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Film The Complete
Angler Purchase
DVD |
From the 62nd Annual Peabody Awards, held at the Waldorf Astoria, NY, May 19, 2003
“When Yale student James Prosek convinced the university to permit
him to write a senior essay on Izaak Walton, author of the 17th century
classic, The Complete Angler, he had not yet read Walton’s
book. When he did, he found it as much about a philosophy of life as about
fishing. Prosek’s “research,” which took him to Ireland
and England to fish the same rivers and streams as had Walton, is captured
in this very personal documentary that celebrates nature, fishing, and
most importantly, the contemplative life of the “complete”
fisherman. He discovers the art of “dapping,” a method of
fly-fishing still practiced as it was in Walton’s day, 350 years
earlier. He fishes streams flowing under and around London—streams
once central to water meadows, but now surrounded by parking lots and
high-rise apartment buildings. And he makes his way into the world of
private river-ways, fished only by the upper-class English gentry who
control the land through which the rivers flow. With lords and princes,
as well as with fishing guides and boatmen, he discovers a common bond
among anglers. It is a bond that erases social barriers among those for
whom angling is a way to discover the flow of life as well as the flow
of waters. Executive Producers Mark Shapiro and Michael Antinoro worked
with Producer Fritz Michell to craft this extraordinary film, written
by Prosek and directed by Peter Franchella. For presenting the beauty
of 17th century contemplation to today’s audiences in this exquisite
video tone poem, a Peabody Award goes to The Complete Angler.
Latest Album
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Anxiety • Peace •
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In the summer of 2003 Troutband members James Prosek and Joe Dochtermann played at a concert in Brattleboro, Vermont (hosted by Jack Rieley) where they met (home-schooled) Vermont natives, Ben Patton and Matthew Peck, playing with their band, The Most. The two duos got along and decided to produce their own fusion effort under the band name Poachers. Mark Conese (of Easton, CT) joined them on drums. The songs are all written by James Prosek and/or Ben Patton and are mostly poppy rocky numbers with some solemn folky stuff mixed in. The band rehearsed and recorded most of the tracks within five days. The songs are meant to sound more fresh than the extremely labored-over obsessive jewels of previous troutband moozeek. It was produced by the venerable Dennis Hrbek (and Joe) of Shelton, CT.
Complete Catalog
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Love for a
Dollar Listen to songs or purchase a CD |
This second effort by the Troutband features songs written by James Prosek (as with the first album) as well as original songs and vocals by Joe Dochtermann. This album was forged through years of winter retreats to an attic recording space in spooky Gebung Road, Alfred, Maine where Joe's parents moved from Westport, Connecticut. Inspiration was found in icicles and frozen steps to the studio and random paraphernalia left by the previous tenants of the attic (as well as absenta con agua). It is an eclectic group of songs ranging from straight folk to just weird, to happy pop. Breakup songs, together songs, all. Most of the instrumentation was done by Dochtermann and Prosek though other musicians have cameo performances.
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All Wet Listen to songs or purchase a CD |
The troutband began as a coffee house duet at Yale University. Original members James Prosek and Etay Ziv expanded to include troutband's producer and rocker Joe Dochtermann when the band members were 21 years old. All three were born in May, two on the same day May 23rd. It's a Gemini heavy band. Some years later besides rockers Etay is a doctor, James is a painter/author, and Joe is living as an artist in Hamburg, Germany.