Next to many classic Phish songs is the credit (Anastasio/Marshall), a testament to the songwriting duo of Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall. The longtime friends and musical partners have written countless tunes in the band’s repertoire, so it’s no surprise that Marshall would want to talk about said music. Fortunately for us, Marshall has started a new podcast called “Under The Scales,” where he dives deeper into the Phish culture from his unique perspective.
Marshall launched the series with three episodes. The first talks about the motivation behind the podcast, the second discusses a songwriting weekend that led to some of Phish’s most prized material, and the third talks about “Riding The Rail” at shows. Check out all three episodes, with titles and Marshall’s descriptions, below.
Episode #000: Let’s Take A Ride
My producer, Mark Dowd, and I take a ride through Trey’s and my old grade-school, and discuss some history and motivation behind the Under the Scales podcast.
Episode #001: The Songwriting Weekend
In 1997, Trey and I escaped for long weekends to write a lot of songs which eventually appeared on Phish albums and became part of Phish’s live repertoire. This is the story of one of those weekends, and how it got off to a *horrifying* start. Trey listened to this and said “it’s like the secret backstory to the song Twist” — and it really is.
Episode #002: Riding the Rail
Derek Gregory joins me in the studio to discuss his extensive experience with Phish…he likes it up close to the band. Real close. I try to figure out the hows and whys of “riding the rail” as it’s called.
We can’t wait for more Under The Scales!