"Came from the baby's mouth..."

So the other day my buddy Phil told me about this website where this guy has been practically doing what I have set out to do with this blog. However he goes into more detail about certain shows, posts links to song compilations he has thrown together and such. While it is a great site, I really want to focus on me. Not to sound self serving or anything, but I wanted to try to regurgitate old memories (if possible) and tell the magical tale of Me and the four from Vermont.

To do so we have to go back, way back. Now not as far back as when the band started in 1983 because I don't think a 6 yr old from Montgomery, Alabama would understand what that band was all about.

So let me begin with 1994. (Junior year of high school).

Now I was into alot of music at this point. Primarily the classics like Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Beatles, etc. Mix all of that with the average mid-90's flare of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. However I wasn't afraid to dabble in all types of music. Growing up my family's only stereo was in my room and in my parents car. I had to find my own sound and my own tastes because damn if I was going to listen to the local country station in Montgomery for the rest of my life. I mean my first cassettes were Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill and Run DMC Raising Hell. So moving right along with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, the Police, and Roger Waters in high school put me in the prime condition to prepare for Phish.

As I can recall the first song that I heard was "You Enjoy Myself". Truly the defining song that showcases the band's many talents. I think I heard it on cassette at a buddy's house just randomly and at the time thought it was good, but didn't rush out to my local music store to grab a copy. Although now that I mention it I believe someone did make me a copy of that tape. It was called Junta. Junta? What the hell does that mean? It was then that I began to realize that this band was just plain silly. I didn't pay too much attention to it at first because honestly my head was so far up into Pearl Jam that I thought I had found my band. I was wrong.

That year I got a second part time job at Blockbuster Music. For what it's worth, Blockbuster Music was originally Turtles Music, but got bought out by Blockbuster because they thought they could dominate not only the movie rental business (at the time was VHS, wow) but could also rack up in cd sales. Yes they did fail and were bought out by Wherehouse Music, but more on that later.

So as with any music store employee, a wide array of music is at your disposal and boy did I take advantage. At our store we had a cd listening bar where anyone could listen to a cd, new or used, before purchase. Granted this was before the advent of the ipod and the mp3 revolution, but it gave us a chance to get our feet wet in all genres of music.

My store manager was Jamie Kendrick. A really cool dude in his late twenties I believe at that point but we got along well none the less. During the slow hours Jamie introduced me to some really good good music and albums that I can't live without now. Things like Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and Frank Zappa's Overnight Sensation, the list goes on and on. However he never really revealed his secret weapon to me until I asked. I remember working one day and Jamie was running around frantic on the phone with his mom. Apparently Phish was playing the David Letterman show and Jamie somehow scored tickets. He was on the phone with his mom trying to book plane reservations. So I'm thinking, ok I've got to find out what this is all about.

I asked Jamie which Phish cd I should go for first and forgetting that I had Junta on cassette. I think he said "all of them" but pointed me towards Hoist. He said that it was the most "commercial" record they had done to date and the most easiest to get into. And it was at the time, but I still thought it was silly. The songs were great from start to finish. I really started to appreciate what this band was doing. The mix of genres, the different tempos and chord progressions, and the harmonies sold me. I needed another cd so I bought the rest of them. I was preparing for college as a new found Phish fan. Thanks Jamie.

"The time has come for you to be alive again" ?

So here I find myself writing my very first blog. I don't really know where to begin or how to begin for that matter. So I suppose this will serve as some sort of diary perhaps or maybe a novel that probably nobody will read. Whatever this turns out to be I do know that the ultimate purpose for these writings is to document the past (what I can remember) and post the random present day thoughts about how the band Phish effected and effects my life. Now I will forewarn you that many of the writings you may find in here will become thoughtless almost stream of conciousness blabber. That's because I'm not a writer. I may write one thing and then do another. So be warned. And please forgive my grammar, cause it's bad.

For those of you who don't know the band Phish, they are a smorgasbourd of music, theatrics, life, joy, mystery, experimentation...wait I can't explain what they are. I could attach every word in the book to this band in one way or another. However for those wishing to explore the technical definition to the quartet from Vermont you can begin here:

http://www.phish.com/bandhistory/index.php?year=1983

I really don't have the mental capacity to explain what they are. And I don't really want to either. All I know about is the journeys they took me on and will continue to until I'm gone.

