Photo by Jake Silco
Trey Anastasio is the featured cover artist for the upcoming Oct/Nov edition of Relix magazine. In an interview with Relix editor-in-chief Dean Budnick, Anastasio discusses his new livestream series 'The Beacon Jams,' what it's like to perform to no audience, creating setlists, his quarantine guitar practicing and much more.
In an interview with Relix for the 'Power Of Live' issue (July 2020) earlier this year, Anastasio had said that he was not interested in performing livestream shows such as 'The Beacon Jams.' "I don’t know if I want to play without our community with me. It’s a bridge I haven’t been able to cross," he said. "I’d like to connect with that community, but I’ve found a way to do it because I’ve put out those 14 songs from my bedroom. I like being in contact but I might just wait [for a show]. I’m trying to follow my heart through this."
However, considering he is prepping for week five of his 'Beacon Jams' series, Anastasio clearly changed his tune. He elaborated on his change of heart in the new interview.
"When we spoke last time, I had been touring consistently for possibly the busiest two years of my entire career," Anastasio explained. "Phish had just played Mexico and I had done TAB tours and solo acoustic shows— Carnegie Hall and all this stuff. I was just so enmeshed in the live world and I loved it so much that I just wasn’t ready to accept a reality where that didn’t exist."
"Then I started thinking, 'Well, here we are; this is the way the universe is turning at this point in time.' What is is," he continued. "I’ve learned this lesson before, but I had momentarily forgotten it. So instead of trying to push against the reality, I began trying to accept the moment and adjust my perspective."
For this issue of Relix, there will be two covers. In addition to the standard cover, Relix is offering a limited collectors edition cover which will be available to both current and new subscribers. It will also be available to purchase on the Relix Marketplace.
To subscribe to Relix and get this issue as your first, head to Relix.com/trey. Read the new interview with Anastasio here.
