A new Phish album is reportedly in the works according to veteran producer Vance Powell. The yet-unconfirmed project would mark the jam band’s 15th studio album and first since 2020’s Sigma Oasis.
“I’m about to co-produce Phish’s record,” Powell told Americana Highways in an interview published this week. “If I can do Velvet Two Stripes, and [Chris] Stapleton, and Phish, I can kind of do just about anything,” he said about his stylistic diversity as a producer.
Powell produced Sigma Oasis and spent most of 2023 mixing Phish’s pay-per-view livestreams on LivePhish. While he didn’t explicitly confirm that Phish would record its next album at Trey Anastasio’s The Barn studio in Vermont, he did say, “I’m about to fly to Vermont to record in Vermont. I’ve been there before and I know what they have, so I ended up shipping almost $100,000 worth of gear to the studio. Gear and microphones get moved, and microphones get expensive quick. This studio business becomes your capital and retirement.”
If Phish is working on a new album, and it sounds like it is, the band will have no shortage of new material to choose from. Over this past summer tour Phish debuted ten new songs, many of which were penned by guitarist Trey Anastasio and introduced during a pre-tour Trey Anastasio Trio run in Denver featuring drummer Jon Fishman and bassist Dezron Douglas. Phish also added a lone original from bassist Mike Gordon (“Back in the Bubble“) as well as a song from Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell‘s duo album January (“Life Saving Gun“).
Related: Jon Fishman’s Daughter Ella Fishman Covers Phish On Debut Album, ‘Good Years’ [Listen]
Following Sigma Oasis, Powell went back to work with Anastasio, producing his 2021 live compilation album Burn It Down with Trey Anastasio Band. Since then, Powell has produced the star-studded John Prine tribute album Broken Hearts & Dirt Windows Vol. 2, Daniel Donato‘s highly anticipated sophomore album Reflector released earlier this year, and more. His career production discography runs the gamut from ’90s groove metal titans Clutch to blues icon Buddy Guy, as well as demos for Radiohead including the initial recording of “Identikit” from 2106’s A Moon Shaped Pool.
Asked about his enthusiasm to jump from one end of the musical spectrum to the other, he replied, “Yes. Though I was asked to record David Byrne and St. Vincent on a song, but I couldn’t do it and was bummed that I was booked that day. There are always things that you have to accept. For any artist, the day comes where you can’t do the thing that you’re asked to do.”
Check out the full interview with Vance Powell about the new Phish album here. Phish returns to Madison Square Garden for its traditional four-night New Year’s Eve run from December 28th–31st, with livestreams available via LivePhish. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s review of Sigma Oasis here.
[H/T @PhishatMSG]
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