If you have met me you would know that my passion for music outweighs any hobby I could even imagine. Whether it's listening to, singing, writing, playing, seeing etc. I'm not sure where I got the musical bug but I do know that Phish has taken me to another level of music appreciation unlike any other band.

Now some might say that, "Oh yeah, the hippie jamband", but that is exactly what someone might say who doesn't really know what they are all about. I don't like to stereotype them as a jamband although they are classified as such. To me, the mixture of rock, jazz, improv, blues, funk, trance, bluegrass, hip hop, metal, accapella, etc. should not be given such a label.

Do they get that label from the scene they create or come from? How did a bunch of college nerds get stuck into that? Sure they jam, that's a given, but not everything can jam. Sometimes silence and simplicity are golden and I have heard that in this band on many occassions.

When I think back I like to think about what this band creates. And it all comes back to energy. Now that may sound a little bit cliche or hokey because all bands have energy. But not like this one. I relate their energy to a pyramid. By this I mean that when the four members of this band converge (like the four corners at the base of a pyramid coming to a point), the energy collected from the crowd causes an explosion. Not in the literal sense although pyrotechnics would be very cool but could never be timed right. I mean an internal explosion. Physically, mentally, and spiritually all at once. Like a nuclear orgasim. Wow, too deep for the first blog. I will come down from the clouds now.

More on this subject later.

What really sparked the idea for this blog came from an article I read recently. As you should know by now Phish is returning to the stage for the first time in almost 5 years. If you don't know and have been wrapped up in the hurricanes, economic disaster, historical election, and whatever else is going on in the world, Phish took a split in the summer of 2004 with no intentions of reuniting. After starting the group in 1983 and touring straight for twenty something years, not including the small hiatus in 2001, the band decided to hang up their gear.

It was the right thing to do at that time. Each of the band members had their own projects and issues going on at the time that it reflected upon the music. Don't get me wrong I love the music with all of my heart but something was out of place. So as their final song at their summer festival Coventry (which is a blog by itself), Phish concluded their touring career with the song they first wrote together "The Curtain..with". They broadcasted this performance live via movie theatre screens across the country. The curtain was closed and that was that.

Or so we thought. But did we really?

On Oct 1st, 2008, it was announced that Phish was set to play 3 shows at the infamous Hampton Coliseum aka The Spaceship.

Don't it look like a spaceship? It certainly takes off like a spaceship.

So the question is, "Why now?" "Why Hampton?". Well I think alot has happened in five years for everyone. Trey has done his solo thing, done some home arrest time, and had alot of time to think. Mike has his solo career in full swing. Jon has hopped around in his various projects, and Page has had some time to not only do solo stuff but more importantly play dad.

Why Hampton? Because not only is it one of their favorite gigs to play but it just sounds so damn good in there.

So the biggest question for me personally is, "Where does this put me?". This is the inspirado for my blog. Certainly I am not the same person I was 5 yrs ago and I don't expect myself to jump right back in exactly where I left off. Also I don't expect the band to be the same band either. It wouldn't suprise me if they came out a totally different Phish. I even wouldn't throw it pass them to retire old standard Phish songs for the sake of moving on. In some respects I would appreciate it if they started fresh or phresh for that matter because Phish is and will always be an ongoing evolution. It's what they do and I think that if they don't then why bother? I know if it was me in that band then I would realize that I can't just go back out there and rock out like I did when I started the band at eighteen. And the same goes for me speaking as a fan. I'm not gonna go out there and party my ass off and do the things that I did when I was on tour at the age of 22. It doesn't make sense. I want to be able to appreciate and honor what that band is about to become.

I was talking to my lovely Meghan the other day and realized that it's only been 5 yrs since I was in that mode and alot has changed so quickly. It's amazing how it feels like forever but it's not. I got engaged, bought a house, started a new career. Wow. And to think that the shows happen the weekend before my wedding is a mindblower. I guess it is a new chapter of Phish in my life and I'm so thrilled and excited to see exactly how the story unfolds.