I was recently asked to create the poster for Splintered Sunlight’s upcoming show at the Ardmore Music Hall. This show commemorates the 20th anniversary of them first playing at the Ardmore Music Hall (formerly known as 23 East).
Event details
Tickets: http://bit.ly/Splint20
SET 1: Kill Devil Falls > The Moma Dance > Back on the Train, Undermind, Nellie Kane, Stash, Petrichor, Mike’s Song > Bouncing Around the Room, Weekapaug Groove
SET 2: Crosseyed and Painless > Steam > Piper > Wingsuit, Sparkle > The Wedge, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Run Like an Antelope
ENCORE: The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Character Zero
Setlist © 1990-2016 The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
I was recently interviewed for the last issue of Surrender to the Flow, a publication created by Phish fans for Phish fans. If you’ve gone to any show in the last 18 years, chances are you’ve seen them on lot.
A treasure trove of vital information any phan should know about the venues they’ll be visiting, as well as stories and articles about the band, scene, and phans. Created in 1998 (before the luxury of smartphone), each issue told you what you need to know for your trip, especially when doing multi city tours.
I was interviewed by Sydne Kasle, who ran across my artwork on the internet. She contacted me with questions (that I’m sure a lot of people had), and I was happy to answer! The issue(their 50th!), was given out for free at all the east coast shows. You can also download the issue as a PDF here. It’s free, but you can always donate to support this publication, which is created by volunteers. Surrender to the Flow is currently on their 51st issue, which covers and will be available during Phish’s west coast run, as well as online.
It always feels good to be back at SPAC! I was able to attend these shows with a large group of close friends, which made the run very enjoyable, aside for the rainstorm right before the first show (I got soaked of course, and it felt great). We stayed at a house/recording studio 30 minutes from the venue, a nice change from the hotel scene. The lot scene was great, SPAC is known for its shakedown, and it doesn’t fail to deliver. I brought my SPAC posters to sell and got a very positive reaction (and quite a few sales!) I still have some left, but they are going fast!
Friday, 07/01/2016Set 1: Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Birds > NICU, Cities, David Bowie, Free,Uncle Pen, Halfway to the Moon, Let’s Go[1], Waiting All Night > Bathtub Gin > Golgi Apparatus, The Squirming Coil
Set 2: Sand > Carini > Chalk Dust Torture[2] > Prince Caspian > Bug, Shine a Light, My Sweet One, Sleeping Monkey > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Fire
Encore: Character Zero
[1] Debut.
[2] Unfinished. With Trey on Marimba Lumina and Mike on keys.
Notes: This show was webcast via Live Phish. This show featured the debut of Let’s Go. Chalk Dust Torture was unfinished and featured Trey on Marimba Lumina and Mike on keys. Sleeping Monkey included the last lyric of My Sweet One and a Say My Name quote.
Saturday, 07/02/2016Set 1: Crowd Control, 555 > Seven Below > Back on the Train, Army of One, Divided Sky, Martian Monster[1] > Rift, Water in the Sky > 46 Days, Walls of the Cave
Set 2: No Men In No Man’s Land > Fuego > Light -> Golden Age > Taste, The Horse >Silent in the Morning > Julius, A Day in the Life
Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Run Like an Antelope
[1] Trey on Marimba Lumina.
Notes: This show was webcast via Live Phish. Trey quoted Sleeping Monkey during BOTT. Martian Monster featured Trey on Marimba Lumina. Light featured NMINML quotes. Following Antelope, Trey picked up a shirt that read “They Attack!” prompting a The Birds quote before the band left the stage.
Sunday, 07/03/2016Set 1: The Wedge, Heavy Things, Tube, Sugar Shack, Lawn Boy, Sparkle > Sample in a Jar, It’s Ice > Guelah Papyrus, Ocelot > Scent of a Mule[1], Possum
Set 2: Soul Shakedown Party, The Moma Dance[2] > Twist > Joy > Breath and Burning,Axilla > Theme From the Bottom > Harry Hood > Show of Life
Encore: Rock and Roll
[1] Fish on Marimba Lumina.
[2] Unfinished.
Notes: This show was webcast via Live Phish. Scent of a Mule featured Fish on Marimba Lumina. Moma Dance was unfinished.
Prints of the setlists are available in my shop, as well as my show poster. Or grab the whole run and save! Includes a mini version of the show poster!
Setlist/notes © 1990-2016 The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
Tour is back! My favorite time of year, because I have lots of free time to draw all day (benefits of being a teacher!) I now enter my 3rd year doing my setlist illustrations (74+ setlists, 374+ song illustrations), and I’m ready to make some more! At this point the process is more like a puzzle, since I’ve draw so many songs, although there will be new variations of songs I’ve drawn before (the ones they play regularly). The headers will include all new drawings, as well as variations of my show posters I did for the shows as well.
2015 was a great year for me artwise! My setlist art helped me get a few jobs designing some show posters ( Without A Net, Jazz is Phish, and Tom Hamilton’s American Babies), and Poster sales helped raise over $200 dollars for Mockingbird Foundation ($1 from each setlist poster is donated as way of saying thanks for letting me use their setlist notes). I’m excited to see what 2016 brings.
This year brings a new series of posters for Phish summer tour. I knew I wanted to still create the illustrated setlists, but I also wanted to do something completely new. Having made a couple gig posters I learned a lot quick (using photoshop/dealing with short deadlines), and I viewed this series as a way to explore using digital and traditional media, and just figure new things out. It was an ambitious project, 15 posters in all. They are a combination of digital and ink and watercolor. Originally it was just going to be the state fish, but searching yielded many entertaining images of fishermen with their catch, which I found even more entertaining when you omit their faces! I’ve done 10 so far before tour started, and will create the rest inbetween doing the setlist art and attending shows (Mann and SPAC!)
