oh kee pah

Following Trey Anastasio’s spirited performance this past weekend at the Hangout Music and Arts Festival, we’ve decided to take a look back at this conversation with Jefferson Waful ran on the site ten years ago…

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio is one of the most influential musicians in the jam band scene. He just finished co-producing Phish’s latest album, Farmhouse, due out May 16. The band is currently preparing for an upcoming two-night stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall May 21 and 22 as well as an extensive summer tour in the U.S. He recently took time out of his busy schedule to speak with Jambands.com from the band’s office in Burlington, VT.

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately. It’s no secret that Phish was hesitant to jump into the jammy waters that define their music in 2009. When they did, they carefully dipped their toes over the edge, but only a few times did anything truly great materialize. I’m a big proponent of 2009 – I think the band sounded great overall. But let’s be fair, no goes to a Phish show to see a rock concert. We travel these unimaginable distances to experience those special moments of musical discovery that speak directly to the soul. These moments don’t come from particularly well-played composed sections (as nice as they are to have), but from a fearless group of musicians willing to explore their music to its deepest depths.