The Relevance of Tea Leaf Green

The Relevance of Tea Leaf Green




In a slap of ironic realization, it struck me that seeing Tea Leaf Green on Saturday will mark 5 years since our introduction at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York. (My 5th year college reunion is this weekend as well.)



In many ways meeting Tea Leaf Green that night changed my life. They are and will always be the band that opened the door into live rock and roll for me. I was 21 and about a month away from graduating from college. I remember it was about a month, because it was the band’s tour closer and they were flying back to San Francisco and left me with enough weed and keef to coast me through until the final walk. I was very in demand that last month of school, ill never forget…because the shit TLG left me with was better than anything we had ever smoked on campus, and everyone wanted a taste.



People have asked me over the years to tell them this story, and I’ve never really gotten too into it, but for the sake of nostalgia here you go, this is how my rock ‘ roll adventure started.



I remember waking up at the hotel right as the sun was starting to rise to find the band running around like crazy, throwing stuff all over the room to make sure they weren’t leaving anything behind. There were a bunch of people crashed out that night, but it seemed that my friend Kate and I were the only two that actually managed to rage through the night and not find our own hotel room. I remember leaving the hotel and squinting up at the sun and thinking “what the fuck just happened last night?” Looking back now, I know what happened; it was almost an initiation of sorts into a lifestyle that once you are in, you never turn back.



Many firsts would happen over the next two years. The first time I fell in love, traveling to new places, developing a rather nasty drug dependency, terrible heartbreak, the loss of what had come to be a family, and my naiveté and any ounce of innocence I may have had left in me. All of these things, I blame no one for but myself.



When I jumped on the bus Tea Leaf Green was killing it, they were headlining and late-nighting at major music festivals throughout the country and selling out 3 night stays in New York City at Irving Plaza and Blender Gramercy. At this point the band had been together for about 10 years and everything seemed to be going as planned for them. They were playing their asses off and enjoying it. It was really a beautiful thing to be part of, watching this crew of 6 guys bask in their greatest desires. Then bassist Ben C. left the group, taking a pretty solid and beloved chunk on the Tea Leaf Green catalogue with him.



Things after that just weren’t the same for a while, it seemed as though the band struggled to recapture that fire they had within them. No matter how hard they tried, something was seriously missing. It was evident that Ben C. leaving the group affected much more than just the music.



In general emotions were high, and any level of comfort that was once felt was shot to shit. It was around this time that my relationship fizzled, and the many attempts at friendship were just too toxic. The animosity was too intense; I had fallen in love for the first time with many things, and was left on the curb alone, literally; on 23rd and 3rd.

I was devastated. I had spent 2 years with these guys and just like that it was over. Nasty things were said on my part because I was young and stupid. Instead of seeing all of the wonderful opportunities Tea Leaf Green gave me, I was stuck in the negative; where I would stay for another year medicating myself in my shithole apartment in east butt-fuck Queens.



Luckily for me, right before I hit rock bottom, I made a new friend who inspired me to turn it around.



So, the point of this story is growth. I had no clue that when I walked into The Town Ballroom that night that my life was about to go in a totally new direction. The band has gone through similar ups and downs; such is life. But the most inspiring part of this story is the ability to overcome.



Despite my self-separation from TLG, I have always kept up with their music. When the last album, Raise Up The Tent, was released I still had that feeling of “what is going on with these guys?” It left a lot to be desired in my opinion, especially after seeing the guys play over 100 times within such a short period of time. I just knew they were better than that.



Their latest album, Radio Tragedy!, reminds me of that fire that I used to watch so many years ago. Reed Mathis has since joined “Guitar Institute of Technology” grad Josh Clark, Trevor Garrod and Scotty Rager on stage. Another sweet edition is a second drummer by the name of Cochrane McMillian, which seems to have added some serious depth to their unique sound. Seriously, the song Easy To Be Your Lover has found its way into my daily rotation of jams, which is a first since Jezebel was my regular favorite in 2009.



Welcome back Tea Leaf Green, it’s been awhile…but I am really looking forward to this show in Baltimore at the 8x10 on Saturday.

check out some of the album, Radio Tragedy!, here: http://tealeafgreen.com/album/radio-tragedy
also on sale now.