The Giving Tree Band: Just Like the Name | Q&A

[Editor's note: This Q&A previews The Giving Tree Band's concert tonight at Slowdown. Blue Bird and Brad Hoshaw open the show starting at 9 p.m. Cover is $7. RSVP here.]

story by Michael Todd | photos by Cam Penner

To touring bands, Nebraska is six hours wide, about 10 to 20 gallons of gas long and $435 million worth of road (and that's not counting repairs).

We admit, the 455 miles of interstate that stretch across our great state aren't a huge selling point, especially to a group such as The Giving Tree Band. This downhome rock 'n' roll seven-piece out of Illinois prides itself on taking the most environmentally conscious path.

"We recycle and compost in our van. We bring reusable utensils and water bottles. We fuel with biodiesel whenever we can. We try to limit our waste, and we travel lightly," explains Todd Fink (not that Todd Fink, from The Faint), who plays banjo alongside his brother and fellow frontman, "E" Fink. "We try our best to do better routing for our tours so that we’re not covering large distances unnecessarily and using more energy, creating more pollution."

But while the road is itself perhaps the biggest road block for bands, Nebraska's music community makes for an appreciative welcoming committee, Fink says. Just this past June, The Giving Tree Band played the Stir Cove concert series with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Tonight, the band that gives back to its environment, through its actions on the road and through its music, plays Slowdown in Omaha. Blue Bird and Brad Hoshaw open the concert starting at 9 p.m. More info here.

Here, Fink lists more ways in which his band considers their carbon footprint, how their latest album's title — without a direct translation from Spanish — describes the record's making and what he'd say to the other Todd Fink if he were to meet him.

Hear Nebraska: You most recently played Omaha’s Stir Cove with Edward Sharpe back in June, and what sticks out to me in photos of the show is your banjo. Is there a story behind the floral painted design on it?

Todd Fink: Yeah, it’s a Gibson Mastertone banjo that’s from 1976. We picked it up in Wisconsin several years ago. Then in 2009, one of my best friends, her name is Roehm Gonzalez — she’s an artist from Chicago — and she painted it with acrylics.

She came up with the design. It’s a floral pattern, but it forms the shape of a gold heart if you’re to look up close. I’ve worn off a lot of the paint with my finger from playing it on the head of the banjo. But that’s the story behind it. It’s made that banjo feel real special to me and real personal. Because she painted it, it means a lot to me.

And the gold heart in the banjo has become a symbol for our band. We use the gold heart in a lot of branding and marketing.

HN: I’m curious, was there a specific conversation you had with your brother, where you decided he would play guitar and you would play banjo?

TF: We both played guitar at the start, and he played upright bass in the very beginning, but over time, he suggested to me that, “You know, I think I’d be better suited playing the acoustic guitar, and if you could learn the banjo, we could really evolve or expand the sound.”

So I was open to the idea, and I first started playing on a six-string banjo, a banjitar, because I didn’t really know how to play the banjo. But I gradually adapted to the five-string banjo years back, and then we also brought in more musicians, and I’ve stuck with the banjo ever since.

HN: Do you know why your brother thought you’d be a better fit for the banjo?

TF: I think it was because I played classical guitar also. I was already accustomed to using the fingers on the right hand. I think knowing that, he thought the transition wouldn’t be too difficult. But he knew that he wouldn’t be able to play the banjo, and he thought it would add a lot to our sound.

HN: For sure. What do you think music adds to your relationship to your brother, that other parts of life might not offer?

TF: I think it offers a deeper level of understanding. Words are very limited, I feel, in expressing the emotions of human life. Music can reach a lot further, especially emotionally. I feel like listening to some of the songs that my brother has written, I have been able to understand the experiences that I witnessed but never fully realized how they affected both of us.

In music, you can feel that. That’s what the artist does. The artist tells a story through their medium and helps to express something. So because that’s the nature of our work, I feel like we’re able to connect on a deeper level. That’s not to say that there aren’t challenges, working that closely together requires that you communicate as effectively as you can, not just musically. But it definitely helps us to understand each other better.

HN: Definitely. Now, the title of your most recent album doesn’t have a direct translation from Spanish, so I’m curious what your definition of Vacilador is and how it applies to your band.

