By: David Schultz
Photos from Madison House Publicity and TeaLeafGreen.com

Karma, instant or otherwise, has always had a place within the world of rock and roll: everything that goes around seems to come around. In that vein, Tea Leaf Green's recent weekend stint on the side stage at New York City's Randall's Island as part of the Dave Matthews Band Island Getaway brought to mind the DMB's 1995 two night stand in Las Vegas opening for the Grateful Dead. In the same manner that many young fans who found the Dead during their resurgence in the late eighties/early nineties eventually adopted the Dave Matthews Band as their own, many high school and college age Matthews fans, right at the impressionable age where the band they find today can stay with them for life, are getting their first exposure to Tea Leaf Green.



Taking a page from Mohammed, if the people will not come to Tea Leaf Green, Tea Leaf Green will come to the people. Since forming in 1998, the San Francisco based band, made up of keyboardist Trevor Garrod, guitarist Josh Clark, bassist Ben Chambers and drummer Scott Rager, have been slowly developing a devoted following, building their reputation as one of the most entertaining live acts through memorable festival appearances and noteworthy headlining club performances. Over a hectic weekend, which saw them open both days with condensed sets, Tea Leaf Green spent some time with Earvolution, revealing themselves to be a thoughtful, humorous and down-to-earth bunch of guys that are clearly appreciative of the accolades bestowed upon them by their fans. Also evident, they are having a lot of fun on their journey, remembering not to miss the forest for the trees.

Whether as a group or individually, Tea Leaf gracefully welcomes others into their world; extremely at ease around each other, the band's laid-back nature makes them a lot of fun to be around. Such collegiality seems logical given the band's origins, which trace back to their time at San Francisco State. After class one day, Clark approached Chambers and asked him where he could get some weed and a friendship between the two was immediately born. When Chambers showed up in class a couple days later with his bass, Clark told him he played guitar. They quickly started playing with Rager; Garrod, a botany major, coming into the fold last. Like most college friendships, they run deep. "We can actively hate each other and love each other; it's unconditional love," explains Garrod.

It doesn't take long to discern that Garrod and Clark are the more animated and vocal members of the group, quick to interject a quip or a joke into the conversation. When asked about whether they had an opportunity to meet Dave Matthews over the weekend, Garrod, with a devilish grin responded that, of course, they met the man. "He came in and threw Scotty against the wall and yelled at him for drinking all the whiskey," deadpanned Garrod. He then self-effacingly understates the matter. "He doesn't even know who we are." Clark can't help but be friendly and chatty; it seems inimical to his nature. After delicately rebuffing some insistent young ladies who recognized the talented guitarist and relentlessly beseeched him to bring them backstage, Clark joked about the debauchery they would have faced. When informed that they really wanted to get backstage to see Slightly Stoopid, the good-natured Clark wasn't fazed one bit, finding the whole situation humorous.

In contrast to his extroverted stage persona, Chambers, while no less expressive than his eloquent band mates, comes across as more reserved and thoughtful in his responses. Where Clark and Garrod seem quick to share their thoughts; Chambers often reflects for a moment, weighing his words carefully. Betraying the stereotype of the wild, uncontrollable drummer, Rager is a pretty quiet individual. While lounging in the hospitality trailer after their Sunday set, a couple of Slightly Stoopid fans joined the conversation. Mistaking me for a member of Tea Leaf Green, they proceeded to congratulate me on how well Tea Leaf played this afternoon. As I tried to focus their attention to Rager, the proper recipient of the praise, the non-plussed drummer gave me a smile and a shake of the head as if to say, "nah, go ahead, enjoy."

During their Saturday morning sound check, Tea Leaf cut through the sleepy silence of the empty, spacious Randall's Island acreage with a brief run through "These Two Chairs." Sitting in the shade of the sound booth, a tiny oasis in the bright and sunny field, it was, for a brief moment, like you had the band for your own personal concert. Indicative of the band's appeal, their short warm-up caused everyone setting up the various beer, water and eco-friendly booths to pause from what they were doing to check them out. Despite tired souls - the group had flown in from California the night before and anonymously partied at a midtown karaoke bar until the wee hours of the morning - the band possessed an energetic vibe they can't help but invest into any performance, large or small.

