For the very few who have never heard you guys before, what would you recommend as the first show for them to download and listen to?

Trevor: I’m always of the opinion that every show we play is better than the last. I’d be like “Check out the last show we played”. That’s what I would say. If you ask somebody else that was a big fan, they would probably tell you, “Oh man, you gotta check out this date so and so”, but I don’t keep track of that. I’m like, “The last show we did. That’s probably the best you are going to get.” Unless it was a bad show. You know tour closers where I would like people to look. That’s when the machine is oiled and as tight as it’s ever gonna be. I would say a few months ago we played in New York City at the end of a tour and I would say check that out for right now. I don’t remember the dates. People have arguments about that. They’ll be like, “Go check out 2003 November 22nd”. I’m like, “Are you guys fucking crazy?”. I would take all those recordings and bury them in a hole somewhere, but people like them. All I know is that I’m not in touch with what’s actually good about what we play from what I can tell.

Actually you bring up a good point. Regardless of the band when a tour is announced and fans such as myself are always wondering (if we are fortunate enough to have the choice to go to multiple shows on a tour) trying always to pick the moment in the tour where fans think the band will be that well-oiled machine. You just mentioned in your last answer at the end of the tour. I realize the size of tours vary from a couple weeks to several months, but do you generally feel that the end of the tour is when you are gelling the most or do you see the peak in the middle or does it just vary?

Trevor: (Speaking about the end of a tour) We’re in peak condition. We’re totally tight. We’re kind of at a sense of where we want to be, but also at the same time the first show of the tour can be the lucid and most interesting. Songs tend to be longer at the beginning of the tour. At the end they will get shorter. In our minds we’ve cut out all the chicken fat, all the bullshit … all that bullshit jamming. Some cats really like that, and I like that too, but it’s hard to sustain that night after night. I’m always just trying to make things. I think we all feel better about the music when it’s really tight and kicks ass. We’re like karate chopping each other instead of tickling around trying to find where we are in the dark or something. And then in the middle, there is always those weird shows that we don’t expect anyone to show up to. Like a Tuesday night in some sleepy hollow when we will decide to play a bunch of random songs that we don’t ever do which might be a boring lame show for a big Friday night sort of crowd, but for those odd nights they could be really interesting and different, which I would like to have to just put in the tape deck and sit home and listen to. It doesn’t always translate that well for a rockin’ beer-drinking crowd.

Might be good for a Sunday night in Charlottesville at the Gravity Lounge.

Trevor: Yea, maybe. I don’t know. I think we are going to try to rock it for Charlottesville.

Just wanted to get some listening recommendations. Are there any albums that you’ve really enjoyed recently that you would recommend to me and others to pick up and listen to?

Trevor: Yea. Yea. This lovely lady named Jolie Holland just put out a record called Mexico City, which I’ve been really enjoying. We just listened to Sean Lennon’s record today. It’s pretty awesome. Randy Newman. I mean I love Randy Newman. I went and got his new record a couple months ago and it’s a kick. It’s like an old cranky man talkin’ shit, but I like that shit. Cranky old man talkin’ shit. We listened to the Shins today. We’ve meaning to listen to Nathan Moore. We’ll put that on. He’s a local Charlottesville guy, but we enjoy him. That’s for sure.

What is one of the best shows you caught last year in between touring and everything else going on in your life?

Trevor: I got to re-unscramble my memory now so I can think about what exactly I’ve gone to see. You know who I think is the most kick ass right now and they’ve been around for awhile, but really I’ve enjoyed going to their shows is the Mother Hips. I’ve been to a couple of their shows. I kind of look at them with a little bit of stars in my eyes. They kind of took a break for awhile and now they are back at it and they fucking kick ass. I am giving them my definite seal of approval if they ever come to your town.

I hate to put a label on any sort of band, but obviously the jam band label is associated with you guys. What are your thoughts on the grandfathers of jam bands, the Dead, going back on tour and then obviously Phish going back on tour in 2009? Do you think that is going to have any sort of effect, positive or negative on your touring this year?

Trevor: I think it can only help. I think it could revitalize things, get people excited about the music. I don’t really believe their is set amount of music that people can listen to. The more they enjoy, the more they will get. Or else, maybe if they suck, then people will realize the real shit is going down with Tea Leaf Green and they will devote their energy to that. I’m curious to see how Phish will be received. They have so many haters, you know what I mean? Everyone’s going to be like, “Aw man, they fucking suck”. I don’t even know why they would do that to themselves, to put themselves up to that ridicule, but I’m sure they will be awesome. They’ve been hanging out long enough that I’m sure that they need to do it. The Dead, on the other hand, I don’t know how good that could be, but they’re the grandfathers of everything. I’ll check it out. I like what they all do apart from each other. I just saw the Mickey Hart band last summer and they played with Kimock all those people and it was fucking awesome. And Ratdog. Say what you will about Bob Weir whether he is still an occupant of this planet or not, but that band is pretty awesome. Phil Lesh & Friends, Jackie Greene. That’s an awesome band too. They’ve all kind of branched off and hired these awesome bands. I wonder if they will bring that back and travel around to bring the Dead to be a higher revitalized source, but when it comes down to it, I’m not a huge disciple of the Grateful Dead but if I would be, I would be definitely miss the following of Jerry like everybody else. That Jerry is not the same.

I will say there could be an impact. I’m 37 years old and I caught the Dead in their decline about 20 times and I caught Phish a lot in the 90s. I feel like I a lot more educated when it comes to music now than 15-20 years ago when I all wanted to see was the Grateful Dead and Phish. With the economy the way it is and being a bit more educated on the music front, I would much rather spend my money on seeing you guys and save 80 dollars on other shows.

Trevor: Yea. I mean we are a deal … This is our time in the sun, so to speak. To go see the Grateful Dead, and I don’t know to what degree this will be with Phish, but it still is going to be a nostalgia trip for a lot of people. We haven’t been around long enough for the nostalgia trip to set in. I can’t wait until it does cause maybe we will charge 100 bucks for a ticket. Nostalgia is where all the money is at.