The Tea Leaf Trio, Tea Leaf Green’s Trevor Garrod, Reed Mathis, and Cochrane McMillan, recently spent time on the road with the Mickey Hart Band. The trio’s sets have featured a number of covers and now the musicians have released Volume 1, a free album of 13 improvised cover songs that was recorded at Coyote Hearing Studios this summer.

Of the recordings Mathis says, “Improvisation is undoubtedly one of the sweetest fruits on the music tree. I have always felt that trio is the optimum vehicle for group improvising… every move you make is of great import in a trio, every sound or silent space is a surprising new direction, and you can turn on a dime like a school of fish. Trevor and Cochrane and I have been abusing our improvising privileges with glee and abandon lately, and you can hear the results here. We are proud! The reason for the covers (other than the simple enjoyment of a great song) is that musicians tend to take more risks when playing a cover….your own song can be too personal, too precious, too self-revealing to monkey with. But a Dylan song…? There’s no definitive way to play a Dylan song, even to Zimmy himself. So we set out on a sound voyage in borrowed boats to uncharted waters. We recorded all 13 songs in one volcanic night of inspiration. In the words of our engineer Dave O’Dell it was ‘a perfect storm’. I concur. I hope y’all enjoy the trip! Real raw humanity here. The sounds of friendship and trust. Offered to y’all in a spirit of honesty and excitement. More to come!”

Tea Leaf Green will perform at Bartow, WV’s Camp Barefoot on August 28.

Fans that would like to download the album can do so here.