Known for their lengthy club shows, notable for the number of songs they manage to work into their set, Garrod expressed a bit of concern over the makeup of the crowd while crafting Saturday's set list for their 45 minute set. Acknowledging that they would essentially be introducing themselves to a good number of DMB fans; Garrod looked at their time on stage pragmatically, describing the set as essentially "a movie trailer." In trying to predict their audience for the weekend, Garrod imagined, "a lot of young kids that have yet to learn to rock." With a grin, Chambers added, "We're going to try and teach them."

If the sets were a movie trailer, they would be generating Oscar buzz. Over the two shows, Tea Leaf offered a tremendous display of what they can do: "Taught To Be Proud" and "The Garden (Part III)" showed off Garrod's prodigious gift for songwriting; "Sex in The 70s," from Saturday's set, offered Clark the opportunity to rip off a handful of amazing guitar riffs and solos, playing off of Garrod's equally impressive keyboards; Sunday's rendition of "Franz Hanzerbeak" showed off Chambers' ability to carry a song with an extraordinary bass hook and throughout, Rager's understated proficiency on the drums kept the various styles from going astray. Economically packing great songs, funky jams and an evening's worth of energy into a festival length performance, Tea Leaf finished when they otherwise might just be hitting their groove. In doing so, they adhered to the old show business adage: they left the crowd wanting more.

In the same way that fans were coming to check out Tea Leaf Green, they were likewise checking out the fans, seeing what they enjoyed. "It looked like they were responding the songs when there was someone singing," noted Garrod, comparing the reaction to the instrumental jams. Clark's reaction to the fans was a bit more comical. Realizing that a lot of the younger fans who are into the music were concentrating on what he's doing, Clark felt a little self-conscious. "The kids are really into it, really paying attention, really watching; it was kind of weirding me out a little," joked Clark. "I had this group of young boys just staring at me." Clark pauses for a second, basking in the bemused stares of his band mates. "It's cool cause they get into it in their own way, they're checking out my chops; but I'm like 'Don't look at my chops,' 'I'm sensitive about my chops,'" he says with playful exasperation. "They also like a lot more sharpness in the music; years of drug abuse haven't set in yet."

While the Island Getaway makes a wonderful opportunity to play for newer ears, Tea Leaf are cognizant of how they have come to the attention of the majority of their fans, attributing a good deal of their success to the increased communicative power of the Internet. "If there was no Internet, there would be no Tea Leaf Green," overstates Clark. "If you want to go around the record companies with an untraditional model, you need the Internet to make that happen," explains Garrod. "With us, it first started with 'I heard about you guys on jambase,' then it became 'I heard you guys on nugs.net' or the archives; now kids are coming up saying 'I heard you on Sirius' or 'I've got you as a friend on myspace.'" The band has even entered the foray of online sales: making their first three self-produced albums, Tea Leaf Green, Living In Between and Midnight At The Reservoir, available on TLG's Corner Downloads, their own BurnLounge site.

The online activity has resulted in new fans arriving at each show: some who have heard of the band and others who have literally heard the band through the band's enormous body of live material. While Tea Leaf freely acknowledges the benefits of having their live shows easily available, they also note the flip side. "A lot of people go download the music first to check it out," says Garrod. "They'll either be into it or not. So it can work against you too. We have so much free live stuff. You don't know what kind of recording they're getting." Clark also sees quality control as a problem. "We've changed as a band," he says. "You don't know if you're sucking that night." Garrod puts it succinctly, "Here's a trade secret: sometimes your band sucks."

