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Thursday - July 24, 1997
Hemp — not just for hippies?
Marijuana plant products may make the move into mainstream
By Mandy Cater
The Battalion
I magine a world where trees are free to live in
peace; a world where fossil fuels are not spewed
into the atmosphere by gasoline-guzzling cars.
This is the world of hemp.
When one says the word “hemp,” they often
catch someone’s attention. The first response might
be a raised eyebrow, or perhaps a toothy grin. Visions
of “Dead Heads” in tie-dyed T-shirts dance like sug
ar plums. That is because hemp has long been on
the fringe of the American society, part of the coun
terculture. But hemp may be mainstream soon.
Photograph: Rony Angkriwan
Bernadette Hinojosa, a sophomore environmental
design major, weaves a watch band with hemp.
Hemp is a plant with a bad reputation. Actually,
hemp fiber is derived from the plant Cannabis sati-
va, a native of Asia. Historical record indicates that
as far back as ancient China, people knew about and
grew hemp, making it one of the earliest cultivated
plants. Hemp growth spread to Europe even before
the Christian era, and eventually it made its way to
the United States.
■ See Related column. Page 5
For years, hemp was regarded as a plant of utili
ty. It was known for being a primary material in
ropes and cording. Clothing made from hemp was
common as well. The Declaration of Independence
and the United States Constitution were even print
ed on hemp paper.
Despite this seemingly respectable past,
hemp had a falling from grace. The change of
heart may be because of a little bursts of green
ery that sprouts from the tops of cannabis’ tops.
This flower is marijuana.
Marijuana became an issue of public concern in
the United States in 1937, when newspaper reports
linked crime to marijuana use. Governmental regu
lations sprung up via drug laws, and the future of in
dustrialized hemp in America was up in the air.
Recent years have seen a great deal of hubbub
surrounding conservation, recycling and earth-
friendly products. Research for viable alterna
tives to paper and fuel sources has once again
put hemp in the spotlight.
Renewed international interest in hemp has
spawned the creation of numerous markets and
hemp vendors around the globe. Because of corpo
rations like the American Hemp Mercantile, Amer
ican merchants can offer hemp wares, as well.
The American Hemp Mercantile is a national im
porter of 100 percent hemp twine, fabrics and paper
from Hungary. The corporation supplies the hemp
to merchants and crafters across the United States,
and even offers an on-line catalog of clothing and
accessories on the World Wide Web.
Bryan-College Station is no stranger to the hemp
industry, either. Thanks to suppliers like the Mer
cantile, local businesses can now broaden their of
fering of earth-centered wares to include hemp.
Hazel Todd of Bryan’s Earth Art said the public
definitely responds.
“Hemp has been popular for a while,” Todd said.
“It has that mystique about it.”
Earth’s First Farms in College Station specializes
in hemp merchandise. Although the store offers
more mainstream items like hemp clothing and pa
per goods, employee Bernadette Hinojosa said
people might be surprised by how extensive
the line of products actually is.
“We carry everything from shoes to food to
shampoo,” Hinojosa said. But the weirdest wares,
Hinojosa said, are hemp coffee and pet products.
Jerry Shears of the Mercantile said hemp
twine products are the most requested. They are
used for everything from making hammocks to
tying bails of hay to making jewelry. Earth Art
and Earth’s First Farms reported that hemp jew
elry is their best-seller.
The major obstacle for the hemp market in the
United States is, of course, price. With importing a
must, costs are difficult to keep low. Despite the ex
tra pocket change, though, the craze seems to be
catching on, especially with hemp fabrics. And the
trend is not just for hippies anymore.
“Even Armani comes to us,” Shears said.
Although its infamous topper causes problems,
the future of hemp is hopeful. Since marijuana
only grows on female plants, and agricultural en
gineering technology continues to advance,
promise for industrialized hemp growth in the
United States is on the horizon. Trial growth is al
ready taking place in the Midwest.
As environmental concerns continue, hemp’s
value may ensure it a spot on the American agricul
tural scene. Those in the know are certain.
“People do not know how valuable hemp is,”
Shears said. “It requires no chemicals and takes
nothing from the soil it leaves behind.”
Shears said discoveries have already shown hemp
a viable source of fuel for everything from automo
biles to stoves. For all those tree buggers out there,
though, there is a more important fact to consider.
“Hemp has a 120-day crop cycle, while a tree
takes 20 years,” Shears said.
So, in other words, hug a tree; grow some hemp.
Thursday
July 24
Ruthie Foster & Full Circle, a blues
band from Bryan-College Station, is
playing at Chelsea Street Pub and Grill
at 9 p.m.
John Reyna & Tubie Pushee, a classic
acoustic rock band from Bryan-College
Station, is playing at Fitzwilly’s at 9 p.m.
Friday
July 25
Ruthie Foster & Full Circle, a blues
band from Bryan-College Station, is
playing at Chelsea Street Pub and Grill
at 9 p.m.
Reudian Slip, an improvisational com
edy troupe from Bryan-College Station,
is performing at Dixie Theater at 9 p.m.
