Features, Print May 1, 2018

Trout Steak Revival – Play Us Some Mountain Music

by Rebecca LaPole

There’s full plate of exciting things for Colorado’s Trout Steak Revival. Steve Foltz, vocalist, guitarist and mandolin player for the 5-piece bluegrass band, took time to discuss their upcoming headlining gig in Estes Park on Saturday, May 12 and, among other things, the scariest camping sites in the US.

BW: We are excited to see that you are headlining Estes Park Mountain Music Festival! How did TSR get involved with EPMMF?

SF: Colorado communities like Estes Park really feel like home to us. I moved to Avon from the Midwest, then to Vail, Denver, and Coal Creek Canyon. Some of the guys lived in Conifer and Evergreen for quite a while. These communities have always felt welcoming to us; Estes Park too. We are excited to play the festival!

BW: What’s next after this performance and current tour?

SF: We have a lot more touring planned in 2018 on both coasts and the Midwest in the fall. We are hitting the studio again in June as well to make the first steps on a new album. It’s an exciting time.


BW: Some folks may not know how the band’s name came about. On a rainy camping trip together, you were dependent on someone to feed you all from the fruit of the river: trout steak! Is that something you all still get to do together – go camping as a group?

SF: We camp together on our days off on tour sometimes. We have camped in the mountains in North Carolina, all over the Midwest, near Point Reyes National Shoreline in California, Montana, Washington. . . oh man, we have camped together in some awesome places. We’ve also pitched tents for a night in some really terrible places – we camped outside of a horse racing track once, in the parking lot. Waking up in the middle of an enormous empty gravel parking lot – it felt like the zombie apocalypse was underway.

BW: Since moving to Colorado, do any of you miss home?

SF: It’s interesting. I miss home, but less since we began to tour full time in 2015. I get to connect with my family several times a year now, often in different places around the country. I also get some Wisconsin time every summer, much more than when I was working a “normal” job. My parents are both on the go quite a bit these days as well. We all make time for each other. When we are out on tour, I start missing my wife and my Colorado home the most!

BW: Do you have any advice for folks wanting to start a band?

SF: I attribute a lot of Trout Steak’s success to stamina. As we built the band, it felt like the steps of growth took much longer than we expected. We play about 120-150 shows each year. While we are on tour we travel in a van a lot, sleep in a different place every night. There are a lot of amazing moments on stage, there are also a lot of moments that cause you to ask yourself why you’re in a touring band. The thing that has held Trout Steak together over the years is communication. We treat each other fairly, we know each other very well and we know when to tread lightly and when to sit down and talk about it. It’s a family and we were friends first. My advice for a budding band would be to start a band with people you admire and trust: your friends!


BW: Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

SF: We are really excited to jam out at The Estes Park Mountain Music Fest! Thanks for the invitation, thanks for your interest in our music, and thanks for your support! It’s festivals like these that keep us going. Thank you, Estes Park!

Also, our van is for sale! (laughs) It’s a 2001 Ford E-450 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel with captains chairs and a power inverter. I’m half kidding – but if you’re interested, holla!

Trout Steak Revival closes out a full day of bluegrass at The Estes Park Mountain Music Festival on Saturday, May 12th. Tickets are available online at Epmmf.org or at the Estes Events Complex. Visit: www.troutsteak.com for more.