Farmhouse

by Phish

Product Description:

Phish: Trey Anastasis, Page McConnell, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman.

Additional personnel: Bela Fleck (banjo); Jerry Douglas (dobro); David Gusakov, Laura Markowitz (violin); Roy Feldman (viola); John Dunlop (cello); Dave Grippo (saxophone); Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet); Andy Moroz, James Harvey (trombone).

"First Tube" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Eleven albums into its career, Phish went back home to cut FARMHOUSE. Recorded in four months at guitarist Trey Anastasio's refurbished 150-year old barn near the band's hometown of Burlington, Vermont, these 12 tracks find Phish streamlining its jamming tendencies in an attempt at radio-friendliness.

Among the more commercial numbers sure to attract non-Phish heads are the bouncy "Heavy Things," and the brassy, nonsensically named "Gotta Jibboo," both of which invoke the aura and spirit of the Grateful Dead. Elsewhere, Phish cleverly pays homage to Bob Marley's influence by sneaking a line in from "No Woman, No Cry" into the title track. Always known as one of the more musically adventurous groups the right-hand side of the pop music fence, the quartet's chops get a nice workout on two instrumentals--"First Tube," and "The Inlaw Josie Wales." On the former, Phish bounds along on an insistent groove that invokes the spirit of vintage '70s Santana, while the latter finds it creating shimmering acoustic magic with the help of bluegrass giants Jerry Douglas and Bela Fleck.