I’m selling my prints in a few locations; My etsy shop along with setlists and song 
illustrations, A new streamlined shop (www.phishart.com) that’ll offer the show posters only, as well as on lot at SPAC, and possibly Mann (technically no vending is allowed).
As mentioned earlier, I will continue to post the setlist illustrations shortly after each show, as well as an option to purchase. For this tour I’m also offering the show poster for a discounted price when you purchase the setlist via my etsy shop! I also post the work in progress setlist via twitter, and they usually end up in .net discussion threads, as well as r/phish.Follow me on twitter and check them out shortly after each set!
I’m excited to see what this tour brings us. Hope to see you guys on lot and the shows!
I was recently commissioned to create the setlist for the shows at the Spectrum in Philly back in 1999. Working with some suggestions from the person requesting the shows, I included some Philly sports icons, Julius Erving and Ron Hextall. This was a fun project, and it allowed me to draw up some new songs. I’m always open to do commissioned setlists, although with summer tour approaching it could take a bit. Feel free to contact me via twitter, facebook, or instagram.
I made a very small edition of these (only 5), and have 4 of each available for sale via my shop.
Friday, 12/10/1999Set 1: Tweezer > Bouncing Around the Room, Horn, Heavy Things, Dogs Stole Things,My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own, Roggae, Birds of a Feather, Guyute, Loving Cup
Set 2: Gotta Jibboo, The Wedge, David Bowie[1] -> Have Mercy -> Hold Your Head Up[2] > Cracklin’ Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, Twist, Waste
Encore: Ride Captain Ride
[1] Unfinished.
[2] Have Mercy melody and a vacuum solo.
Teases:
· Have Mercy tease in Hold Your Head Up
Notes: Bowie was unfinished. The jam out of Have Mercy included a snippet of Bowie before returning to Have Mercy. The subsequent reggae-style HYHU contained a Have Mercy melody before leading to a vacuum solo.
Saturday, 12/11/1999Set 1: Harry Hood > Mike’s Song > Simple > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove,When the Circus Comes, Scent of a Mule, Cavern
Set 2: Boogie On Reggae Woman, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley[1] -> Ghost -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > Down with Disease
Encore: Possum[2]
[1] No vocal jam.
[2] All Fall Down signal.
Teases:
· AC/DC Bag tease in Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley
· Sand tease in Ghost
Notes: Sneakin’ Sally began with an AC/DC Bag tease and did not contain a vocal jam. Trey teased Sand in Ghost. Possum included an All Fall Down signal.
Setlist/Notes © 1990-2016 The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
Here’s the next installment of my Phish summer tour posters for 2016. I’m more than half way to my goal of illustrating all 15 venues they’ll be playing at (including Lockn’). The fishing theme continues with each venue’s state fish. I’ve enjoyed getting back to working with micron pens, as well as working digitally (and learning new things along the way) to create these posters. I’ve taken people’s thoughts and opinions into consideration for these last couple, as well as some edits to the previous ones (“I still call it Deer Creek”) . I’m looking forward to drawing some west coast fish, and will be posting them soon.
In the meantime I’ve just opened up my new shop, www.phishart.com, where all the posters from this series will be available, although I will continue to have my setlist posters available in my etsy shop.
For this summer’s tour I decided to take on the ambitious project of creating a show poster for every venue this year. On top of doing an illustrated setlist for every show. So yeah…ambitious may be an understatement. As challenging as this may be, I’ve had a lot of fun drawing these. I wanted a common theme for all the posters, and risking the overused fish theme, opted to illustrate the state fish for each venue. The drawings are micron pen and watercolors, along with some digital imaging. Here are the first 5 I’ve done so far. I hope to complete the rest before tour starts, and release them for sale in my shop (also on lot at SPAC) around the time of each show.
More to come soon!
I recently had the opportunity to create the poster for an upcoming American Babies show. Being a long time fan of Tom Hamilton (I first heard him play with Brother’s Past) I was excited to be able to be a part of this amazing show. Playing at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO, the show serves an unofficial afterparty for the Dead & Co show, as well as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead/Umphrey’s Mcgee, who are playing at Red Rocks that night.
I recently finished up the covers for a studio era compilation series created by Reddit user RiverportGin. The series covers all of 1.0 Phish (1983-2000) and gave me an opportunity to draw songs that are unlikely to be played anytime soon . I also had fun with the headers, Which were based off a lyric of a song found in each particular album. Click on the titles for a download link.
Set the Gearshift- The White Tape/ TMWSIY era (84-87)
Ticketstub In Your Hand- Junta Era (88-4/89)
Off To Camp- Lawn Boy Era (5/89-5/91)
While I’m Young- A Picture of Nectar Era 6/91 – 8/92
The Feeling I Forgot- Billy Breathes Era 2/96 – 3/97
These were a blast to do. It was a way to work on different methods of illustration (digital/traditional) as well as practice for the upcoming summer tour. I had the chance to go back and relisten to a couple gems (the White Tape was a blast!) and draw those seldom heard songs. While RiverportGin doesn’t have plans to make complilations for the 2.0 and 3.0 albums in the near future, I plan to continue illustrating the rest of the albums, possibly create a poster with them.
Track listings and song histories courtesy of Phish.net
© 1990-2016 The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
Not just reading the book, 