LITTLE ROCK — Chances are unlikely that anyone will ever catch a trout in the Arkansas River. But you can find Trout Fishing in America down by the river during Riverfest, as the Northwest Arkansas-based duo will perform two out of three days of the festival's schedule.
Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet, the duo who compose TFIA, will perform at 9:15 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday on the KidZone Stage. And they will arrive as not just singer-songwriter-performers, but also, for the first time, as published authors.
My Name Is Chicken Joe, a children's book that also contains a CD of 11 previously released songs, came out April 7, published by Canadian publishing house The Secret Mountain.
The songs include "My Best Day," "I Can Dance," "Something Sweet," "It's a Puzzle," "Fill It Up," "Why I Pack My Lunch," "La La Land," "Boiled Okra and Spinach," "Hard Ball," "Count on Me" and "Chicken Joe." That last song lends its name to the book, which includes drawings of a cat, chickens, a dog, a parakeet and a mule.
"It's been a long time in the works," says Grimwood, bassist in the duo. "We have talked about it for years and it finally came together from playing a lot of Canadian festivals. Through doing those, we met Roland Stringer ofthe company, who is intrigued with the idea of blending our music and a book. He put us into contact with the illustrator, a French-Canadian artist named Stephane Jorisch.
"Our songs kind of lend themselves to a story, and when I was a kid, I liked books and I still do. I read constantly. We worked with Stephane, who would send us stuff based on our songs, and we'd go back and forth until we would feel like, 'He's really got it now.'"
On May 2, Grimwood andIdlet played Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville. That was the first show on their 2009 tour at which they had the books available for sale.
"It was so cool to watch this kid who got one and then he was following along, singing the lyrics, which are part of the book," Grimwood says. "While we're on the road, we're at work writing the music for a musical at the Houston Main StreetTheater in Texas.
"Things are happening, all on the heels of a Grammy nomination we had earlier this year and putting out our latest album, Big Round World, late last year. We've been doing a lot of library shows, which is a special treat now that we're published authors. We'll be at Jonesboro June 5-6, so we're hoping that soon, libraries everywhere will want us."
Style, Pages 51, 53 on 05/17/2009