With the recent Phish tour and festival announcements, summer finally feels like it’s just around the corner, and with that, sit-ins and collaborations should be abound throughout the live music scene. However, as most phans know, Phish is not necessarily well known for inviting other musicians on stage, although it has not been an uncommon occurrence throughout the band’s 30 plus year history. Their resume of guest musicians is quite impressive.

As a salute to the recent tour dates, here is a playlist of 16 great Phish sit-ins and collaborations throughout the years.

1. Carlos Santana – 1992/07/25 Stowe Performing Arts Center, Stowe, VT

This special collaboration between Phish and guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana jamming on “You Enjoy Myself” comes from the 1992 tour in which the Vermonters opened for the San Francisco fixture. Santana and Phish’s Anastasio have remained friends and musical peers throughout the years, having even recorded and released a live album together from a performance at the Warfield Theater in 2003.

2. Alison Krauss – 1994/05/03 Starwood Ampitheater, Antioch, TN

Phish’s 1994 studio album Hoist contains, dare I say, one of the band’s more romantic sounding endeavors, “If I Could,” a track featuring renowned bluegrass fiddler and singer Alison Krauss. Although the two have only performed the song together live one time (5/3/94), it’s certainly worth a listen.

3. Bela Fleck – 1994/10/18 Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym, Nashville, TN

Add banjo player Bela Fleck to the list of insanely talented pickers Phish has played with. During their 1994 bluegrass campaign, Fleck sat in with the band during a show at the Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym in Nashville, TN and produced some of the most interesting versions of “Scent Of A Mule” and “Llama” we have ever heard.


4. John Popper – 1996/11/15 Kiel Center, St. Louis, MO

Old H.O.R.D.E. Festival buddy John Popper (Blues Traveler) has seen his fair share of Phish shows, having performed onstage with the band a total of 12 times, mostly in the early 90s. Here he is helping the band out in St. Louis on a one of a kind “Weekapaug Groove” that emerged out of a cover of The Beatles’ “Mean Mr. Mustard,” as well as a “Funky Bitch” encore.

5. Les Claypool & Larry LaLonde – 1996/12/06 The Aladdin Theatre, Las Vegas, NV

Les Claypool is known among phans as both the thumping bass player of Primus as well as a part of the short-lived trio Oysterhead, featuring Claypool, Phish’s Trey Anastasio and the The Police’s Stewart Copeland on drums. However, we would be remiss if we did not point out Claypool’s fabulous sit-in with fellow Primus bandmate Larry LaLonde during Phish’s December 6, 1996 show in Las Vegas, NV. While this show is certainly known for Jon Fishman’s collaboration with a handful of Elvis impersonators, don’t downplay the quality of the “Harpua” woven throughout the set and Claypool leading the band through “Wildwood Weed” on vocals.

6. Sugar Blue – 1997/08/08 New World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL

The summer before Phish destroyed America, they had the honor of playing with American Grammy Award winning harmonica player Sugar Blue in Tinley Park, IL at the New World Music Theatre. Their selection could not have exuded Chicago Blues more. They played Muddy Waters‘ “Hoochie Coochie Man” and Mel London’s penned “Messin’ with The Kid.”

7. Neil Young & Willie Nelson – 1998/10/03 Farm Aid, New World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL

When Phish were given the opportunity to play the closing set at Farm Aid 1998 in Tinley Park, IL, no one could have imagined how prolific of a jam session it would turn into. After four originals, Neil Young emerged for a take on his 1981 instrumental “Arc” which was then followed by an epic 20-minute version of Young’s “Down By The River.” And as if there weren’t already enough Americana in the air, Willie Nelson and keyboard player Paul Shaffer took the stage for a tender version of “Moonlight In Vermont.”


8. Derek Trucks – 1999/07/07 Blockbuster Pavilion, Charlotte, NC

The next sit-in on the list comes via guitar god Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers Band/Tedeschi Trucks Band), his only sit-in with the band. Emerging for the encore at a 1999 show in Charlotte, NC, Trucks laid down some nasty slide guitar on on a “Possum” > “Funky Bitch” encore that had the entire crowd clamoring for more.

