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Sprout and the Orange Take to the Road: Mid-Michigan JamBand Faves Embark Upon Midwest Tour
By Scott
Baker Helping bring the group Sprout and the Orange to the top of the Tri-cities original music scene hasn't slowed him a bit and that's not to mention how busy he's been since fatherhood and his job have required an equal chunk of his precious time. Come May 17, the group's first Mid-West tour kicks off and Johnson wouldn't have it any other way. "We've been stuck here for six years (and) we're just now getting out," he said during a phone interview last week. "We did the Nashville thing for six months. It was great and we learned a lot. But it's not the same as just going and getting on tour." With a two week tour booked and the possibility of some big events planned prior to that, the Brothers Johnson (guitarist Aaron and vocalist/guitarist Brian), the Brothers Nyquist (drummer Steve and bassist Matt) and keyboardist Justin Weisenbach, are getting ready to taste life on the road. With Brian handling the initial booking of the tour dates, the band has been preparing this for a long time. "It took about two or three months to put together and we're pretty much headed to Indiana, Kentucky, some Ohio shows, Virginia and we're going to end up in Nashville towards the end," said Aaron. "Right now, basically the shows that we have are just us. I think we are going to play a couple with a couple of other bands going on." In the midst of the tour idea, a long-time Deadhead friend has been helping them gather possible other additional nights based around the jam bands scene this spring. "Right now, another guy (Justin Gadd) is working on some shows prior to (the tour). So we could end up going and doing parties for Trey Anastasio (ex-Phish guitarist). (We'll) Play in towns where Trey's playing and play after shows for bars there and get a good thing going on that way. It could spread more than to just the Trey thing. We're going to try and maybe do a (couple dates matching with) Widespread. We've got a lot of friends that follow Widespread Panic around." The thought of the jam-scene crowds spilling their way has been a monumental idea for the group. "We're going to try to get into some towns where there's going to be a bunch of people there to see a big show," continued the guitarist. "Hopefully we can get the word spread that way. I think it's going to be good. Right now we're scheduled to leave the 17th (May), but (with any luck) it's probably going to be before that." While it's always more lucrative to come out ahead, Johnson insists that this tour will be based on hopeful fuel funds. "It's strictly exposure," he stated. "It'd be nice if we could make some money. Some of them might be (free), but most of them we're trying to get at least a guarantee, because gas is so expensive. We've got to get something so we can make it, but we're not focused on the money, we just want enough to get by, get us to another show pretty much." With the early planning of the tour, each member has had time to prepare for the time off of their regularly scheduled jobs. "The tour is)
Through about the 30th of May for right now," said Aaron. "This span of
shows we're doing on our own is about two and a half weeks. But we're
cramming it in there. We're going to play about ten shows in that two
weeks." "He's been
emailing people, sending press kits out. We've always done it on our own.
We're basically going off the fact that we're probably going to have to do
most of this stuff on our own.
"We've been hitting the studios as often as we can," said Aaron. "We've got a couple of new (songs). We're trying to get enough songs together so we can put another album out. But the money situation is the main thing. By the time we get back, I'd say in a matter of about three months, we'll probably have a new one out." Having seen many bands come and go in the area, Sprout is proud to be hanging in there for the past six years. Johnson feels its time for promoters to take a peek at the band and give them a chance to open for some national acts. Not just locally, but nationally as well. "(We want to) Get out, get our name heard. I think we deserve to be at least opening for somebody big. I'd be happy with whomever. There is a lot of bands that are out right now that are getting a lot of recognition that I think we could have the same kind of recognition if we were given a chance to open for 'em. A lot of our friends are into Widespread Panic; a lot of 'em are into the whole jam-scene, (like The) Allman Brothers, Umphree's McGee. It's just a matter of showing these people that we can do it, that we mean business." Before they head out of state, Sprout is having a local kick-off show--a fund and food-raising event for the tour. They hope to see not only their friends and families come out to support the group, but hope to rally in as many well wishers as they can. "We're not too
proud to accept anything," laughed Aaron. "So we're just going to throw
that together. It should be up on the website (soon)." |
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