Trey Anastasio Talks New Orleans Music & Much More With WWOZ

Late last month Phish frontman Trey Anastasio closed out the Gentilly Stage on the first day of this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans with his Trey Anastasio Band outfit. Anastasio took an opportunity ahead of his set to chat with Dean Ellis of famed New Orleans radio station WWOZ. The Crescent City radio station recently posted audio of Trey’s 14-minute chat with Ellis.

Trey talks about his love of music from the Big Easy as well as WWOZ itself throughout the chat. He discusses TAB’s cover of Professor Longhair’s “In The Wee Wee Hours” which has gone missing since 2011. The guitarist reveals Phish used to play along with The Meters’ tunes for hours in rehearsal to test their ability to play in the pocket like Zigaboo Modeliste and not speed up. Anastasio also chats about how TAB doesn’t use setlists or song lists, a topic he went into detail with us about in a recent interview.

The New Jersey native feels there’s more great musicians in New Orleans than in the rest of the country combined. He talks about how spending a few days in the Big Easy put him in his place, “but in a good way.” Anastasio previewed a performance of Chuck Berry’s “Back In The U.S.A.” TAB would debut a week later as he discusses the song’s groove and sings a few lines. One aspect Phish and TAB take from NOLA’s music is the vibe of “you’re all invited to the party, everybody come in and everybody dance.”

Stream Trey’s appearance on WWOZ: