Since 1998,
Trey Anastasio
Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...
, best known from
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
, has toured and recorded with several backing musicians, including several side-projects organized and led by the guitarist and composer. Fans commonly referred to them as Trey Anastasio Band, or TAB for short. In spring 2005, after the break up of Phish the previous fall, Trey formed
70 Volt Parade
70 Volt Parade was Trey Anastasio's backing band in 2005, formed after the breakup of Phish in August of the previous year. After writing and recording new material in late 2004 and early 2005, Anastasio began auditioning various musicians for h ...
. This moniker only lasted a short time, as he began using the name Trey Anastasio Band for this group the following year. In 2008, he toured with members of the older band as "Classic TAB", and then two years later, he began again using the name Trey Anastasio Band for this group. Through its history, Trey Anastasio's band has gone through many different configurations, ranging from a trio to a dectet.
The beginning
Trey's band had it roots in his brother-in-law's
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
nightclub, Higher Ground. On April 17, 1998, for the second show in the club's existence, Anastasio put together a band of local
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
musicians for a one time performance under the name Eight Foot Fluorescent Tubes. Among the five musicians onstage with Trey that evening were drummer
Russ Lawton
Russ Lawton is a professional drummer from Vermont. He is best known as the drummer from the solo band of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. Lawton also performs with the Vermont jam band Strangefolk and The Chrome Cowboys. Lawton performed on M ...
and bassist
Tony Markellis
Tony Markellis (10 September 1952 – 29 April 2021) was a bassist and record producer, born in Helena, Montana, to a Turkish immigrant, Constantine Markellis, and the daughter of Greek immigrants, Victoria Carkulis, residing in Saratoga Springs, ...
. They debuted material that night that became part of the repertoire of both Phish and Anastasio's solo career.
The trio
Less than a year later, on February 15, 1999, Trey performed a benefit show at Higher Ground for a local arts charity with Lawton and Markellis. Later that spring, the trio (as they are referred to on Anastasio's website) went on a national tour of clubs and theatres. Most of the shows sold out, which featured a solo acoustic set by Anastasio and an electric set by The Trio. They debuted more new songs, many of them appearing on
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
’s 2000 album, ''
Farmhouse
FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...
''. Absent from the tour were any songs from Trey's first solo album, ''
One Man's Trash
''One Man's Trash'' is Trey Anastasio's first solo album apart from Phish, recorded in the Fungus Factory or in The Barn between 1997 and 1998 during breaks of touring and recording with Phish. The release includes early experimental noise explo ...
'', which was released in late 1998.
In Spring 2018, Trey toured again as a trio alongside Lawton and Markellis. The tour began on April 17, 2018—on the 20 year anniversary of Trey's first solo show, Eight Foot Fluorescent Tubes.
The sextet
After
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
went on hiatus in 2000, Anastasio took his project on the road and added a horn section. Saxophonist Dave Grippo, a
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
music teacher with a long history with Phish, trombone player Andy Moroz, and trumpet player
Jennifer Hartswick
Since 1998, Trey Anastasio, best known from Phish, has toured and recorded with several backing musicians, including several side-projects organized and led by the guitarist and composer. Fans commonly referred to them as Trey Anastasio Band, ...
joined Trey's band for this and all future tours. These shows, and all to follow had two full sets with the band, and no solo acoustic set.
The octet
Later in 2001, with
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
still inactive, Anastasio booked a summer tour of large amphitheatres where
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
had regularly performed in recent years. This tour also included some venues that
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
hadn't played in years like
Red Rocks
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind th ...
in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
and
Jones Beach in
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
. Two more members were added to Trey's band, tenor saxophonist/flautist
Russell Remington and keyboardist
Ray Paczkowski
Ray Paczkowski is a keyboardist from Burlington, Vermont. He graduated from a Chatham, Massachusetts high school. A former milkman, Ray is part of the Jazz trio Vorcza, but is best known for playing in various bands with Phish guitarist Trey Anas ...
The dectet
2002 saw the release of
Trey's self-titled second album, and a summer tour to support it. This tour of amphitheatres was significantly smaller than the 2001 tour. At this time, Anastasio added the final two members to the group,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian percussionist
Cyro Baptista
Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays.
