Join host Kyle Lamont on an auditory journey down roads less traveled, where the spirit of a road trip mirrors the spontaneity of musical improvisation. In this episode, we meet up with Jon Fishman, the drummer of PHISH, at his weekly radio show in Belfast, Maine called "The Errant Path." Enjoy a candid conversation shedding light on Fishman's musical background, his love for venues, and the inexplicable allure of small-town performances. There is even a kismet studio caller by a long lost friend. From reminiscing about Phish's historic performances in Maine on top of an air control tower in Limestone to road trip anecdotes, Fishman shares vivid memories of gigs at iconic venues like Madison Square Garden and intimate clubs and reflects on the joys of being on the road. This episode offers a glimpse into Phish's enduring legacy, yet it feels a lot like being in a cool jam session in your buddy's basement, where the stories flow as smoothly as the music, inviting you to kick back, relax, and connect.
Announcer:
The spirit of a road trip is strikingly similar to musical improvisation. As the music meanders, you can tune into yourself and allow thoughts to percolate. But before you know it, the tempo changes lanes and turns down a new rhythmic route. When we drive away from mundane, we stay alert and appreciative. We give a band the license to repetitively ramble in, wordlessly wander. And even though the band can be errant and sound seemingly lost. We know that they're following a music map to eventual jubilation. Proving that curiosity is a necessary component to having an unforgettable journey. For Kyle Lamont, a road tripping music journalist, visiting music venues is a vehicle to exploration. In this podcast is your audio atlas filled with music, maps, conversations and discoveries. Concert culture is travel centric in every venue has a voice. So let us go and listen.
Concert the podcast is brought to you by Maven, high class leather and motorcycle seats from the woods of Downeast Maine, handcrafted and shipped worldwide. Mavenseats.com for custom creations.
Kyle:
Fish has a gazillion live recordings. That's no exaggeration. And because no two songs are ever played the same, talking with Phish fans about a show can feel like you're inside a physics equation. The names of songs, lyrics, places, years, drugs, trip stories.
The passion is palpable.
And it's almost like listening to a new language. and finding the right set to jam out to while driving up the coast can also feel overwhelming. So much to choose from, but I take stock of my mood and because I'm feeling rather giddy, I cue up Chalk dust torture and let it ride. I'm Kyle Lamont and we're heading to Belfast, Maine to meet up with Jon Fishman, the drummer of Phish.
[song plays]
Kyle:
Leaving Portland is way easier than finding the right song to jam out to just look for Route 1 North.
It pains me not to stop in Brunswick, Bath or Rockland, these cute coastal towns, plus so many more along Route 1 have incredible music venues. But don't worry, we'll be back. Listening to Phish inspires me to splinter off and take a side road. I turn on to Route 90 and drive towards Warren. You'll never believe all the rolling hills back here. I pull over for some coffee and fried French toast at St George River Cafe. I bet you were expecting a lobster roll. Well, I'm saving up for that Maine meal when we get to Mount Desert Island. Afterwards, I mosey along the river and then jump back on the road. I cruise past what I think is a Christmas tree farm, but turns out is a field of marijuana acres as far as the eye can see, I think it's safe to say that the marijuana industry has planted roots here and it's silently sprouting.
When I arrive in Belfast, I beeline it right to Marshall Wharf and I suggest you do the same. Grab a dozen oysters at three tides and savor them by the bustling harbor at this restaurant. You can expect roaring fires, live music, craft beer and awesome conversations with locals. It's a great place to beam down from your trip and gear up for the weekend.
I meet up with my friend Eric Klausmeier, who I've known since high school. He's the general manager at WBFY100.9, where Fisherman has a weekly radio show. We slurped on oysters from the Pemaquid River and then carpool to the station.
The pace of my harpy is playing at a double kick speed. That's because I really admired this band's creativity and dedication to always one upping themselves and for surprising fans with new takes on classic songs. Every single performance, which only perpetuates the cyclical nature of the touring and tenting lifestyle.
We enter the brick building, which was once an old grammar school, and head towards the back where the studio is, the On-Air Sign is red and glowing. We open the door and step inside.
Fishman:
—Which was a departure from previous albums. But you can still hear Sunshine in Their Eyes, that big Motown production, the strings. Somebody else was playing drums, you know. And it was kind of like, so this album sort of a mix of both things.
