Tea Leaf Green returns to Bloomington

They have been together for 13 years, and it keeps getting better, Tea Leaf Green guitarist Josh Clark said.

Clark and the rest of the band  will kick off its most recent tour in Bloomington on Thursday.

The show will take place at 9 p.m. at The Bluebird Nightclub.

This San Francisco-based jam band is no stranger to Bloomington. Thursday’s show will be the band’s fourth time performing at the Bluebird. Clark said the group returns to Bloomington because every time it plays, it is a good time.

While the group has experienced changing membership since its creation, it now exists as a five piece — guitar, bass, keyboard and two drummers. Having such a large group doesn’t inhibit the band’s ability to create, Clark said, but rather offers ample material to pull from.

“Everyone’s different in what they dig — classic rock, folk. The common ground is what we grew up on,” he said.

In addition to musical genres, members often take a personal or more individual approach when formulating songs, he said.

“It isn’t necessarily just music,” Clark said. “It’s what happens to us, our life experiences that shape our inspiration.”

Junior Chris Lucas said this musical diversity paired with a unique energy sets Tea Leaf Green apart from similar bands.

“They have a Phish feel to them, but their jams aren’t as guitar-centric. I really like the fact that the piano player sings a lot of songs and jams a lot,”  Lucas said. “This is a component of jam band music that I really like, when the keyboardist goes crazy, because they have so much versatility with the sounds they can make on their instruments.”

Allie McFee, who graduated from IU last year, said she is a fan of Tea Leaf Green. She said the heavy piano presence in the band’s music is what keeps her coming back to see the band live.

“The real reason why I like seeing them and why I keep going is because I really like the piano and it’s easy to dance to,” McFee said.

A long-time fan, McFee said she noticed an evolution in the band’s music, citing that the sound has recently taken a new direction, though some sort of evolution was bound to happen in the course of the 13 years of Tea Leaf Green’s existence.

Despite shifts in sound and the hardships of being on tour, Clark said the hard life of sacrifice is worth it.

“When you think about being on tour, you think about freedom, but it’s really about being places and meeting obligations,” Clark said. “But beyond that, the freedom part is getting the chance to scream into a mic, making music at night, being in charge of your own destiny.”

TEA LEAF GREEN
WHEN 9 p.m. Thursday
WHERE The Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut St.
MORE INFO Patrons must be ages 21 and older