Evolutions: Two Afternoons with Frog Patrol

Before Frog Patrol began rehearsing, they had to make sure the dogs were comfortable. Jared Triggs—bass, backing vocals, and host for the evening—situated the dog beds by the mixing board. Jacob "JB" Barrentine, guitar and vocals, made sure the volume on her amp was not too loud. Only so much can ever be done to mute the drumset, but Garrett Liles, drums and vocals, made sure to give Cashew and Luci some loving attention. Nobody played a note until the dogs were set. That is because Frog Patrol are a true home brew outfit, and there are certain responsibilities when rehearsing between a kitchen and a living room. But it is also because, first and foremost, they are good people.

I sat down with them for one rehearsal, one live show, and one round of take-out from their favorite Chinese buffet.

It is July 18th, 2026, and I am sitting in the audience. This home brew band is playing a home brew venue: the multi-dimensional backyard of their multi-hyphenate audio engineer and childhood friend, Thomas. Inside his basement music studio, I spy a wood frog guiro, a Fushigi ball, and more drums than I can count. Thomas has brought together a varied group of friends, family, and neighbors from across West Georgia. Frog Patrol command an impressive home brew stage, which abuts an impressive home brew skate park. I pull my wife's chair out of the way of a neighbor who boards past on his Santa Cruz.

I stand up during sound check to get a chair of my own, and I make it halfway to the car when Frog Patrol begin their set with "Reversal," their first official studio single. I run back as soon as I hear the motoric opening bassline. I'll just sit on the ground, chair be damned. I'm not missing "Reversal" live. If ever the Jethro Tull comparisons were justified, it's on "Reversal." The studio recording features a lofty flute solo by flautist Jacob "JW" Womack. The chant which permeates the lyrics begins as a tuneful companion to the bassline, but it concludes as guttural, heavy metal imperatives.

Referencing concepts from Tao Te Ching, Liles describes the mantra in "Reversal" as "the moment of unequal pressure balancing out, or instability sort of resolving to whatever it has to resolve into." That pressure builds all the way to the song's conclusion. The stable, lonely, and hypnotic bass which opened the song ends buried beneath by an ensemble sound which is full to bursting. In the studio version, that solo flute strives up a chromatic rise to a peak note which fits into the final chord yet still brims with potential energy.

"Reversal" is followed by "Blue (#0000FF)," the band's second official studio single. In two songs, we are given a sampler of the band's various offerings. First their fascination with worldbuilding, then their fascination with color. Ambitious prog rock revival, then something that dances as much as it rocks. "Orbweaver Act II" follows, a cut from the second of two upcoming albums. "A super secret song for a super secret time . . . and a super secret audience," announces Liles from behind the drums. The band are very interactive with their audience. During the bridge of "Blue (#0000FF)"—the only part of the set when the drums rest—Liles performs a live Pokémon card unboxing. (It was a Mega Gallade ex, by the way). "Orbweaver" represents more of the prog rock the band has in the hopper, imbued with Frog Patrol lore which the band will share via comic panels in their upcoming zine.

Absent from the stage but present in every note is Joshua Ruff. "He's not dead, he's just not here," remarks one band member between songs. The band have a mandate to collaborate on their work, setting parameters on each part to coalesce their ideas into concrete songs while trusting each other's expertise on their own instruments; that being said, Ruff's creativity unites much of the songwriting. "He wrote a lot of the melodies and riffs for most of the stuff on the first album," says Liles. Each member takes pride in their personal contributions to the musical fabric, yet they trip over themselves to give Ruff credit where it is due. Beyond writing much of the material, Ruff contributes synths, guitar, percussion, and harmonica to Frog Patrol's fantastical sonic landscape.

The set ends with "Green," some modal rock which shares the chord progression of its meditative opening with "Hey Jude," its overall vibe with Pink Floyd, and its color with the leaf which lands in Triggs's hair mid-set. "Green" picks up halfway through, metamorphosizing into an up-tempo closer with joyous, effervescent hammer-ons and sunshining Allman Brothers energy. Frog Patrol's influences and interests are varied (their submission to NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series was self-described as "psychedelic post-apocalyptic," and Triggs himself prefers the term "genre-fluid") but there are some central threads which tie together all that they do.

It is December 13th, 2025, and those central threads are evident from the very first downbeat of rehearsal, once Cashew and Luci have curled up in their dog beds for the afternoon. Whether hex codes or fantasy tales, jazz rock or heavy metal, the songs of Frog Patrol are united by a musical curiosity that's palpable, married with a true joy for instrumental excellence. They do not rest on their laurels. Evolution on their respective instruments is part of their five-year plan, and they account for that growth in their vision for where the music will go. There was not a song on the list where a single musician phoned it in, in terms of creativity or performance. They were gracious enough to let me jam with them on my acoustic guitar while rehearsing "Green," and they left me in the dust just trying to keep up with their chord changes (an easy feat for any band, to be clear, as I am quite the amateur, though it's a testament to their resistance to simplicity nonetheless).

Mission critical is one final common thread through their work: that kindness I mentioned before. That goodness. Linked to their Instagram page is a "Master Document" with links to learn about and support humanitarian efforts in Palestine, Sudan, the DRC, and more. It is December, facing an empty box of sweet and sour, that Barrantine confides, "I hope that people see what we do and are inspired to do something similar. If not start a band and make music, go support your local scene." It's July, facing a forest of friends and supporters, that Barrentine concludes, "We have been Frog Patrol. You have been wonderful. We love you all dearly."

Frog Patrol's first studio album, Volume One, is due Fall 2026. Their live album, Live in Jacksonville 2-18-23, is available now on all streaming services, as well as their studio singles "Reversal" and "Blue (#0000FF)."