Trey Anastasio Discusses ‘The Beacon Jams,’ Divided Sky Fund & More On SiriusXM

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio appeared on SiriusXM’s Phish Radio yesterday to discuss his The Beacon Jams livestream series, which begins tonight on the JamBase Livestreams Calendar at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT via Twitch and Phish Radio. Anastasio spoke with SiriusXM’s Ari Fink as a preview of the series that originates from The Beacon Theatre each Friday for eight weeks.

The pair began by talking about the emotions Anastasio has been feeling ahead of his return to the stage tonight. He shared memories of performing at MSG Entertainment venues including The Beacon Theatre, Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall. Fink asked Anastasio about previous comments he made about avoiding performing without a crowd. “So much has changed and humans have an incredible capacity to adjust, and we’ve adjusted, and I hope we can adjust back,” Trey said. “There’s potentially some way, even if it’s in the slightest way to communicate with people at home in ways I never have before.”

Anastasio went on to discuss his preparation for The Beacon Jams. “I’ve been doing a little bit of planning, but I’m very much in a mindset of letting it unfold,” Trey said before revealing “it will change from week to week.” He joked about playing eight weeks of “Lawn Boy” in reference to Phish’s 2017 Baker’s Dozen residency, which included an incredibly long version of the song.

Trey noted he’d like to perform with a number of special guests but explained “it’s pretty tricky” to bring in musicians from out of the area. “They got to do this whole COVID dance, it’s very complicated,” Anastasio said and acknowledged some of his band mates are fairly local including keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton without explicitly confirming their participation. The guitarist also addressed the mishap during Phish's New Year's Gag and recalled what happened from his point of view after singing “Rescue Squad.”

Another topic discussed was the recently launched Divided Sky Fund, an arm of Phish’s WaterWheel Foundation which will help those struggling with addiction with plans to open a treatment center in Vermont. Donations made during The Beacon Jams will go to the Divided Sky Fund. Trey revealed he originally planned to host annual concerts at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York akin to Neil Young’s Bridge School benefit concerts to raise funds for the treatment center. “We would invite people, I was thinking sober musicians like Jason Isbell but that didn’t happen.” While at first he thought his plans would be derailed, the pandemic “lit more of a fire” and he hopes to raise a lot of money from fans contributing to the Divided Sky Fund during the livestreams.

Watch a portion of Ari’s interview with Trey below: