Plano rockers take name from small county town
by Cathy Spaulding
Staff writer
For a suburban rock band with an urban alternative thrust, Frognot sure has strong ties with the country.
There's that name, for one thing. The Plano group takes it name from the old Collin County town, Frognot, that's located east of Blue Ridge. there is no Frognot Post Office or any Frognot listing s in the telephone book, but there is a cafe. One rumor traces the town's name to a grade school kid who once brought a frog to school, then his teacher shouted "not a frog."
"The only way you know you're there is that there are lots of cows," said April Samuels, a 1987 Plano East High School graduate who plays percussion for the band.
She said she found the name while looking through a portfolio of photographs that could go on a compact disc her former band was making.
"It was a picture of a cafe and there was a sign that said, 'Welcome to Frognot,'" Samuels said, adding that the band, Pulp Society, considered using the picture and the title "Welcome to Frognot" on their disc.
The band broke up, but the name stuck when Samuels formed her current band in 1996 with her brother, Todd Samuels, Dennis Leonard and Kenneth Allen, all of Plano.
The band has even ventured out Frognot way.
"All the pictures for our CD 'Welcome to Frognot' were taken in Frognot," she said. "we tried to play out there. The area has Frognot-Blue Ridge get-together every year and we tried to pull off a performance."
Of Course, the band's reach now extends a lot farther than this eastern Collin County crossroads.
The Frognot CD is available at area Blockbuster Music stores, including two in Plano.
"We physically had to go to 15 stores and talk to people ourselves," Samuels said.
"The sales have gone beyond what we expected," said Todd Samuels, who graduated from Plano East in 1986 and now plays bass for the band.
The band also is beginning to get some air play on area radio stations, including KEGL FM-97.1, The Zone, FM-93.3 and Mix, 102.9. the band even reached down under to get air play on an FM station in Brisbane, Australia.
"We have our own website and the Brisbane station heard us and asked us to send them our CD," April Samuels said.
Frognot also spends plenty of time on the road, performing concerts just about every weekend.
Shortly after midnight Friday, they performed at the Galaxy Club in Dallas' Deep Ellum club district.
Other June dates include the Curtain Club and the Across the Street Bar in Dallas, Scruffy Murphy's in Waco and the Diamondback Saloon in Lawton, Okla.
Frognot also is popular at K. Trampy's in Purcell, Okla., a farm town of about 5,000 people south of Oklahoma City. There's another strong country connection.
"Purcell is interesting," said Leonard, a 1989 Plano Senior High School graduate who sings lead. "The Oklahoma crowd is different than what we're used to. They don't get a lot of live music out there, so they enjoy anything we play. We get people jumping up on the stage with us. The entire crowd participates in our shows."
He contrasted that with the more sedate Deep Ellum crowd.
"They sit back and enjoy the show," said Leonard, who also plays guitar, congas and violin. He said they landed in Purcell because the club owner used to be a fan of a band one of the Frognot players used to have.
In Purcell, "we're something they're not used to," April Samuels said. "They're used to hearing a harder rock. Here, we're still different, but we're not as unique."
"Down in Deep Ellum, people are more there to be seen," Todd Samuels said. "They get into the show, but on a much more serious level."
Leonard, who has performed in clubs since 1990, co-founded Frognot with April Samuels in 1996 after the break-up of their bands. They then added guitarist Allen and Todd Samuels, who plays bass and sings.
Despite their busy concert schedule, most band members have kept their day jobs.
Now, however, their top priority is to get better air play and exposure.