"My Name is Chicken Joe" (36 pages, $16.95, Secret Mountain) is an illustrated version of one of the band's songs, an exploration of how names don't always reveal what a child expects. Chicken Joe happens to be a cat. Miss Kitty a dog, and King Kong a parakeet.
"Interestingly, all the characters in the book are real animals," said guitarist Ezra Idlet, who with bassist Keith Grimwood, constitutes Trout Fishing in America, a four-time Grammy nominee.
"Miss Kitty is my mom's dog. Chicken Joe is actually Keith Grimwood's cat, who was named Chicken Joe because he actually slept in the hen house when it got cold, because it was warm."
The book, illustrated by Stephanie Jorisch, includes a music CD with 11 previously released songs and printed lyrics for the songs.
Idlet and Grimwood have been playing together for more than three decades, pulling off the tricky feat of making their songs entertaining for both adults and children. Part of this success is their expert musicianship, but it's also the lyrics that can be enjoyed at two levels.
The song, "It's a Puzzle," also the title of a Trout album, is part of the compilation. It includes the line, "Isn't it a puzzle that an is'll be a was?" The wordplay is enough to keep a young child engaged, while the tune and rhythm can keep adults interested.
While "It's a Puzzle," ponders the concept of time, not all Trout Fishing songs are that ethereal. Idlet recalled a more earthy topic from a songwriting workshop.
"A kid wanted to write a song about boogers," Idlet said.
After he spoke up, the boy was waiting to be told to watch his mouth, but Idlet said they instead went with the idea. The result was the song "There's an Alien in my Nose."
In a similar vein a song that's included with the book, "Why I Pack My Lunch," centers on the horrors of the school cafeteria. "The lunch bell tolls, we go bravely to chicken knuckles with toxic gravy, cream of tea bags, wombat pelt, lizard lips, what's that, smelt?"
Grimwood's wife, Beth, has a hand in the writing, and Idlet says she shares the perspective on how to address children.
"We're real people," Idlet said. "We were both real kids and we raised real kids. It's just natural, not a contrived thing. We don't start out by saying,
'How empathetic we can be?'"
The workshops have become a key career element for Idlet and Grimwood. To spend a healthy amount of time at home in Arkansas, the duo usually tours by playing three gigs and then heading home, Idlet said. Workshops tend to be booked to coincide with their concerts.
