Celebrate Mike Gordon’s 60th Birthday By Revisiting 5 Live Collaborations From The Past Year

Today marks Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s 60th birthday. Mike has always been a man of the people and Phish’s most accessible member. He is also the most collaborative of the quartet musically.

Historically, Gordon has clocked team-ups with guitarist Leo Kottke — a collab that’s produced three LPs — added low-end to Benevento/Russo Duo and performed in various projects with members of the Grateful Dead. Sometimes he just shows up at a honky-tonk in Nashville. If Mike’s in town, there a good chance he’ll turn up at a local venue.

In his 60th year, Gordon has teamed up with several artists around his home in Vermont as well as out on the road. In honor of Mike’s milestone birthday, JamBase takes a look at five collaborations over the past year.

Ryan Montbleau

Mike Gordon was among singer-songwriter Ryan Montbleau’s guests at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont in late March. Mike, along with Neighbor guitarist Lyle Brewer, joined Montbleau for his “Songbird.” Gordon, Brewer and others also contributed to a pairing of The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance” and Montbleau’s “Honeymoon Eyes” as well as on the finale, a cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me.” Listen to the show below:

Taper’s Choice

Gordon joined jam-friendly super group Taper’s Choice during the band’s guest-filled performance for Relix’s 50th anniversary celebration at Brooklyn Bowl earlier this year.

The January concert saw Mike hop on with Taper’s Choice — bassist Alex Bleeker (Real Estate), drummer Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend), keyboardist Zach Tenorio Miller (Arc Iris) and guitarist Dave Harrington (Darkside) — as well as Mike Gordon band keyboardist Robert Walter (The Greyboy Allstars) for Gordon rarities “Susskind Hotel” and “Exit Wound,” the latter seeing harpist Mikaela Davis getting in on the fun. Mike would stay on for the rest of the show including a performance of Phish’s “Possum” and more.

Maggie Rose

Mike Gordon was on hand for singer-songwriter Maggie Rose’s 2024 Halloween bash in East Nashville. Gordon added bass to a cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” and The Allman Brothers Band classic “Whipping Post.” A spooky cool moment came when Mike provided Vincent Price’s narration from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to wrap the concert. Gordon previously joined Rose during Maggie’s September 2024 gig at Nectar’s. Watch the full Halloween show on Volume.com.

Jake’s Leg

Last summer, Gordon hung around in St. Louis following Phish’s two-night stand at Chaifetz Arena to celebrate Jerry Garcia’s birthday with Grateful Dead tribute band Jake’s Leg. The band bills themselves as “the longest running Grateful Dead tribute in the United States.” Mike joined Jake’s Leg, which has performed Dead material for 48 years, on a trio of live favorites: “Bird Song,” “Shakedown Street” and “The Wheel.”

Vampire Weekend

Mike Gordon’s band provided support for Vampire Weekend on a run of West Coast shows in June 2024. For Gordon and company’s final show with VW at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on June 20. While VW had been bringing Mike out on the run, the final show was the first with a Phish cover, “Chalk Dust Torture,” which saw the aforementioned Chris Tomson (Taper’s Choice) trading spots with VW frontman Ezra Koenig to play guitar and sing on “Chalk Dust.”

Interestingly, VW and Gordon also fit in a snippet of The English Beat’s “Mirror In The Bathroom,” which Phish did during a performance of “Chalk Dust” from a Fall 1998 performance in Worcester, Massachusetts, a show Koenig referenced onstage in Seattle. Watch the VW/Mike Gordon “Chalk Dust” performance below:

Mike Gordon and Phish embark on their 2025 Summer Tour on June 20 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Scroll down for Mike’s itinerary and ticket info.