Trout Fishing In America: “Safe House” (2022) CD Review

I am a big fan of Richard Brautigan’s work, especially his short stories, but I think I actually heard the musical duo Trout Fishing In America before I read the Brautigan book from which the duo took its name. Trout Fishing In America, made up of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet, has been putting out great music since the late 1970s. Their latest album, last year’s Safe House, features mostly original material, written by Grimwood and Idlet. They also play most of the instruments on these tracks, with Keith Grimwood mainly on bass, and Ezra Idlet mainly on guitar, but the two also playing fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, and percussion. A lot of good albums have come out of the pandemic, with musicians suddenly finding themselves with open schedules after venues closed and gigs were canceled. The songs on this album were written during that period, and yet have an overall positive, optimistic vibe, and are delivered with a sense of humor.  

The album opens with its title track, “Safe House,” in which they sing “It’ll be all right/When it stops hurting, it’ll be all right.”  I love those lines, because, while offering an optimistic outlook, they also acknowledge the pain. That same sort of cautious optimism can be heard in these lines: “This is a safe house/If the walls don’t fall.” I recall hearing that domestic violence increased during the time at the beginning of the pandemic, because suddenly people were forced to spend nearly all their time together. Again, I like that there is that uncertainty in this song, with that line “If the walls don’t fall,” for this has certainly been an uncertain time. And also there is that other meaning of “safe house” in the back of our minds, a secret place for spies to hide. That’s followed by “Knock Me Down.” That guitar part right from the start reminds me of Buddy Holly. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Nothing’s gonna keep us down/Baby, believe it/Well, the world changed once and the world changed twice/Nobody listened to my advice/Knock me down, but I’ll be back again.” Yes, it is a song of perseverance, with a pleasant groove. This song is lifting my spirits.

“Don’t Be Callin’” has a delicious, jazzy vibe, and is a lot of fun, beginning with a short instrumental section. “Don’t be callin’/‘Cause you ain’t got nothin’ to say/Don’t be callin’/‘Cause you ain’t got nothin’ to say/It should be a crime/When you waste my time/And you ain’t got nothin’ to say.” It is likely that you’ll have some specific people in mind when you hear those opening lyrics which make up the chorus. Then the first verse is delivered sort of as spoken word, and it is the IRS calling. Or is it? No, this song is about scams, people asking for money and passwords. This sort of thing has become more prevalent, to the point where I don’t even answer my home phone anymore. I let the machine field all calls. Wouldn’t it be great if those responsible for these scams were put in prison for the rest of their lives? Does that seem extreme? Tough, they deserve it. Anyway, this track contains another wonderful instrumental section in the second half, featuring a delightful bass line and some excellent work on guitar. “Oh, Those Afternoons” also has a great jazzy vibe. This is a song about what we do with our free time, particularly when most of us suddenly had more of it at the beginning of the pandemic, “Waiting for real life to resume.” I guess by now “real life” has largely resumed, though things still feel strange, and the pandemic is not yet a thing of the past. “So many hours in the day/Watch as they all slip away.” On this track, the duo is joined by Adams Collins on vibraphone, the only guest on this album, the vibraphone adding to the groovy jazz sound. This track also includes finger snaps.

The first of the album’s two covers is “Up And Away,” a track that includes some cheerful whistling by Ezra Idlet. “I could use a sense of humor/Without it, we’re all depressed and doomed-er/Worse, we are cursed to rehearse the last verse before it is due.” Ah, this duo certainly does not lack a sense of humor. This song was written by Gail Lewis. It is followed by “We Have Not Arrived,” which features some interesting percussion, and has an unusual sort of energy. “We came here long ago/But we have not arrived/It’s the only life we know/And we have not arrived.” At one point in the second half, the track gets quieter, as if concluding, but then grows again, going into a different section. That in turn is followed by the album’s other cover, “Barbed Wire Blues,” this one written by Susan Werner. They deliver a really nice rendition, featuring just vocals, acoustic guitar and bass. “‘Cause their wildest dreams/Were all fenced in/By the weight of family/By the feeling of sin/That’ll prick your skin/At the slightest touch/If you reach too far/If you feel too much/So their deepest hopes/Never were expressed.”

In addition to bass, Keith Grimwood plays fiddle on “Freeze,” a song with a pleasant and uplifting sound and rhythm. On this track, they sing “All my sisters, all my brothers/Please be gentle with yourselves.”  We need a reminder sometimes, don’t we? That’s followed by “I Love My Baby,” a playful tune. That first line caught me by surprise, “My baby likes Justin Bieber.” But hey, as these guys tell us, “True love don’t always make sense/When we try and take it apart/But when she smiles she drives me wild/She owns every piece of my heart.” So true. Here they mention various things that this woman likes. And it’s all fine, because he loves her. But we can still tease our women a bit for their peculiar interests, right? Especially if they like Justin Bieber. Okay, that’s not fair of me to say, since I’ve never actually heard any of his songs. Then there are more delicious jazzy sounds on “It Feels Good,” a positive number featuring a cool bass line and a nice lead on electric guitar. “Some people save the best for the last/But I want to start with dessert/Because it feels good.”

They then go into the bluegrass realm with “Where’s That Dog Gone Now?” This is another playful number. It even contains a reference to that dogs-playing-poker “art”: “He was out there in the yard/Now he’s off somewhere playing cards.” Ezra Idlet plays banjo and mandolin in addition to guitar on this track, and Keith Grimwood is again on fiddle as well as bass. It’s a fun number. That’s followed by “We’ll Always Have Ardmore,” a country song about playing music, and is another song that displays the duo’s sense of humor, as they describe some problematic gigs. “We were attacked on the stage of a Holiday Inn/By a man with unquenchable thirst/You’d think we’d hit bottom/But even bottoms have bottoms/And that wasn’t even the worst/We’ll always have Ardmore/In south Oklahoma/Where the waitresses hated us/And the audience did too.” I wonder how much of this is based on actual experiences. They add comments and reactions, possibly things they’ve heard people in the audience shout out. Well, again, they look at it with humor, turning bad experiences into a good song. The album concludes with “Looking At A Rainbow,” which offers this reminder: “If you’re looking at a rainbow, then you made it through the storm.”  This one also touches upon experiences on the road, and teaches us that there is a Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia. “When I was younger, I didn’t know/Now I’m older, I still don’t know/I don’t know what happens next/But I’m ready to go.”

CD Track List

1. Safe House
2. Knock Me Down
3. Don’t Be Callin’
4. Oh, Those Afternoons
5. Up And Away
6. We Have Not Arrived
7. Barbed Wire Boys
8. Freeze
9. I Love My Baby
10. It Feels Good
11. Where’s That Dog Gone Now?
12. We’ll Always Have Ardmore
13. Looking At A Rainbow

Safe House was released on April 22, 2022.