CULTURE- FRIDAYS UPDATE Too, too: Embarrassment of riches for Trees on Fire

With music school braniacs holding down four of the band's five positions, you'd expect Trees On Fire to be prolific enough composers to have more than a single EP under their belt. They're still waiting on the follow-up to last year's The Green Room, but lately they've been logging some time at a Lovingston recording studio in an attempt to bang out new tracks for what drummer Paul Rosner says will eventually turn into the next album, possibly with another EP along the way

"The hard part is that we have prolific songwriting going," he says, "so every time we think we have a pretty good list for the album, something new comes up that's pretty amazing." That'd be the fault of guitarists Blake Hunter and Rob Mezzanotte, who've been writing buckets of new tunes on their own and then fleshing them out with the band during rehearsals.

Bassist Brian Wahl is excited about the new material: "We have some serious material that we're trying to translate," he says.

Chances are it'll all be road-tested by the time they actually get to lay it down for keeps– they're headed off for a tour of the Northeast later this month that will include stops in New York and Boston (the former college town of several members).

"That'll be a homecoming of sorts for them," says Rosner. "May is going to be our busiest gigging month ever."

Amid all that hustle and bustle, they're also rolling out Big Picture Initiatives– because, as Hunter told us a year ago, they hope to "reach a large audience and affect their lives for the better, affect their view of the world and their understanding of what's going on." 

Their last major performance in town was at a benefit show to raise awareness about aggressive mining practices in nearby rural areas, and these days Mezzanotte is excited about a new batch of t-shirts made from organic cotton and other incoming green promo materials. (Bursting with excitement, he initially says, "Our fliers will be wind powered!" before clarifying.)

"I think the best way to make things change is if people are getting money. If the market is rewarding it, they'll continue," says Wahl. But sometimes– like with their carbon footprint as they truck all their equipment up to Boston and back– the little picture still has to win.

"Windmills kill 300 golden eagles a year in California," he adds with a sigh. "It's a trade off."

Trees On Fire performs at Fridays After Five on 5/9.

#