Press Release:

Les Claypool�s Frog Brigade will take to the road this summer for a series of concerts dates in support of the group�s new album, �Live Frogs - Set 1,� which was released April 10 on Claypool�s own Prawn Song label.  The Primus bassist/vocalist and his Frog Brigade will play the Gathering of the Vibes for the group�s second consecutive year, and will also join Phil Lesh for a run of outdoor amphitheatre shows.

Claypool was in Vermont all of April with Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio recording the debut CD of their collaborative project, OYSTERHEAD, which is due out this Fall on Elektra Records.  With tracking now completed, Claypool is back home in the Bay Area and will shortly begin mixing the album with Toby Wright (Alice in Chains, Primus, Metallica), and then to prepare for the Frogs� tour.

With more dates to be added, confirmed stops for Les Claypool�s Frog Brigade Summer 01 tour are as follows:

JUNE 16  Family-A-Faire, Pt. Orford, OR
29  Gathering of the Vibes, Red Hook, NY

JULY  1  Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA  (with Phil Lesh)
 6  Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver, CO  (with Phil Lesh)
13  Float-Rite Park, Somerset, WI  (with String Cheese Incident)
14  Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI  (with Phil Lesh & String Cheese Incident)
24  Finger Lakes Amphitheatre, Rochester, NY  (with Phil Lesh)
27  PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ  (with Phil Lesh)
31  Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD  (with Phil Lesh)

�Live Frogs ­ Set 1� was recorded at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last October 8 and 9, 2000. The CD was produced and mixed by Claypool, and recorded by Derek Featherstone and Don Pearson, with Mike McGinn handling the live engineering chores.

The seven tracks on �Live Frogs ­ Set 1� include King Crimson�s �Thela Hun Ginjeet,� Sausage selections �Riddles are Abound Tonight,� �Shattering Song,� and �Girls for Single Men,� and Holy Mackerel�s �Hendershot� and �Running the Gauntlet.�  �Shine On You Crazy Diamond,� the Jack Irons version, closes out the CD.  �Live Frogs ­ Set 2,� which is the Frog Brigade�s live performance of Pink Floyd�s �Animals,� will be released on July 24.

Les Claypool is best known as vocalist/bassist/creative force for the irreverent, high-energy band Primus, that began a hiatus about a year ago.  Claypool, who has said, "I have to be doing a bunch of stuff or I�ll go nuts,� has been involved in a variety of side projects including Oysterhead, Sausage (an ongoing version of the original Primus), Holy Mackerel (which included Henry Rollins and jazzman Charlie Hunter), and Rat Brigade (a side project including members of Rat Dog, the Grateful Dead¹s Bob Weir¹s band).

Beyond the Frog Brigade and Primus, Claypool is a producer, songwriter, video director, multimedia artist, cartoonist, and screenwriter, to name just a few other hats he wears.  Along with Primus manager David Lefkowitz, Claypool is co-owner of Prawn Song Records which was founded in 1989 with the debut of Primus as its first release.  �Live Frogs ­ Set 1� is the label¹s first new release in five years.  Plans are in the works for an ongoing series of archival Primus live recordings.