BY COLLETTE CAPRARA

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

It's Trout Fishing season at the Hylton Performing Arts Center and no license is required--just a desire to have a roaring good time!

Keith Grimwood and Erza Idlet, the Trout Fishing in America duo, have been bringing giggles to children and their parents for more than 35 years. The two met when they played together in a five-piece folk rock band in Houston, but quickly added venues for kids when an elementary school teacher--and fan--invited them to play for her students.

"She wanted to show the kids that, though you might hear music on the radio or CDs, it is people who make music," recounts Grimwood. "At the time, we didn't know any kids' songs, so we just played Beatles and folk music for them. The kids loved it, and we just loved playing for the kids, because their response was so honest and immediate."

Throughout the following years, Trout continued to do shows for adults but put the word out that they'd also be happy to play at libraries and schools for the younger set. When their first crew of fans began having children, they branched out with family shows that parents and kids could enjoy together.

Those children grew up to have their own families, and generation followed generation. Today, it is not uncommon for the duo to see three or four generations of families in their audiences. The record was five generations--at the 100th birthday celebration of the grandmother of their teacher/fan's husband.

In the 1980s, the duo had their own children and the threshold opened to a plethora of songs inspired by true-life adventures. For example, when Grimwood questioned his son Kevin (then 4 years old) about crayon drawings all over a wall, the preschooler denied that the artwork was his. When his father challenged "If you didn't do it, then who did?" the response came quickly and convincingly: "A monster did it! I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen."

Kevin's defense provided fodder for a wildly popular single and album titled "Big Trouble," a boy's tale of the damage that was done during a "home-alone" day when monsters overran his house.