Tea Leaf Green set to usher in New Year
Tea Leaf Green set to usher in the new year A rock jam band from San Francisco will be headlining a New Year’s Eve show in Chico.
Tea Leaf Green was formed in 1998 by current members Scott Rager, Josh Clark, Tevor Garrod and former member Ben Chambers while Rager, Chambers and Garrod were studying at San Francisco State University. Garrod, the keyboardist, was studying botany at the time of the formation of the group. None of the other members were music students. According to Garrod, Rager studied history, Clark studied fine arts and Chambers, the original bassist, “majored in marijuana,” if you can catch his drift.
After graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in botany, Garrod “hit the road” with Tea Leaf Green. On top of playing keyboard, Garrod serves as a songwriter and vocalist for the band.
Throughout the history of Tea Leaf Green, many members, including Garrod, hated to admit who their main musical influence was, but with time, they’ve come to terms with it.
“I used to hate to admit it, but in retrospect, I think it’s true that when we first started the band together, we were all heavily influenced by Phish,” Garrod said. “We denied that for years, but looking back, I can’t deny it anymore.”
Part of the reasoning for denying Phish’s influence on Tea Leaf Green is, at the time of their formation, Phish was one of the more popular bands in contemporary rock, but Garrod and his bandmates wanted to come off as “original” as possible.
“We were trying to make ourselves as individuals; we didn’t want to say we were influenced by anybody,” Garrod said. “We wanted to say, ‘we’re ourselves, we’re totally original,’ but we were definitely listening to (Phish) and we were inspired by them.”
As for his songwriting, Garrod credits the likes of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan as some of his other musical influences as he looks for influences of folk music when writing songs.
Over the course of their career, Tea Leaf Green has released eight studio albums, a collection of live albums and have made many live recordings of their shows accessible online for free via their website.
Besides the occasional oneoff show on a weekend, Tea Leaf Green no longer tours as frequently as they used to.
Clark, Tea Leaf Green’s guitarist, had kids in recent years, and Garrod is putting his botany degree to good use as he is now a wine maker.
However, that’s not to say Tea Leaf Green is over, as that is far from true.
The band has been working on a new album, which will be their first release since their 2013 album, “In The Wake.”
“We started writing and working on music for a new record in February, and we started recording in May,” Garrod said. “It’s pretty much done; now we’re just mixing it.”
Tea Leaf Green will be headlining the Big Room at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico on Dec. 31. The band will be joined by Mescalitio, a South Lake Tahoe-based band, as the opening act.
“I used to hate to admit it, but in retrospect, I think it’s true that when we first started the band together, we were all heavily influenced by Phish. We denied that for years, but looking back, I can’t deny it anymore.”
— Tevor Garrod
Doors open at 8 p.m. with Mescalitio performing at 9 p.m. and Tea Leaf Green performing at 10 p.m., and they will play into the new year.
“I think people can expect to have a good time, get loose with our guitars and have some jams,” Garrod said.
Tickets for Tea Leaf Green’s New Year’s Eve show can purchased at eventbrite.com.