Check out Jambandsonline.com they are a great resource for all things JamBands. Check out the Article of mine they published http://tinyurl.com/wyjTreyArticle 

Or See below for the article:


This tour was probably one of the most controversial TAB tours ever. Early 2000’s were classic. The different incarnations of the band grew and shrank as Trey’s drug addiction did. In the mid 2000’s or “end of Phish days” got dark for Trey as a guitarist. The 70 Volt Parade was a disaster. Almost everyone who saw a show of 70 volt left frustrated; dark jams that were unfamiliar and uncharacteristically wicked left a lot of people wondering what had happened to our favorite guitar player.

The Trey solo acoustic tour and the classic TAB tour of 2008 were a refreshing take on Trey tour. Starting off with Trey’s Solo Acoustic show at Rothbury 1, the sober Trey was playing once again because he was having fun, and he played what people wanted to hear. The response was great, people loved it, and Trey loved his fans again.  He returned to the basics, and was just playing his music again, no shtick this time.

This brings us to Trey winter tour 2010; many fans have been blogging, tweeting, and sharing their frustration over the same old set list over and over and over again.  In an interview released on Trey’s website Trey said “The band has a pretty deep repertoire — our master song list has at least 50 songs on it that Phish doesn’t play. “ That’s just about what we got.  Trey played 63 songs total, and about 50 of them were not Phish songs. There were 5 songs that were played every night (Cayman Review, 1st Tube, Push on Till the Day, Sand and Shine). Imagine seeing 5 songs repeated in every show for 2 weeks of Phish tour.  NOT HAPPENING!

Well pholks this isn’t Phish tour, the band lineup changes, songs come in and out of the repertoire, and more importantly the repertoire is not nearly as deep. The fact is, 63 songs is NOT a deep repertoire.  But the good news is Trey got his groove back; he is perfecting his craft and honing his skills. He is having a ton of fun and is sharing himself with his fans again.   Think about Phish in the late 80’s and early 90’s…  there were tons of repeats, but it was about getting to be more than phenomenal musicians, it was about being a phenomenal band, with phenomenal jams.

That’s what Trey is doing again.  The, oh so loved Sultans of Swing covers, the 15 minute Sand jams, the Mozambique Love. All the intimate acoustic mini sets; Wilson, Bathtub Gin, and some rare ones.  Trey is honing his skills again and exploring new ways to play old songs. What’s leaving people upset is that when you go to three shows, you may have seen the same show twice.  This is not a bad thing people! Let the artist do what he does! That’s why we are paying him! Today’s frustration turns into tomorrow’s mind blowing event.

In the tour closer at the Tennessee Theater in Knoxville, Trey showed the love in a big way. Over 20 minutes of acoustic set. Trey and Russ were jumping around, spinning, and interacting like kids in a garage band. Before playing Strange Design, Trey told the story about how he wrote it right before his oldest daughter Eliza was born. He and his wife Susan were sitting at home contemplating life and the impending change in life, and as songs tend to do, Strange Design came out.

Seeing this show, at this venue was so intimate, Small Axe, Sweet and Dandy, a ripping Black Dog, Trey was in rare form.  The best way to sum up this show, this tour, Trey’s playing, and his attitude in general is with what he said right before playing the song What’s Done. Trey told the audience that he was excited to finish this show and get on a bus for 13 hours and go home to see his girls who he missed terribly.

The loving, energetic, powerful, sober and enthralling Trey we have been looking for is back. He loves his fans. He loves his family. He loves his music. He loves you.




 
Trey had a Great Winter Tour this year... I am going to be posting videos from the show over the next few days!
 
There are a number of things in the works for WhyYouJam in 2010. Keep coming back to see what we are doing. I expect there to be 2 or 3 cd's released, 3 concerts, and a DVD all prduced by us this year... In the mean time feel free to check out our YouTube Channel for videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/WhyYouJam
 
 Rothbury 09 was a HUGE success. great people, great music, great fun, all around greatness.  I have to say though the highlight for me was finding out that the String Cheese Incident was doing a soundcheck  "in 15 min" at the main stage. My friends and I high-tailed it over there, we got to see the whole thing... 
There are dozens of people who have written review about the Cheese sets... but I loved the soundcheck. For the main set, there were big red balls, gymnasts, lights and thousands of people. But for the soundcheck it was like the good old days of cheese where it was me, the band, a few friends, and about 100 other people.  Here are two short videos, one is Rivertrance... 5 min of sweetness. The second video is a version of Jessica they did. Billy Nershi is on the electric guitar, which happens but is rare for Billy. He has really improved his electric chops, no question he is an incredible acoustic guitar player. now his electric chops are really fantastic. Enjoy the Videos!!!
 