Career
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...
and the multitalented
Peter Apfelbaum
Peter Noah Apfelbaum (born August 21, 1960) is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, tenor saxophonist, drummer, and composer born in Berkeley, California.
Career
Apfelbaum formed the Hieroglyphics Ensemble in 1977. He performed with Carla Bley ...
.
Late in the summer of 2002,
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
announced their reunion, with their first show slated for
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
. During the fall of 2002, with Anastasio still promoting his second solo album, he took his dectet for a tour of smaller venues.
In 2003, with a Phish summer tour planned, Trey scaled back his touring. He played a brief tour that spring, before spending his first summer in three years with Phish.
In 2004, Trey played some random dates. He performed at the
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
jam at Higher Ground, with the other members of Phish. He then played a surprise birthday party in
Stowe, Vermont
Stowe is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 5,223 at the 2020 census. The town lies on Vermont Routes 108 and 100. It is nicknamed "The Ski Capital of the East" and is home to Stowe Mountain Resort, a ski faci ...
.
In May, with Phish tour dates already booked, Anastasio made the announcement that Phish would be breaking up and the upcoming summer tour would be their last.
In June, days before Phish would start its final tour, Trey performed at the
Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...
music festival.
On September 18, 2004, about a month after Phish's final performance, Trey would play his final performance to date with his horn-based band at the
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-based ...
.
Subsequent solo bands
In the spring of 2005, Anastasio introduced a new backing band,
70 Volt Parade
70 Volt Parade was Trey Anastasio's backing band in 2005, formed after the breakup of Phish in August of the previous year. After writing and recording new material in late 2004 and early 2005, Anastasio began auditioning various musicians for h ...
, featuring Paczkowski, Skeeto Valdez on drums, Peter Chwazik on bass, and
Les Hall
Les Hall is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter from Columbia, South Carolina, best known for his involvement in Crossfade and 70 Volt Parade, Trey Anastasio's backup band after the 2004-2009 breakup of Phish. He ...
on guitar and keyboards. After only a few months, Anastasio replaced Chwazik with Tony Hall of Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, and added Hartswick and Christina Durfee on backing vocals. Anastasio then replaced Valdez with Raymond Weber. Russell Remington also rejoined Anastasio shortly thereafter. In 2006, Les Hall left the band, and it was renamed
Trey Anastasio Band
Since 1998, Trey Anastasio, best known from Phish, has toured and recorded with several backing musicians, including several side-projects organized and led by the guitarist and composer. Fans commonly referred to them as Trey Anastasio Band, o ...
. Jeff Cressman and Jeff Sipe, who replaced Weber, toured with the project in 2006 and 2007.
Fall 2008 tour to 2020
In October 2008, Anastasio set out on a short tour billed as "Trey Anastasio & Classic TAB". This quartet featured Anastasio on guitar, Tony Markellis on bass, Russ Lawton on drums, and Ray Paczkowski on keyboards. In 2010, Jennifer Hartswick officially rejoined the project, renamed Trey Anastasio Band, and has remained with the group ever since. At the same, time Anastasio welcomed back Russ Remington and introduced Natalie Cressman,
, whose father Jeff was a member of TAB in 2006 and 2007. Remington left TAB at the end of 2011 and was replaced by James Casey in 2012. Cressman remains in TAB to this day.
2021 and onward
In April 2021, Markellis died. Later, bassist
Dezron Douglas
Dezron Lamont Douglas is an American jazz double bassist, composer, and producer. He has produced for Louis Hayes, and Brandee Younger.
Biography
Douglas was raised in Hartford, Connecticut and studied tuba and bass at the Hartford Conservatory ...
was announced as the band’s new bass player. In September 2021, James Casey announced he had cancer and would not be taking part in the fall tour.
Cochemea Gastelum filled James’ role in the group during the tour. During TAB's 2021 fall tour, both Hartswick and Lawton tested positive for COVID-19, leaving a stripped-down lineup with no horn section and Phish drummer
Jon Fishman
Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer known for his work with the band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983, and which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo cr ...
taking over for Lawton. In 2022, the band resumed touring with its standard lineup including Casey, Lawton and the horn section.
References
External links
Trey Anastasio official websitePhish official websiteNatalie Cressman discusses what it's like to be so young and touring with Trey with Ira Haberman of The Sound Podcast during a feature interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trey Anastasio (Band)
Lists of musicians