Phish

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Phish

Friends since high school, the members of Phish have rocked the world and it’s millions of fans since 1991. Many who are not familiar with Phish’s music may hear the songs and consider them similar to the Greatful Dead, after all, they do have many things in common. After reading this paper, hopefully the reader will figure out for themselves the distinction, and experience a new insight into world of music featuring Phish.

Trey Anatasio, the lead singer of Phish, had been writing music since high school. A native of New Jersey, Trey failed elementary music class not because he was a bad musician, but because he had poor behavior. That did not hold him back though. Trey completed his high school experience in Connecticut. An avowed Led Zeppelin fan, Trey caught onto the drums very quickly, but still had yet to pick up a guitar. "It was not until his junior year that Trey began playing the guitar, but his virtuosity was immediately apparent" (Bernstein, 1).

College was where Phish was put together. In his first month at the University of Vermont, Trey teamed up with fellow freshman, Jonathan Fishman (Fish), when Trey heard drumming through his dormitory walls and investigated the source of the sublime rhythms (Bernstein, 3). The next member, Jeff Holdsworth, was found in much of the same way. The three teamed up and jammed together in one of the rec rooms at school. Mike Gordon joins the band next, responding to signs posted around campus.

As it turned out, Jeff knew someone who needed a band for an ROTC Halloween party to be held in the basement of a campus dorm. The band volunteered to take the gig. Even though they had only been playing together for a few months, they had assembled a play list of cover tunes and a demo tape. They played under the temporary name of Blackwood Convention (Bernstein, 4).

Around 1985, the members of the band came up with the name Phish, when horsing around with Jon Fishman’s last name. It stuck and that became the name of the band.

After the name was established, the band started to get more and more gigs. They signed a five week contract with a local bar to play happy hour every Thursday. The bar, although popular, did not attract big crowds, but the band did however, attract loyal fans.

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