Trey Anastasio will ring 2016 on the cover of January’s Guitar World Magazine. Excited about the opportunity to geek out over his beloved instrument, the maple Languedoc, Anastasio sits down with Alan Paul, author of One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band, to discuss the incredible year he’s had. With pressures coming from legends like Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and basketball great Bill Walton, Trey discusses the details of what went into the whole process of Fare Thee Well, what came out of it, and how this year is arguably the most important in Phish history.
Centered around the love story between a man and his guitar, Anastasio opens up about his experience performing with the Grateful Dead for their 50th anniversary Fare Thee Well shows and the adjustments he made both to his mentality and to his equipment in preparation of stepping into the role of Jerry Garcia. Returning to his 1986 rig, breaking through comfort zones through research and appreciation, he describes how he finally achieved the “crystalline sound” and how it affected his tone (and playing) during the 5 shows (which totaled over 330,000 and a world of online viewers).
Trey Anastasio Reflects On Grateful Dead Experience
He emphasizes how his experience in writing the music for the Broadway play Hands On A Hardbody helped with the process of learning the 100 assigned tunes, and the difficulties that arose from working with a band that doesn’t really rehearse much. “Some people thought that all the charting might make things stiff but once we stepped across the stage it didn’t matter and we were loose in a Grateful Dead way,” says Anastasio. “But the difference is, they had played those songs together 400 times. We had never played them together, so I needed all the help I could get. And after all the work, I walked out on stage and got to board the Universal Studios Grateful Dead ride!”
Such experiences undoubtedly applied to the success of Phish’s summer tour and in recording Trey Anastasio Band‘s 11th studio album Paper Wheels (read the review here). When asked about the differences in his relationships with his bandmates in Phish and TAB, Anastasio responded, “It’s not as different as you may think. I’ve always wanted to create the ultimate band of what I sound like, and I want it to be that way for everyone… The goal of putting a band together is to celebrate everyone’s personality – to discover and celebrate each individual’s talents and end up with something greater than the sum of its parts. None of us in Phish are that great individually but we bring it all together.”
It’s no secret that Phish has been on top of their strongest game this summer, and Anastasio thoroughly agrees. “It’s hard to have a bromance that deep – but in music you can do it and it just keeps getting deeper.” The conversation closes with details of Phish’s history in hiatus, the emotional tolls it had on everyone involved, the pressure that went on Trey and the people that called him out, and what went into bringing everyone back together.
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In the reorganization of judgments and duties, Phish has been riding a wave that’s lasted since the first note rang in at Hampton ’09, “which has resulted in seven years of increasing goodness, which [Trey] believes has spread to everything we do.”
The article has an official street date of December 8, and includes a full look at Anastasio’s gear with photos by Danny Clinch. For more info, visit Guitar World’s website or Alan Paul’s Facebook page.
[Photos Courtesy of Alan Paul, from the studio where it all went town]