_Photo by Dean Budnick_

Trey Anastasio shared some details on his rehearsals for Fare Thee Well and some thoughts on Phish in a new interview that appears in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. The guitarist, who spoke with Patrick Doyle while en route to his Vermont barn for Phish rehearsals, elaborated on the preparations for Fare Thee Well, saying:

There’s certain things you can’t pick up without sitting there, like some of the changes in “New Minglewood Blues…It’s been a great experience in ways I might not have anticipated. I hung out with Bobby [Weir] at his Beach house for about a week. He said “Just fly out and we’ll play.” Phil Lesh invited me out, and we had a barbecue at his house, and I got to see Phil walking on the beach with his grandson, which was really touching. Bobby, Phil and I just sat, talking about the set list. Just watching them reminisce about the day they wrote “Truckin‘” and laughing, that’s the stuff I love. One day, Bobby started talking about how much he loved Brent [Mydland, the Dead keyboardist who died in 1990]. He said, “Make sure you listen to those vocal harmonies from the late 1980s.” Life happens. People come and go.

I think it’s going to be a really moving experience for the fans to be there together with their friends, and to watch the band members who have just spent their entire lives together.

Additionally, Anastasio talked about the ways that the Phish organization has changed since the band came out of their hiatus in 2009, explaining:

It used to be all-inclusive. Everyone we knew worked for Phish. It was “Phish, Phish, Phish” all the time. We’d go to a party, and everybody at the party was a Phish employee. It became a little unhealthy. But now, the only thing that’s important is that our friendship is healthy. We were naming our [Magnaball] festival, and we had an e-mail chain that went on for three or four months. And if one person doesn’t like it or says, “I’m getting uncomfortable here,” the other three guys will say instantly, “OK, change it, then.”

Anastasio also shared a few words on Phish’s devoted fanbase, noting:

I know a lot of people out there. It’s very strange – when I look out at the first 10 or 15 rows, I see a lot of the same faces, even though I’ve never talked to them much. One of our first shows in Burlington was at a place called Doolin’s, during happy hour. There were two people there – I remember their names, Brian and Amy. We played every Tuesday, and they would be dancing like crazy! The rest walked out. It still feels like that, a little gang.

Anastasio will team up with the core four surviving members of the Grateful Dead for five Fare Thee Well shows this summer. The first two will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA on June 27 and 28, while the final three will take place at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 3, 4 and 5. Phish will return to the road a few weeks later when they kick off their summer outing at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, OR on July 21.