All right. Now, I really am going to shut up and really get back to the studio music here. I got to come home now. I would do this all night. I would maybe one of these nights, I will, but not tonight.
Thank you for listening. This is Jonathan Fishman signing off. You're listening to the Errant Path and WBFY100.9 F.M. Belfast's finest community radio. Thank you for listening. See you in a couple weeks.
Kyle:
He routinely pulls down the fader and I internally move past the fact that I'm podcasting in a radio station, which is definitely meta.
We settle into our frade seats, position our mics. I triple check that I've pushed record and then ask an obvious question. You probably would, too. How come you like doing this radio show?
Fishman:
Well, I love music. Obviously, I'm lucky enough to have gotten in, make a living at it. So, you know, all that is amazing.
I was one of those kids, like when there's a lot of them out there that where, you know, I'd find an album I liked and I would follow all the individual musicians like, well, where did that guy go and where that guy go with it? Where else? That woman saying or what? You know, and and I, I sort of trace the musicians and the particular show I like to do, the errant path is a little meandering that way. If I wasn't focusing on Stevie Wonder tonight, let's say it's a law. A lot of talk today, I, I kind of stuck to the artist a lot, but a lot of times I'll start off with some sort of guide like that, like this will be my featured artist and then it'll meander down, you know, I'd end up falling Ghostbusters or whatever down that path for a while and come back to Stevie Wonder and then somebody else that play with him or, you know, could have marched off into a whole Motown thing, other Motown artists. I never really know where it's going to go, but I usually have a little bit of a start.
Kyle:
So this podcast is road tripping to America's best venues.
Fishman:
Okay.
Kyle:
And I would love to know where—
Fishman:
So we shouldn’t talk about venues at all.
Kyle:
Oh, no, no, no, no. Quite the opposite. I want to know sort of what are your top two or three venues that you just love to play in.
Fishman
Well...
[phone ringing]
Kyle:
What do we have here? We have a little studio caller. Let's see who is on the line.
Fishman:
WBFY? I guess I got to answer it first, huh? WBFY!
Caller:
Hello?
Fishman:
Hello.
Caller:
Is this the Belfast Radio Station?
Fishman:
This is the Belfast Radio Station.
Caller:
Oh okay I am calling because I’m actually a really old friend of John Fishman’s and I just discovered he’s got a show on your station, on Wednesday nights.
Fishman:
Oh, yeah. What what's your name? Diana. Really? This is you. Holy smokes. How's your brother, Bill? How’s Bill?
Kyle:
The blast from the past continues before Fishman asks for her numbers so that he can call her later.
Fishman:
Good to hear your voice. Okay.
Kyle:
I bet he's blown away by the Kismet caller.
Fishman:
I was just thinking of her, like, two days ago for really no good reason. You know what I mean? It was just a really weird kind of. I just was thinking of her. And I was. I actually thought to myself, I had I wonder why she popped into my head. And that is really bizarre that she called me at this radio station and I answered, you know.
And this thing is...
Kyle:
I sense there could be more to the story. So I reel Fishman back in.
So venues, on to venues... What are some of your favorite venues to perform in and maybe some of your favorite venues just to watch shows at?
Fishman:
The best venues are the venues where we have the best gigs. Like if we play really well. That venue is ****ing awesome right!?
Kyle:
It's not exactly the answer I was anticipating. But while roaming around the question, he naturally stumbles upon a few notable places.
Fishman:
I mean, or the Fox Theater in Atlanta or the Fox theater in St. Louis, you know, beautiful, amazing ornate rooms from bygone days. You know, like Red Rocks and The Gorge are kind of these outdoor Alpine Valley I like. And some some I remember like the outdoor sheds. There's this place, a Blossom in Ohio, that's just it's like you're on the inside of an upside down ship.
Kyle:
And we eventually end up on memory lane and head to a show in Miami, Florida.
Fishman:
I remember like this one gig I had, it's the fever. And I really didn't think I was going to make it to the stage. And I like I had a bucket next to me on the stage for where when started and just in case. And it was like full of smoke. And but I just remember that experience, you know, being being really sick. We opened with Chalk dust torture.
I remember thinking, oh, my God, this is a fast song and I'm not going to... But it all kind of worked out. And I kind of, over the course of the first set it's like I sweat it out the disease. I just remember loving that room and I can still picture the room and everything. And it was just this, you know, it was a black painted inside club, you know...