 
The Macpodz at Rothbury: a Michigan Treasure in the Midst of a Michigan Treasure.   The Macpodz are a young up and coming jamband that at paying their dues in the live music scene and earning a name for themselvs as a band to dance to. Imagine listeing to funky latin Jazz band that like to rock and loves to roll. There are few bands who manages to keep me intrested without a guitar... I always think that there will be something missing. JFJO does a good job (when Reed Mathis is playing the lead Bass) but the Macpodz are a lot more dynamic and are able to keep my attention for a lot longer.  
At Rothbury this year we got many speacial treats. The Friday Afternoon Macpodz set was one of them. If you live in the Midwest you have probably seen them, if you are a moe.Ron you probably have seen them (the opened for moe. for a tour) and if love music, but have not seen the Macpodz then get to it.
FYI this video is not from Rothbury... but it will give you a good taste
 
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Its no secret that I am a huge Brett Dennen fan. He played a great set at Rothbury (for the second time) this time included a nice MJ Tribute (Billie Jeane). I was also Lucky enough to meet Brett at the Rock House tent... he is tall as all hell, and a really nice guy. Here are a few pics, and a short video from the set.  Enjoy!!!

 

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Another Successful Rothbury.  

Rothbury 2009 was another big hit.
Lots of music, more organized staff, better flow of traffic, and most importantly an overall awesome festival. I don't think that anyone who was there would disagree that Madison House knows how to throw a PARTY!!! Rothbury has now twice been the Best festival of the year! Here is my top ten list of what happened at Rothbury. (Please note, due to personal and family business, I left the festival on Sunday at 2 pm... so I missed Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Matisyahu, Yonder, and a few other things that I may have otherwise included on this list).  

10) The Wood burning Pizza  Vendor who made the best festival Pizza I have ever had
9) Meeting Jason Hann (percussionist for SCI)
8) The Disco Biscuits Late night set
7) Sherwood Forest (Nuff Said... pics and video to come) 
6) The FANTASTIC SCI Set, with lots of visual affects to go with the music (like the huge red balloon)
5) checking out the LEBO Live Painting show, and getting him to sign one of his prints... ( i love the guy... what can I say)
4) The Dead playing my first Loose Lucy!!!
3) Brett Dennen Set (including the Billy Gene cover, and then meeting him) (video and pics coming)
2) The Saturday night Umphrey's McGee set (i was 4th row from the front) (pics to come)
1) Seeing the String Cheese Incident Sound check on Thursday with another 50 or so lucky people (pics and video coming)
 

Here are a few things I think Rothbury could improve for next Year...   Water stations that don't taste like dirty laundry water Not Charging $125 for the posters ( the $85 last year really pissed me off, but this was outrageous) Having moe. at Rothbury Building a Rothbury Blackberry Application (i was so jealous of people with iPhones)   Over All its clear that Rothbury is the overwhelming AWESOME festival right now. I am already looking forward to next year. Over the next few days I am going to post Video and pictures of some of the things that happened. So stay tuned, and here are a few things to wet you appetite! Enjoy

 

Have I mentioned I love the Rothbury festival lately?

You need to check out their website. There are contests to help make Rothbury a more enjoyable experience as a festival goer, as well as fantastic prizes.

The line-up is insane!!! The Dead, Dylan , Willie, Bisco, Cheese, Les, STS9, Macpodz (from Michigan), Brett Dennen, and so many more.

Check out my Rothbury page to see links, news, and more of what is to come.

 

Searching for the sound, Living with the dead, and The Illustrated Dead are probably the most well known Grateful Dead books out there. I have two copies of Searching for the Sound (one I bought and one was a gift).  But to get through those books you pretty much need to be a Deadhead. No one who isn’t really into the band and loves the music would sit through hundreds of pages of rambling about a band they don’t like.

Even as a deadhead it takes me time to get through a book like The Illustrated Trip or as I like to call the book “a PhD in GD”.

 

Along comes Michelle Hollow and she writes a book called “Grateful Dead, What a Long, Strange Trip Its Been”, intended to introduce young people and teens to the music and the people of the Dead. In 88 pages Michelle give newcomers a full history lesson, including references to all the members in all the different years of the dead, things as obvious in a Dead Biography as Hunter, Dylan, Gans, Kesey, and Kerouac; to obscure things like New Riders of the Purple Sage, Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, and influence of Miles Davis and John Coltrane on the band.


I am glad that my job is not editing Michelle’s book. Her ability to condense over forty years of music into this book is incredible. With everything I know about the Dead I didn’t feel like it was missing anything. When I asked a friend to read, she read it in one night, and had a good understanding of the dead. This is a great gift for the person you have been telling for years that they need the Dead in their lives, but have never understood what you were talking about. Or for the teenager who wants to understand what Mom and Dad have ranting about for all these years. This book is a perfect intro to a band that will suck you in and make you want to get the PhD.