9. Scott Murawski – 1999/07/13 Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

Scott Murawski’s sit-in during the encore at the Tweeter Center aka Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts in the summer of 1999 might be one of the most overlooked collaborations of Phish’s career. The Max Creek/Mike Gordon Band guitar player absolutely blew away the crowd with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic “Tuesday’s Gone.”

10. Bluegrass Royalty – 2000/06/22 AmSouth Ampitheatre, Antioch, TN

The flirtation between Phish and bluegrass has been well documented. During late 1994, the band invited banjo player “Reverend” Jeff Mosier (Aquarium Rescue Unit, Blueground Undergrass, The Mosiers Brothers Band) to tour with them. One of the pioneers of merging bluegrass instruments and traditional songs with the energy of rock and roll, Mosier would ultimately school the boys on some pickin’. Before you knew it, they were incorporating several bluegrass tunes a night into their sets.

Fast forward to the summer of 2000 when Phish plays in Antioch, TN with none other than bluegrass and country royalty Del McCoury (guitar), Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), Sam Bush (fiddle/mandolin), Robbie McCoury (banjo), Ricky Skaggs (mandolin), Mike Bub (upright double-bass), Jason Carter (fiddle) and Wynonna Judd (vocals). Check out the playlist below to see the entire collaboration that included “Harry Hood,” “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome,” “Hold Whatcha Got,” “Uncle Pen,” and yes…”Freebird.”

11. Jay-Z – 2004/06/18 KeySpan Park, Brooklyn, NY

What would a Phish sit-in list be without the infamous Jay-Z performance at Brooklyn’s KeySpan Park? The hometown rapper provided two of the most memorable collaborations of Phish’s career, running through renditions of “99 Problems” and “Big Pimpin.”

12. Bruce Springsteen – 2009/06/14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN

Remember that time Bruce Springsteen sat in with Phish at Bonnaroo? Talk about a colliding of worlds, but in a way, it’s not as awkward of a pairing as one might think. Just like The Boss, Phish guitar player Trey Anastasio is a a Jersey boy and admitted how excited he was to play with “one of his heroes,” recalling having seen him when he was 12 years old. During the sit-in, Phish busted out “Mustang Sally” for the first time in 1,274 shows (8/5/88) and got to perform “Bobby Jean” and “Glory Days” from Springsteen’s 1984 LP, Born In The U.S.A.

13. Bill Kreutzmann – 2009/08/02 Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, CO

2009 was a relatively busy year for Phish. They played three reunion shows at the Hampton Coliseum, a 13-date fall tour that included stops at Cobo Arena in Detroit, the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia (x2) Madison Square Garden in New York City (x3), as well as a two-part summer tour with stops at Fenway Park in Boston, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival (x3), Red Rocks in Colorado (x4), two nights at The Gorge Ampitheatre in Washginton state and a four-night New Years run in Miami.

During that whirlwind of a comeback year, the band got a treat with a sit-in by legendary Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann during their run at Red Rocks. Kreutzmann sat in for a majority of the second set: “Undermind” > Drums > “Seven Below” > “2001” > “Waves” > “Character Zero.” (Kreutzmann first appears in this video around the 33:00 mark).

14. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 2009/10/31 Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA

Another highlight from Phish’s 2009 return: Festival 8 at Indio, CA’s Polo Fields for Halloween, dawning a “musical costume” of The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Mainstreet. To up the ante and fill out the great horn sections of the album, the Vermont quartet invited soul/funk superstars Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings to accompany them on their odyssey. The result was an absolute rocking set that featured this great version of “Loving Cup.”

15. Kenny Rogers – 2012/06/10 Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, when at Bonnaroo, when there’s an an outrageously high number of musicians around, have one of them sit-in on your set. Phish did exactly that when they returned to Bonnaroo in 2012. They pulled “The Gambler,” Kenny Rogers out on the stage to run through his 1978 classic.

16. Natalie Cressman & Jennifer Hartswick – 2014/08/29 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

The most recent Phish musical collaboration was that of Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick during the infamous “LUSHINGTON” set during the 2014 Dicks run. The duo sat in for “Suzy Greenberg” to close out the set, adding some whopping brass to the upbeat tune. Enjoy this festive rendition!

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