One of Tea Leaf Green's live shows (recorded on a night that they didn't suck), a May 19, 2006 performance at Boulder, Colorado's Fox Theater, will be prominently featured in their latest project, Rock 'n' Roll Band, their identically titled CD and DVD releases that hits stores on October 31, 2006. The DVD project originated with Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Chambers explains that the genesis of the project came when Kreutzmann, a fan of the band, brought the idea to their manager. "He wanted to do a film of a band that could be big, before they were big." The band claims they didn't do anything special or different, playing a normal show. "We dressed up nice and shaved," concedes Clark. While essentially a Justin Kreutzmann project, they did insist that the DVD, which will not be a full concert release, contain complete renditions of songs instead of snippets or partial performances. There will also be one or two songs unique to each release, offering fans two subtly different experiences.

Tea Leaf doesn't consider themselves a jamband: although they realize the appropriateness of the classification and do not shy away from the term; considering the jamband label both a blessing and a curse. "When your first coming up it really helps, because it's a community," says the soft spoken Rager. "As you try and work your way up the ladder though, it definitely hinders you a bit." Clark echoes Rager's opinion, noting, "You get written off fast." Clark marvels a bit at the loyalty inherent in the jamband scene. "They're very obsessive. It really is an individual thing, a connection to the person on the stage. They call Jerry, Jerry, not Mr. Garcia; they call all their favorite musicians by their first name." Referencing the Phish boards, especially some of the extremely harsh and mean comments oftentimes posted there, Garrod notes that, "For the most part we have a pretty positive community." "Our fans haven't turned on us yet," he says with a mischievous grin. When do they expect their fans to turn on them? "When we make a lot of money," beams Clark. "Then they'll call us sell outs. And I'll be like, 'I got a lot of money, cool.' I'll buy myself new friends." "It'll be a bunch of Russian mail-order brides," teases Garrod.

The strength of the songwriting in Tea Leaf's songs sets them apart from the stereotypical jamband. Influenced primarily by the music of the sixties and seventies, Garrod draws inspiration for his songs from just about anything he comes in contact with. While too many jamband songs seemed structured as a framework for instrumental improvisation, Garrod's songs are fully fleshed out thematically tinged works, touching on historical figures, religious imagery and good old ambiguous metaphors and poetic turns of a phrase that have always had a place in folk, country and rock and roll. "I have a theory about this," Garrod proclaims. "Jambands are usually fronted by excellent guitar players who have no business writing lyrics to sing." While Garrod strolls about with a Patron bottle in hand expounding on this theory, Clark, a guitarist and songwriter, looks on in bemused disbelief as if to remind Garrod that he's still in the room and can hear him. In support of his theory, Garrod notes that Jimmy Page was smart enough to get Robert Plant to sing his songs rather than try himself. When Garrod finishes, Clark asks him, "So my songs are shit and I have no business singing or writing?" With a grin, Garrod dismisses Clark's protests, quickly replying, "I'm not talking about you." Clark then spends the next few seconds staring at Garrod until they both start laughing. "It's a theory," finishes Garrod. "An unproven theory."

The guys in Tea Leaf raise very few obstacles between themselves and their fans. "You want to create that sort of environment, where it's very informal," notes Garrod. While they enjoy meeting the very people who make it possible for them to do what they love, they also realize that you can't always be everything to everybody. Clark expressed a great appreciation for the passionate fans, showing great understanding when their enthusiasm takes them overboard, realizing there is a meaningful connection at work. "It's weird when someone comes up and says 'I love you, man,'" points out Clark. "You want to say, 'Have a seat,' 'Have a beer,' and have a regular chat; but it goes in a different direction. Your 'mythical' stage persona is all that they know." Chambers notes that the desire to be social can also be a bit of an onus, "cause if you're not, they'll think you're an asshole." Although the Tea Leaf guys have managed to maintain relatively normal personal lives, Chambers concerns on the invasions of privacy drew boisterous, good-natured teasing from Garrod and Clark who questioned whether "Hanzerbeak's got the paparazzi following him." "We're in the limelight. Lots of times it's very restricting," Chambers explains with seriousness. "If all of us walked outside naked right now and rolled around in the dirt, people in the west coast would know about it." Still playfully mocking Chambers, Clark points out, "No one is peering in my bedroom window."

