Colorado rock band takes fun seriously, drops third album soon Special

Tucson - It wasn’t the money that drew Brad Jones to rock music. After all, the current lead electric guitarist for Left Foot Green had made plenty of that, while playing six string and ukulele for a lucrative folk band.

Featured on NPR, the group had released four albums, produced national radio hits and provided a healthy living for Jones. But something was still missing for him. “I made a lot of money, but my heart wasn’t in it,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to play folk music. I wanted to play rock. So after a lot of thought and soul-searching, I switched.” Enter Left Foot Green. The fun-loving, energetic, four-member poppy punk rock band out of Englewood, Co. that performs both original and cover songs at concerts and has a third album set to drop soon. Their 2010 album release “Fun with Vengeance” featured six original cuts and an A-Ha’s “Take on Me” cover. Composed of the hard-rocking crew of Russ Kettle (lead vocals), Harmony Greenhalgh (electric violin), Jones (electric guitar) and Danny Schade (drummer), Left Foot Green is committed to the cause, having performed 88 shows last year around the country and 13 so far this year. Even outside of their demanding tour schedule, the members have music in their blood. Many of them had music-related majors in college. And when the four aren’t on the road as musicians, they are teaching music at schools or giving private lessons. “This is honestly the best group of players I’ve ever been with,” Jones said. “They are smart, talented, sick musicians who really know their stuff.” Schade and Kettle joined LFG after their sophomore CD was released, so this upcoming album will be the current quartet’s first one together. Compiled of all originals and no covers, Left Foot Green’s new album – currently untitled – features tracks such as “Facebook,” a tongue-in-cheek tune about a Facebook stalker, and “A Better Reason,” a more poppy version of a previously-released song. Showing the group’s range, the EP also includes the passionate and angsty beats “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Stay Away.” Each song is usually a 6-9 month process for the band. Once a song is born, there are countless additions, subtractions and revisions of musical and lyrical content to craft a final cut. “When we go into the studio, there comes a point where we have to break everything down, piece by piece, and ask ourselves if this is truly what we want,” Kettle said. “Upon completion of a track, we sometimes don’t know what it started as or the exact way it came about, but in the end, we have an awesome song.” Many of LFG’s songs are inspired by their own personal feelings and experiences. Take front-man Kettle, for example, who is the only one in the band with a child. “As a musician, you get to tap into life a lot,” he said. “Your own relationships are a big part of that, so you use that inspiration to your advantage. It motivates your song writing.” The 30-year-old Kettle has a fiancé and 2-year-old daughter Lyra. “The only reason I have the motivation to do this is for my kid,” he said. “I want her to be able to have a good life and experience things.” The band also said their upbringings influence their lyrics and song-writing. Three of the four members of Left Foot Green grew up listening to rock bands with controversial lyrics and swear words. In fact, when Jones was 9 years old, his mom handed him an electric guitar and an Ozzy Osborne album. To them, this early exposure made them open to putting bold content in their own songs, such as their single “Dick,” the leadoff track on “Fun with Vengeance.” “If you can put something on an album that the kids really want but the parents really do not want them to have, you’ve actually hit this awesome middle ground in the industry,” Jones said. But at the heart of it all, LFG said the main factor in their song-writing is the fun factor. After all, the group’s name comes from the goofy classic game “Twister.” “Let’s be real here – we want to be commercial and get on the Billboard charts,” Kettle said. “We want to write songs that you can sing to, dance to and get hooked on.” The band’s favorite song to play off its new album is “Must Be Love,” which its chorus humorously rings, “It must be love, because you’re so damn ugly.” “We don’t write these deep, dark songs,” Greenhalgh said. “I feel like we write songs where people can come to a show and just have fun. I hope that people will laugh at our lyrics and not get offended by them. I hope our fans just have a ridiculously fun time with our music.” Left Foot Green plays for its third time in Tucson on Saturday, March 23 at The Hut.