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You can't argue: music is most definitely a subjective topic. Another person's audio-noised bliss is another person's sour taste. As a matter of fact, mainstream music repetitively floods the radios across the nation, and likely the world. Like many, I akin to lending open ears to unique talents out there whom I certainly want to see take over radio and CD/digital downloads sales than witnessing another popular artist and his/her bland new album. I want to introduce you to one of those excellent talents with a laundry list of radio plays with her amazing yet unique musical tones that will sooth your ears with fun: it's Brooke Trout! Enjoy!

Note: All questions and answers provided are presented in its entirety, unless noted otherwise. No parts of this interview may be copied, republished and/or claim ownership of this content whatsoever.

1. Who/What got you into making/producing music?
   That is a combination between my mom and my Grandma. My mom got me started in with piano and guitar lessons when I was in grade school. My Grandma was also very musical, in a jazz band until she was in her early 70s. She told me I'd always have music no matter my age.


2. Who inspired you the most, music or otherwise?
   If I was to be entirely honest here I would have to give the credit to Casey Kasem and his show American Top 40. I used to be glued to the radio when that show would come on. I loved to predict what artists would make it to the number one. It really did develop my love and appreciation for all different kinds of music and I still to this day try to listen to anything and everything I can. This has been very useful to me as a music journalist which I have been doing for the last 15 years. I have written for The Santa Maria Times, Bitchin Entertainment.com, All Access Magazine, Mahoganygirl.com and most recently Music Connection Magazine.


3. What live venues have you performed at?
   I've performed at most of the major venues on the Sunset Strip including The Roxy, The House of Blues and The Viper Room.


4. How many albums have you released?
   Four; Bittersweet, Networth, Chasing Windmills and the latest is Fish Out Of Water. They are all available online on iTunes as well as Amazon.com, CDBaby.com, etc.


5. Besides guitar, what other instruments do you play?
   Ukulele, piano, and recently xylophone which you'll hear on my latest album.


6. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
   Jack White, because I feel he single handedly saved rock and roll... which never really died, no matter what Richard Simmons says... I mean Gene Simmons - Haha!


7. What song(s) are you most proud of that you like folks to listen to?
   I'm pretty happy with Cities Under Siege from Chasing Windmills and Shine from Fish Out Of Water because they incorporate the first guitar solos I've crafted and performed on albums. In the past I played primarily rhythm guitar so getting to the instrumental level has been a big stepping stone for me.





8. If you had the chance to choose any live events anywhere in the world, where would you most like to perform?
   I've been wanting to find my way to South by Southwest in Texas. I heard they love the blues there and I do love the blues!


9. What is your favorite thing about making music?
   One thing I really love about music is if you're not going by sheet music and you just bring in different collaborators, everyone paints their own picture. One song can suddenly take on a whole different life and sound just depending on who is contributing to the overall sound collage. I think that is the real magic of live improvisation and why so many people are drawn to bands like The Grateful Dead because every performance is something totally new.


10. Tell us about your new upcoming album.
    The latest album is Fish Out Of Water with my new band Brill, an indie-alt-acoustic duet with my former band mate and Flat Cat Radio host, singer/songwriter Dave Strauss. We just released our debut album Fish Out Of Water on CDBaby as well as on iTunes. Our first single “O Song” was featured on several programs including JVonD Radio in Boulder, CO, MuseBoat Radio in Las Vegas, NV, The Soupy Gato Show in The Netherlands with syndication in the UK and The Daily Dose on The Insomnia RadioNetwork. Fish Out Of Water has also been featured by Slacker Radio and Muzoic.com. We have music videos for O Song and Shine on Youtube.


11. You have told jokes at your live performances. What's the best joke you've told?
    They were never really good, very cheesy to be honest with you - but we would ask them as questions and whoever guessed the punch line would get a goodie bag. I think one of them was what kind of vitamin does a fish take? Vitamin SEA...They were of course always fish related due to my Brooke Trout stage name.


12. Fans and supporters have read this far. What will you like to say to all the readers, your fans and your supporters, along with your new listeners and fans?
    I always try not to stick to any one particular style of music because my own personal music collection is very eclectic and some of my favorite songwriters like Prince also mix things up in that way. I have heard it said by many at the end of the day that it all goes back to the blues anyway. I think if you like your music to be a fun mix you will equally enjoy our tunes!

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Big thanks to Brooke Trout for her time in answering our questions! For more on Brooke Trout, visit her official website BrookeTrout.com.

To purchase your copy of Brooke's new album Fish Out Of Water, you can do so on iTunes, Amazon.com and/or CDBaby. Check out her other albums at BrookeTrout.com/albums/.