The raves of the community that has formed around Tea Leaf Green have resulted in fans inflating their expectations as to what the band can deliver. While they normally meet such raised hopes, they don't feel any real obligation to live up to any hype generated outside their control. "Nobody ever lives up to any of that pressure," says Garrod. "We're thrilled that people are interested, period." Chambers shrugs off any perceived burden. "We give them the best gig we can have." As for negative publicity, they are more than rational and understanding about its role in the larger scheme of things. "There's always going to be someone talking about you," explains Clark. "The more you hear people talk shit about you, actually, the more popular you are," reasons Garrod. "The more you hear the harsh criticism, the more it's a function of your success." If anything, Garrod feels the criticism pales in comparison to the analysis he could provide to his and Tea Leaf's own material; Garrod being his own harshest critic.

Their reputation as road warriors is borne out by their constant touring. In estimating that they are on the road for about seven months a year, all agree that it feels like one endless tour. "When they say they're going to break a band, they mean it," says Garrod. Although they match their three to four weeks on the road with the same amount of time at home, they rarely get a chance to rest, playing shows along the west coast instead of lounging on the couch. "The only reason I got into rock n' roll was so I don't have to wake up before noon," says Clark of the irony of his hours. "We hardly sleep because we have to get up for the next sound check." Chambers describes the schedule as "pretty brutal." As for the dark side of touring people that don't get to see: Garrod points out that "we're getting up at the crack of dawn;" Clark chimes in with "the perpetual hangover." Over the weekend, their reputation for being party-loving guys, one not rebutted by Clark and Garrod's good-natured battle over whether they should be a whiskey or tequila drinking band, may have led to some chafed feelings with their fellow side stage bands. On Saturday, they may or may not have drank the Yonder Mountain String Band's liquor (they honestly don't know), leading to an awkward conflict and clearly marked coolers the next day.

On their last trip to New York in conjunction with the Jammy Awards and the Green Apple Music Festival, Tea Leaf played the soon-to-be-closed CBGB, comparing the experience with their first show at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. While others may have seen their show at the historic club as an honor bestowed by the Festival's organizers (one likewise given to Umphrey's McGee), Tea Leaf humbly took it in stride, accepting the opportunity to play without seeing it as their right. "I licked the walls," says Clark about their time in the dank club. "I have a cough I can't get rid of. Joey Ramone had the same cough," brags Clark.

The CBGB show also served as a bit of a celebration for winning the Jammy award for Song of the Year for "Taught To Be Proud." "Our management knew [that they had won] about two weeks beforehand and didn't tell us. They wanted to surprise us," related Chambers. "We were trashed; I didn't think we were going to have to talk; I thought we were just going to sit and watch the show," recalls Clark. The surprise might have worked had they not bumped into Vinnie Amico of moe. shortly before the award presentation. "I came out of the bathroom," says Clark. "Vinnie saw me and said 'Dude, shouldn't you be on stage.' That's when I figured out we won." Although they didn't have any remarks planned, Chambers ad-libbed marvelously: examining the microphone carefully before memorably asking the crowd, "Where's the carb on this thing?"

In the always turbulent music industry, Tea Leaf Green are currently at the center of their own personal storm of goodwill: fans around the country are excitedly raving about them; their concerts are being swapped and downloaded with great frequency and the venues they are playing are increasingly getting larger. Despite all their success, to a man, they remain extraordinarily grounded; seeming to remember the truly important things in their lives. Early Sunday evening, Chambers and Garrod could be found standing alongside the Harlem River catching up with friends. Approximately forty yards behind them, a legitimate rock spectacle - a Dave Matthews Band concert for 60,000 plus people - was about to take place; the excitement palpable. Unconcerned with the excitement to their backs, Garrod and Chambers opted instead to calmly take in the sunset over the Queens landscape while listening to one of their friends discourse on the beauty of the moment.

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