Gordian Knot, a Celtic folk band from
Houston, is playing at Crooked Path Ale
House at 9 p.m.
Mike McAllister, an acoustic musician
from Bryan-College Station, is playing
at Sweet Eugene’s House of Java at
9:30 p.m.
Bryan Terry & the Zydeco Travellers,
a cajun-Zydeco band, is playing at a
crawfish broil at 3rd Roor Cantina at 9
p.m.
Trout Fishing in America, a folk band,
is playing a children’s show at 6 p.m.
and an adult show at 9 p.m. at Dixie
Theatre.
Saturday
July 26
Darcie Deaville, a folk band from
Austin, is playing at Crooked Path Ale
House at 9 p.m.
Harvest Weekend is being held at
Messina Hof Wine Cellars from 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Ruthie Foster & Full Circle, a blues
band from Bryan-College Station, is
playing at Chelsea Street Pub and Grill
at 9 p.m.
Michelle Solberg, a bluesrock musi
cian from Austin, is playing with Lisa
Tingle, a bluesrock musician, at 3rd
Roor Cantina at 9 p.m.
Texas Twisters, a classic rock band
from Bryan-College Station, is playing
at Fitzwilly’s at 9 p.m.
Old Army with Roger Creager, a pro
gressive country band from Dallas, is
playing at Fitzwilly’s at 9 p.m.
Brian Whitaker, a classic rock musi
cian from Conroe, is playing at Sweet
Eugene’s House of Java at 9:30 p.m.
Trout Fishing
By Wesley Brown
The Battalion
T/"eith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet have been
K making music together as Trout Fishing
J. V.in America for as long as many students
have been alive.
Formed in 1976 out of the ashes of another
band, St. Elmo’s Fire, the Houston duo has been
a regular visitor to Bryan-College Station since
the beginning, bringing (to bars such as the old
Black Hat Saloon) its peculiar blend of folk and
humor. Bassist Grimwood said they welcome the
chance to return.
“College Station was one of the very first
towns to ‘get it’ with us, to really start to respond,
in advance of the rest of the country,” he said.
"We had people driving in to see us. It was one of
the first times that we really started to sell shows
in advance of playing them.”
Trout Fishing has shows for adults and for
reels in audiences of children and adults
children. In addition to being voted one of the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival’s “Most
Consistently Praised Acts” (along with Bela Fleck
and the Flecktones, Joan Osborne and others),
the band has received numerous awards for their
recent children’s album, Mine!
Despite its ever-increasing success, however,
the band has maintained its original format —
two guys with acoustic guitars, and, says Grim
wood, its original musical style.
“We have kind of a street performer-type
feel,” he said. “When street performers play —
the really good street performers—there’s an at
titude there, an energy. We try to capture that
rootsy quality with thewriting, too. For example,
one of the songs off of Reel Life (the band’s 1996
release) is about an all-night diner we used to go
in Shreveport, Louisiana.”
Since the beginning of the decade, however,
the band has received more and more national
attention. Performances in Canada brought
them attention up north, and with the addition
of manager Dick Renko, the band began in
earnest to establish itself as a national act.
Except for the addition of a drummer for a brief
time in the 1980s, the face of Trout Fishing in
America has remained (aging aside) the same. The
attitude, on the other hand, is vastly changed.
“In the mid-’80s, I was writing a bunch of
depressing songs,” Grimwood said. “One day,
Ezra said, ‘Try flipping it around and writing
something more upbeat.’ I tried it, and it
changed our whole style.”
Their latest release, Mine!, is their first pure
ly children’s album. The band was playing for
children as early as 1977, when teachers began
to ask them to play in classrooms. Although Idlet
and Grimwood had never written any children’s
music, they agreed.
“We ended up playing just the same stuff,”
Grimwood said. “Our more upbeat music
worked with the kids because we didn’t sugar-
coat everything like children’s music usually
does. In fact, we never really wrote anything
specifically for children, up until Mine!”
Grimwood said this album has allowed the
band to separate its children’s music from its
normal set, although there is some overlap be
tween the two shows.
“Still, of course, our regular set is an extreme
ly energetic show,” Grimwood said. “We create a
feeling that there are more than two musicians
are onstage, so that you can ask yourself, ‘Where’s
that sound coming from?”’
Trout Fishing in America has released seven
albums on its own label, Trout Records, and al
though Reel Life is half made up of live tracks,
Grimwood said nothing in the studio can com
pare to the live shows.
“When we play live, we try to set up the aro
ma of the club, to connect with the crowd and get
them really going,” he said.
Trout Fishing in America
MSC OPAS presents "A Taste of Summer” with
IBircaidlwaiy Cailbanret
featuring The Brazos Valley TROUPE and Friends singing
Orcadway cf the 8C’s and 9€’s.
Friday, July 25,1997
7:30 p.m. in Rudder Forum
Free tickets available at the MSC Box Office,
1st Floor Rudder Tower (Mon-Fri 9-4:30).
Call MSC OPAS (845-1661) for information.
Two tickets per TAMU student.
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