TF: It pretty much means an adventurer who is looking for something that he’s pretty sure he can’t find, but he goes after accomplishing something bigger than can be achieved. What happens in the process ends up being more valuable than what the person was going after in the first place.

So there really isn’t an English word for something like that, which is why we were fascinated with this word, vacilador. At least that is the context of the word as John Steinbeck used it in his novel, Travels With Charley, which is where my brother first found the word.

HN: How did your brother present that finding of the word, and was it pretty immediate that you decided it would name your album?

TF: He shared it with all of us, and we talk about titles every so often. But he felt pretty strongly about that, and I think everybody in the band thought that it made sense. The word sounded intriguing. And also, it described the process we went through when recording. We started out with a group of songs, and we didn’t expect to record “Brown Eyed Women.” We didn’t expect to win the Dead Covers Project with that song. And we didn’t expect to include a Grateful Dead cover on the album.

But after we had gotten started with the recording process, and recorded that song for something else then got permission to include it, it made sense for us to add that on. It ended up becoming the most popular song on the record. All that taken into consideration showed us that the word, the title, applied to our experience creating the album. We thought we were going after one thing, and we didn’t quite achieve that. But what we did accomplish is something we all felt even better about.

HN: Why is it important to you to be environmentally conscious?

TF: It’s part of the philosophy of life that we’ve grown up with. So it’s just an extension of our personal ethics. I think if you really consider the role the environment plays for an artist to do what he or she does, then I think you feel a sense of gratitude and responsibility. If you just think of our instruments, they’re all made from trees and so many parts of nature. And it’s taking something from the environment. So it’s important for us to give something back, and to do what we do in a responsible way.

We also want to inspire people, and encourage them to be more responsible as well. An artist has the ability to influence other people. Because of that, I think they have a duty to be in service.

HN: How do you tour with more respect of the environment, and how do you record? What are some of the ways you stay environmentally conscious as a musician?

TF: Well, we recycle and compost in our van. We bring reusable utensils and water bottles. We fuel with biodiesel whenever we can. We try to limit our waste, and we travel lightly. We try our best to do better routing for our tours so that we’re not covering large distances unnecessarily and using more energy, creating more pollution.

We’ve stopped physically distributing merchandise and have just made merchandise available wherever we are physically. Otherwise, it’s all digital. We do that to reduce the pollution that’s created from shipping products all over the world. We tell the people who are following the band to get physical products from the band when on tour, so that we don’t have to do extra shipping all over the country.

And when we’re traveling, we try to eat simply. We follow a very simple vegetarian diet. We support local businesses. We connect with local organizations, local farmers, independent artisans to get the things we need while on the road and to support local economies, and also other businesspeople that are doing things in a sustainable way.

So although it’s not the greenest thing in the world just to be out and about making music, if you can do it in a way that is inspiring people and bringing a positive message to people, then hopefully in the long run, it’s effecting positive change in society.

HN: Just curious then, as Omaha is fairly far from other major cities, is that something you take into consideration when planning tours through Nebraska?

TF: Yeah, unfortunately we haven’t been to Omaha that much because of that. Beyond Omaha, there aren’t a lot of major cities to tour through. On this occasion, we’re on our way to Colorado. We have to go there for a whole bunch of shows, so it made sense to come to Omaha this time.

We always want to go there, but it’s not always practical geographically. Whenever it makes sense, though, we look forward to coming to Omaha. It’s a great music community, with a lot of great things happening in Omaha musically.

HN: Yeah, I imagine you’re familiar with Todd Fink in the band The Faint.

TF: Yes, I am aware, and also, I have a lot of appreciation for not only The Faint but the whole music culture that they’re a part of. I know it’s confusing at times for people, so it’d be good to let people know that that isn’t me (laughs), so I don’t disappoint anyone.

HN: What would you ask the other Todd Fink if you were to meet him?

TF: I think I’d ask why he changed his name to Fink and made things so confusing for the two of us (laughs). No, I’m just kidding. I would probably want to know what inspired him to do that, though. I think it’s pretty cool.

Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska’s managing editor. He once experienced an earthquake and a hurricane, less than a week apart, while touring with an environmental group. Reach him at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.