Shots fired at the Salami and d/c....Great read though.
If somebody quits Phish, is it over?
That’s it. Listen, line me up and shoot me when I’m wrong. But there is no way that this band could exist without any of the four members. And the reason that all these bands kind of keep going on, with one or two members, especially Seventies bands, is just because there’s so much money to be made. It’s all money, at a certain point. I mean, it’s nostalgia, and money, and oldies.

But Led Zeppelin didn’t do that. You don’t have to do it. But usually, you get a manager involved, and some young musicians who want to jump on the bandwagon, and make all the money off the old band that they aren’t actually in. But I hope that doesn’t happen.

You fronted the Dead at their farewell shows in 2015. What did you learn from that experience?
That was an incredible honor. But I’ll quote Jorma Kaukonen, who was there from the beginning. He famously said, “It’s Jerry’s band. Sorry guys.” That’s what I learned working with them. The songs are incredible, and it’s great there are a lot of tribute bands going and playing it. But every once in a while, there’s a titanic American musician that comes through the ether, whether it be Louis Armstrong or James Brown. I mean, James Brown had a great band, too. And Jerry had a great band. We were lucky we got to experience that genius of American music in Jerry.

We now get to sing his songs. Everybody gets to sing his songs. I was honored to be there and pay tribute to this incredible musician who I was lucky to see play many, many times. But other than that, it’s pretty much just nostalgia. Sorry. But it is.