Kyle
Then he took me to North Shore Surfers Club.
Fishman:
It was in the northwest somewhere, I can't remember if it was like in Oregon or northern California.
The one thing I've I don't know why, but we played it's ice and it was like this gig was it was this perfect gig and we were playing it was one of these out of body experiences where you kind of like can do no wrong. We got to this little middle section of its ice and I screwed it up.
And I still remember being really pissed off about that. But I remembered that gig be such a great gig and that room just smelled like piss and beer. And it was this little wooden shanty that probably has fallen in by now. You know, the place was just a racket. It might have been the smallest room we ever played in. Other than, like Kenny's castaway in New York or something like that.
But, you know, really little room, you know, low ceiling. Moisture, just everything was moist, it was like a moldy wooden structure, you know, and but I you know, I just remember those were my favorite, favorite, favorite venues. Then the other end of the spectrum, massive square garden. I guess maybe the garden. Maybe The Garden is the only place where I kind of go.Yeah. We go we're going back to the garden. I don't know. Maybe there is a little I got to say there is a little bit of that with the garden now.
You know, the crowd gets really worked up. They start stomp on the floor. I actually get more height. I could actually get I can actually time it and get more height out of my jumps because the floor moves. And we were playing the song axilla, which just goes on and on and on and on and a.. And and and and it's just this four on the floor, you know, boom, boom, boom. And it's a kind of thing. It's like a little bit of a headbanger tune.
And I think people in the room kind of got, you know, all in the same beat. And I felt it. And that the whole state, my whole drum set and everything, under us just started going woof woof like this, you know, undulating. And that was really cool. And I thought, all right, you know, this is this is amazing.
Kyle:
Phish has a special affinity with Maine, one of their first shows outside of Burlington was at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and not once, but three times. Phish played in a small town in Northern Maine called Limestone.
One of the most talked about sets was the Tower Jam at the IT festival in 2003. They surprised fans by playing on top of a decommissioned air control tower. The set is ambient and psychedelic, and it was complete with acrobatics silk dancers listening to it. It's spacey, darkly pretty, an altogether symbolic of the band in their trajectory into a new stratosphere of performance art.
You have a long history with Maine like coming to Limestone back in the day.
Fishman:
Yeah, well, I mean, if my favorite venues in Maine is definitely the Loring Air Force Base- getting to play on top of that Air Control Tower was awesome. I mean, that was so fun. That will never happen again. You know.
Kyle:
I Segway into a core value of the band, you've traveled quite a bit.
Fishman:
I've traveled a lot.
Kyle:
I think it's safe to say that you've put some miles on the old..
Fishman:
Trey pulled up the our tour scheduled for ‘94 one time just to show it to me. And I couldn't believe some of it like it was, you know, like we've played in, you know, Atlanta, Georgia, and then the next night, you know, two nights later we're in North North Hampton or something. And I'm like, how did that how do we even do that, you know? And I mean and I know that, like, I can remember. OK. So I remember I did I drove straight from Minneapolis to Seattle once. I think that was the longest one. That was like nine tanks of gas. I used to go by tanks. Our why, my band mates let me drive that much is like, you know, they were, I mean, I don’t, I think I was a pretty safe driver for the most part. They they didn't feel they were taking their life in their hands.
The other one that was really long was Atlanta, the Burlington. I did that straight. And when we got out at the other end, Trey's dog, Marley, who used to travel with us, she jumped out and was immediately hit point blank by a skunk. And though I wanted to sleep very badly, I'd help my friend Trey get the skunk smell off of his dog. The two of us were standing there pouring tomato juice over in the shower, getting all wet. And I was delirious. That was our, that was that was a good drive, too.
Kyle:
That was your cherry on the road trip cake. And with any good road trip. Silence is part of the experience.
Fishman:
There are a lotta, you know, comfortably silent hours and hours and hours driving, you know, on the road.
Kyle:
I just love the concept how you guys are just this huge mega band. And just to think that you all can be silent together is pretty special. I think just the essence of silence on a road trip is sound and in itself.
Fishman:
Well, you learn that a lot in music, though, too, you know, like play really slow and really sparsely and liked and still have people on the edge of their seat. Like a real slow ballad.
Kyle:
Phish has been around since 1983 and their tank is still on full. Tour dates are constantly refreshing and there's no telling how many miles they've covered. But one thing is for sure, Fishman's love for being a DJ extends way back to the early days. So you were the DJ? Driving?
