earned a devoted and diverse fanbase with a tireless touring schedule and unapologetically enigmatic music. Their genre-embracing sound, featuring rock 'n' roll roots with jam-driven improvisations, seems just removed from the familiar, like a word on the tip of your tongue you can't quite remember. And that's the most refreshing part: Tea Leaf Green (aka TLG) refuses to fall victim to categorization, insisting instead that their sound is purely organic and self-created.

Jam's brewing

========== What: Tea Leaf Green and StoryTyme play enigmatic jam-band grooves. When: Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Doors open at 8:30. Where: Club 8150. More information: Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door www.club8150.com ===========

"I'd say we're pretty much influenced by each other," said pianist and singer-songwriter Trevor Garrod when asked about artists who have shaped their sound. After all, TLG has opened for greats like Trey Anastasio and Gov't Mule.

"We're not trying to go out and be like any other band or artist, we're a lot more focused on being in tune with each other and playing our music together," he said. "In that way, I'd say we're pretty incestuous in our influences; they pretty much come from within. Each of us comes from a different place when we approach the music we make together, so it takes all of our energy to make that sound. Creating our music is more important to us than presenting a united front to describe it."

Born out of the San Francisco rock scene, the band also features Ben Chambers on bass, Josh Clark on guitar and Scott Rager on drums. Critics have described TLG's live experience as "hair-raising," and their fresh sound as reminiscent of "exactly why we lifted our lighters in the air in the first place."

So how does the band describe itself?

"Well, I would describe it as a good-time party - we try to keep everything moving and keep the energy so people can dance," said Garrod. "And there's a great vibe with all the people who show up. This is not a brooding night, it's a happy party. Everyone comes to have fun."

Sooo... you're saying you're a jam band?

Gracing the bills of such "jam" festivals as Bonaroo, Wakarusa, Langerado and Jam Cruise might incline outsiders to draw the noodle-dance parallel. Furthermore, the title track from their latest release, "Taught to be Proud," won the Song of the Year Jammy Award.

Touché, says Garrod.

"The whole jam band thing has never appealed to us as musicians, but we do jam, so I guess we'll just have to take it," he explains.

To critics and fans alike, piano-driven rock remains at the core of their sound, although their tight improvisations will always keep them bumping up against that "jam band" categorization.

"As far as we're concerned, as a band, we pretty much come from a strictly rock n' roll standpoint," Garrod said. "Where other bands in the jam scene have more of a jazz influence, we jam in the same way that Jimi Hendrix or Cream jammed. No one ever called them jam bands, but that's what they were. So we try to emulate that."

But don't confuse emulation with mimicry. The one band that Tea Leaf Green does sound like is, well, Tea Leaf Green.

"We pick up things here and there, but there's nothing we overtly try to emulate," Garrod said. "I mean, living your life is, in itself, influential. The most important thing to us is that we understand one another. That's what makes our sound."



A Homecoming of Sorts



The Happy Valley is not a new stop on TLG's ambitious tour.

"We've been coming up to Vail for years now," said Garrod. "We used to play the Sandbar back when it was the Half Moon Saloon."

And it's not just the beautiful vistas of our mountain hamlet that bring TLG back year after year.

"Vail is one of our favorite places in Colorado; it just seems that we have a really good connection with the people who come to our shows," he said. "I'm also pretty excited to party with our fans after the show. We always have a good time in Vail."

Garrod also said the band looks forward to their first engagement at 8150, home of the famous bouncing floors.

"We've heard about the floors, they're sort of legendary," he said. "We'll have to make sure to keep the crowd really moving. See if we can't get someone some air."

The show opens with self-proclaimed "reborn retro-rockers" StoryTyme. They kick off the evening at 9:30pm with their raw energy and 70's inspired rock, followed by TLG.

For more information visit club8150.com or call 970.479.0607.