Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Me, Arlo and, of course, Alice...

Phish: The Biography

It is possible I am more excited about this than the actual Phish reunion itself. Then again, I am a jamband writer/dork, and I did once cancel a playdate in kindergarten to watch Transformers:The Movie by myself the day it came out on VHS. As I posted on Relix and Jambands.com:

Over a decade after the release of Richard Gehr’s The Phish Book, author Parke Puterbaugh has nearly completed Phish: The Biography, the first narrative history of Phish. The biography is culled from numerous interviews Puterbaugh conducted with Phish and its organization while serving as the band’s official in-house writer for almost ten years. The noted music and travel writer has also contributed to Rolling Stone, USA Today, Outside, Men's Journal and Stereo Review, among many others. He has also served as a freelance curatorial assistant and writer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland since its inception.

The behind the scenes narrative is expected to hit stores in May through The Perseus Books Group, before the band presumably plays its first summer shows since 2004. As of press time, the group’s only confirmed appearances will take place at Hampton, VA’s Hampton Coliseum from March 6-8.

Joe and Marco

A random thought before I start my week…


I had this moment at Marco's show Saturday when I realized that Phish will forever my band and the Disco Biscuits my musical family, but the Duo is truly the soundtrack to my 20s in New York. Not only because I feel like I've seen Joe and/or Marco at least once a week since I moved here, but because their mixture of avant-jazz, rock and jam somehow manges to keep divergent elements of the Tonic, Knitting Factory and Wetlands scenes (respectively) alive in the 21st century. They're the missing link between the New Deal and Galactic, indie-rock and funk, twenty-something freedom and thirty-something responsibility. Plus, the way they structure their songs---the loose themes and instrumental passages, tied together by reoccurring hooks and melodies, which ebb and flow before fading into the night---seem to parallel how I've bounced my way through this strange scene in this strange city at this strange time of my life...

Here's someone else's vision of some of my favorite nights...

Benevento, Fishman and Mathis



Benevento, Russo and Barr



Russo, Hamilton (x2) and Metzger



Russo, Benevento, Lesh, Anastasio and Gordon