Oysterhead is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

featuring bassist

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

of Primus, guitarist

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 ...

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 ...

and drummer

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

, with both Claypool and Anastasio providing vocals. The band's eclectic sound has been described as "alt-funk fusion". In April 2000 Superfly Presents asked Claypool to assemble a band to perform during

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Jazz Fest The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

. Claypool contacted Anastasio and together they agreed on mutual hero, Copeland.Neva Choni
out of its shell: Oysterhead unites three very different musical visions to create a unique sound
''sfgate.com'', October 24, 2001, Retrieved February 11, 2009 Oysterhead was originally intended to be a singular live performance at

New Orleans Saenger Theatre Saenger Theatre is an atmospheric theatre in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Once the flagship#Flagship in language, flagship of Julian and Abe Saenger's theatre empire, today it is one of o ...

Mike Power
Frogs & Oysters: A Les Claypool Interview
''jambase.com'', 1/26/01, Retrieved January 26, 2008 on May 4, 2000. The band compiled a set of almost entirely original material for the show, practicing a
Muskegon's Frauenthal Theatre
Tickets were scalped for up to $2,000 each, audience members included

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

and

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

. The band toured in 2001 and was scheduled to tour in 2020. Both times it has toured it has been interrupted due to significant disasters, in 2001 due to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Oysterhead played at The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA in July 2021.

''The Grand Pecking Order''

In 2001, Oysterhead reformed to record and release an album entitled ''

The Grand Pecking Order ''The Grand Pecking Order'' is the only album by American rock band Oysterhead, released on October 2, 2001. The album was recorded in guitarist Trey Anastasio's Barn recording studio. Oysterhead was intended to be a single performance, but the p ...

'', which featured nine new tracks in addition to four songs originally debuted in New Orleans. The album was released on October 2, 2001, and was supported by a North American tour, spanning from October 21 to November 18, 2001, accompanied by

North Mississippi Allstars North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, elect ...

Drums & Tuba Drums & Tuba was an instrumental rock group. The band formed in Austin, Texas, before relocating to New York City. Their sound fuses electronic rock, progressive rock, jazz and occasionally industrial. They were signed to Righteous Babe Records. ...

The Cancer Conspiracy The Cancer Conspiracy was a progressive rock group from Burlington, Vermont featuring guitarist Daryl Rabidoux, drummer/keyboardist/saxophonist Greg Beadle, and bassist Brent Frattini. Rabidoux and Beadle were veterans of the local hardcore ...

Lake Trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

, Mark Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos and New Orleans Klezmer Allstars. Two pre-tour warm-up shows had been booked at

Toad's Place Toad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub located in New Haven, Connecticut. History The building, located on York Street down the street from Ashley's Ice Cream and across an alley from Mory's Temple Bar, was the original location of t ...

in New Haven, Connecticut for September 14, 2001 and the

Irving Plaza Irving Plaza (known through sponsorship as Irving Plaza, powered by Klipsch and formerly known as the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza) is a ballroom-style music venue located within the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. ...

in New York City, New York (as part of

CMJ Music Marathon CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

) for September 15, 2001, but were cancelled in the wake of the

. Oysterhead's 2001 tour saw the debut of the Matterhorn, a guitar played by

featuring a full-size

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

antler. On November 15, 2001, the band performed the song "Oz Is Ever Floating" on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

''.

Reformation at Bonnaroo

On June 16, 2006, Oysterhead reunited to perform a two-hour set at the

Bonnaroo Music Festival 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 ...

. The band performed music from ''The Grand Pecking Order'' during the set.

Reformation in 2019

On October 14, 2019, Oysterhead created social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter sparking debate about their reunion. On October 15, Oysterhead announced two shows on February 14 and 15, 2020 at

1stBank Center The 1stBank Center (originally the Broomfield Event Center and formerly the Odeum Colorado) is a multi-purpose arena located 15 miles northwest of Downtown Denver, in the city of Broomfield. It is located near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Air ...

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populatio ...

. Oysterhead will be headlining the

SweetWater 420 Fest The SweetWater 420 Fest is an annual event presented by SweetWater Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia held on a weekend closest to Earth Day. In 2014, the festival announced it would be celebrating its 10th anniversary at its new home in Centenni ...

in Atlanta, Georgia. On December 6, Oysterhead announced they were headlining the 2020 Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania. On December 17, they announced two shows in the Bay Area. They were scheduled to perform in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

on April 17, 2020; and

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Stanford is ...

on April 18, 2020 as well as

on June 13, 2020. The Broomfield, Colorado shows featured 2 sets of music featuring songs from ''

'' and various covers from individual careers. The setlists varied in terms of song placement, improvisation and chosen covers. The shows were met with high praise from those in attendance. Aside from the performance in Broomfield, the entire reunion for 2020 was disrupted by the

, and Oysterhead continued to tour through 2021. When asked in March 2022 if there were plans for a second Oysterhead album, bassist

said, "You know, we always talk about it when we're sitting around, but all three of us are so busy. We haven't really found the time to do it. It's an undertaking. You've got three guys that are all alpha dogs in the same room. It's more of an undertaking I think, but who knows. I've been talking to Stewart lately about trying to get together and just start jamming on some shit and see what happens."

List of performances

Discography

*''

'' (2001) *''2020/02/14 Broomfield, CO'' (2020) (Live album) *''2020/02/15 Broomfield, CO'' (2020) (Live album)

References

External links

Oysterhead's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oysterhead American alternative rock groups Jam bands Rock music supergroups Neo-psychedelia groups American musical trios Musical groups established in 2000 Les Claypool