Trey Anastasio‘s new Ghosts of the Forest project is set to hit the road for their inaugural show on Thursday, which will be followed by the release of the group’s debut LP, Ghosts of the Forest, on Friday, April 12th. Trey recently caught up with Rolling Stone‘s Patrick Doyle to give his insights on the new project, Phish‘s illustrious year in 2017, coping with losing loved ones, and much more.
Trey begins by discussing his lifelong friendship with the late Chris Cottrell, the inspiration behind Ghosts of the Forest’s inception. He explains,
My friend Chris, who a lot of those songs kind of allude to, passed away at the end of February. He was a nature lover. He loved the mountains. He always would take me hiking. One of the things that was sort of extra sad about the loss was that he was my friend outside of all this — a long-before, boyhood friend. When we were a young band and we would drive out to Colorado from somewhere overnight, he would always grab me and make me hike up the Flatirons, or go skiing, or go fly-fishing, which I sucked at. He would always take me out of the tour. It just dawned on me recently that he was sort of my tether to childhood and to a life before Phish happened — somebody that kind of understood who you could talk to that didn’t work with me.
Trey moves forward with some insight on Ghosts of the Forest’s live show configuration, noting,
Are you’re familiar with the New York City theater scene? You know ‘Hadestown’? ‘Hadestown’ was written by some Vermont composers and interestingly enough it debuted at Higher Ground. It was like a nine-song folk record. The album sort of developed into a show. Now, that went on to be a Broadway show. This is a concert, this is not a Broadway show or anything like that, but it has definitely grown into something that feels really unique from anything else I’ve done at least in quite some time. It’s going to be completely based on the album, expanded greatly — a little scary, but it feels good to be letting this thing grow organically, and it’s only eight shows.
Trey also expressed his thoughts on Phish’s illustrious year at Madison Square Garden in 2017 and how grateful he is for the fans that helped make it a success. He emphasizes,
The Baker’s Dozen, people honored us with their presence. It’s hard work to go to all those shows. We really cared, and it was so much fun. But then it’s like, ‘Oh, four more nights for New Year’s,’ so we did 17 nights at the Garden that calendar year. I said, ‘We have to end the year with a new song,’ which was “Soul Planet,” with the pirate ship and all that. The reason was because they just came for 13 nights, and we owe everyone in a way. I mean, it’s our friends. It’s our family. It’s become, really, a family feeling, as you know. You’ve probably been there. That particular New Year’s Eve was designed as a specific message of, ‘Thank you. We’re on the boat, but we’re not driving it. The wind is blowing and the wind is the music and you are the ones who are keeping us afloat.’ That was the message.
Head here to read the entirety of Trey Anastasio’s recent Rolling Stone interview.
On Monday, Trey officially revealed the title track from Ghosts of the Forest’s eponymous debut album. He also revealed the full album tracklist. Ghosts of the Forest is set to be released on Friday, April 12th. You can listen to the first track from the album here.
Trey’s new Ghosts of the Forest band features his Phish bandmate Jon Fishman, Trey Anastasio Band members Jennifer Hartswick, Tony Markellis, and Ray Paczkowski, and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Celisse Henderson, who was featured alongside Hartswick as a backup singer at Phish’s 2016 Halloween performance of Ziggy Stardust.
Tickets are still available for both Greek Theatre shows via Ticketmaster. For a full list of Ghosts of the Forest’s upcoming shows, see below.
[H/T Rolling Stone]