Fishman:
Well, the timing really was like we had four or five cassettes lying around in the van and later somebody else would pop them in, you know, whatever the next thing was. What we've we've listened to these these albums. But was it interesting then to his tape decks? You know, you have C.D. players, all that stuff. So, you know, it wasn't that long ago, but, you know, we were where we listen to, like, the best of Patsy Cline endlessly. We listened to a Superfly.
Kyle:
It's clear that Fishman is well versed in music. But when it comes to Maine's live music scene, it's new territory.
Fishman:
Well, I'm just discovering Mayne's live music scene. Right? I think there's some pretty great bands that the two bands are really stick out for me. There was this when Bernie Sanders was running for office, I, I said I did this one day where I sat in with, like, 10, 12 bands and 12 hours or something from Pete from Portland to Fort Kent, who was like this incredible marathon of sitting in with bands that were like one or two songs.
And that was I met the Mallett Brothers doing that, sang with them. They they really impressed me. That's one of the things I liked about the band, was the storytelling. And it's one of the things I liked about the Mallett Brothers..
[Music Plays]
Fishman:
And Ghost of Paul Revere, were the ones that, you know, I went “Oh, those guys are pretty cool.”
[Music Plays]
Fishman:
That they're really Maine, you know, lore and I really start to get into that.
[Music Plays]
Fishman:
I didn't know anything about any of these bands at first.
And the other band is this band see people Seepeoples from I think they're from Portland. They were great.
[Music Plays]
Kyle:
Fishman has sat in a couple of times with the Mallett Brothers band here in Belfast at the All Roads Music Festival. One year they played at an old VFW hall. I can't wait to take you to this festival in the next episode.
Fishman:
I really like being the VFW hall. And no, you know, I like… I guess if I really had to talk about favorite venues, I think I do still prefer. As much as I love Madison Square Garden and the big stages and all that. It's great. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's awesome. But. And the festivals and everything I really do kind of like the little rooms. I do like I like going in little clubs or. And like that VFW hall thing, you know, that is as fun a place to play as any place, really. But in some ways kind of more fun because it says, you know, you're not likely to be there again. Or maybe very often.
Kyle:
And why should people visit Belfast, Maine?
Fishman:
I don't know, man. It's a pretty cool little spot. I mean, it's it's fairly all it's all fairly new to me still. I mean, I wasn't here before MBNA came up or before it was not a chicken farming town. You know, I get up here to go, oh, used to be just a big chicken farming town. And it's a nice little beautiful setting. Now, I guess they cleaned up all the chicken farming stuff and. There's like good restaurants and culture and kind of cool things started to happen here, and it's so hard to describe. Yeah, you'd have to come and spend time in a town for a little while. But I think there's some good creative people here trying to do some cool things. And I like being part of it in this little radio station, you know, coming in here just screwing up. And, you know, it's all part of the fun.
Kyle:
We are well past the witching hour when our conversation comes to an open ended close.
Fishman:
Yeah. You're welcome. I hope that was off topic enough.
Kyle:
Well, I know where to find you if I have any other follow up questions
Fishman:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kyle:
As I walk out of the studio, I immediately regret not asking why he dons a dress when drumming. Damn it! I’m definitely coming back for that one.
Announcer:
The errant path to venues continues in Belfast, part two. We hang out with Meg Shorette the director of All Roads Music Festival, who talks about pairing buildings with bands and the story behind orchestrating Fishman's sit in with the Mallett Brothers band.
“And then he got back to me like a week later. He's like, You're good to announce Fishman whenever you want. And I'm like, what!”
Subscribe rate and review ConcertCast on your podcast app of choice. Type in ConcertCast.live for a music centric itinerary and to learn how you can be part of the show. And find us on Spotify to download a Maine music playlist. This has been a good to go studio's production created by Kyle Lamont and made in Ellsworth, Maine. Our resident mastermind is Mark Tekushan and special thanks to John Fishman, Eric Klausmeyer and WBFY Belfast Radio. The Mallett Brothers Band for their live recording Doce. Ghost of Paul Revere for their song Ballad of the 20th Maine SeePeoples for their song The Other Side, Maven Leather, Pepper, Little Abbey, Rock, Jessiman, Corey Corey Chandler, Amy Charley, Kaili Rose, Cara Romano and Tanner Campbell. And thank you for listening.