The Mockingbird Foundation - which owns and operates Phish.net, by and for the benefit of fans - has announced $46,200 in new grants for music education for children.

In what's becoming a holiday tradition, Phish.net will be hosting its third annual New Years Run meetup at the Hudson Yards Cafe on the corner of 35th St. and 10th Ave. on Sunday, December 30th from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Hudson Yards Cafe is only about a five minute walk from MSG but is outside of the crowded midtown area, so, as usual, we'll have the whole place to ourselves.

We've fine-tuned this event with the help of this classic bistro's owner, Jimmy Reardon (he likes us, he really likes us), and will have a bigger and better selection of craft beers and waitstaff on hand.  

Stop by the sign-in table on your way in where we'll have nametags for your @screenname so you can match a name to a face, as well as souvenir laminates and .net stickers.  Bring your iPod with your favorite Phish music which we can play on the house PA.  Forum Admin @JohnnyD will be your host.

More information on the .net forum thread here.

Yesterday, Phish announced that their four day NYE run at MSG will be streamed by LivePhish in HQ not only on PC or Mac web browsers which can be connected to a HD TV with an HDMI cable (or wirelessly by Airplay on newer macs), but also wirelessly via Apple "Airplay" with iOS devices like iPhones, iPads and Apple TV, in apparent response to popular demand to view the streaming broadcasts more easily on HD TV sets without using laptops or cables.  

Prices for individual webcasts, subscription packages and souvenir T shirts for couch tourists with a retro cassette tape design (like our Phish.net "Blanks and Postage" Ts) are available on the LivePhish site here.  On that page, there's also a "test" HQ stream of the "Light" from the Dick's run on 9/1/12 to see whether your device will work with the NYE stream and what it will look like.  For those without wireless iOS or Android devices who want to use cables with laptops, see this Phish.net FAQ on how to connect laptops to HDMI equipped TV sets.

The entire basic four day package (without the T shirts) is $58.99, the individual shows are either $14.99 or $19.99 (NYE).

As with all LivePhish purchases, a portion of Phish's proceeds goes to The Mockingbird Foundation, the Phish fan charity which operates Phish.net and supports music education programs for underserved kids.

Trey will play with Neil Young & Crazy Horse TOMORROW, Thursday, December 6, at a special benefit concert at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, NJ. Trey will also perform a set solo on acoustic! Event proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy relief effort. For more information, visit redcross.org/hurricane-sandy. Tickets for the event are on sale now at TheBorgata.com or by phone at 866-900-4TIX (4849) and are priced at $75 and $150. All seating is general admission.

Trey Anastasio Band will return to the road in 2013, spotlighting material from his new solo album, Traveler. The run will kick off on January 18, 2013 with a show at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, ON. Tickets for all shows will be available through a real time presale beginning this Friday, December 7th at 10am EST at http://treytickets.rlc.net. For complete ticketing information or public on sale dates, please visit http://trey.com/tours/.

Fans holding tickets to Anastasio's October 28 show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, which was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy, may use them at the January 23 show at the same venue. Those who cannot attend the rescheduled date may seek refunds at the point of purchase.

TREY ANASTASIO BAND - TRAVELER DATES
1/18 - Toronto, ONT - Danforth Music Hall
1/19 - Syracuse, NY - Landmark Theatre
1/20 - Portland, ME - State Theatre
1/23 - Port Chester, NY - Capitol Theatre
1/24 - Port Chester, NY - Capitol Theatre
1/25 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
1/26 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre
5/24-26 - Chillicothe, IL - Summer Camp Music Festival

Trey is also slated to perform at the Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL, which will take place May 24-26.

Phish has teamed up with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights to auction off a 12 person executive suite for the Sunday night 12/30 show!  As of this posting, the current bid is only $1350 for this suite, which is valued at $5000.  Proceeds will benefit the RFK Center, and bids will be taken until Tuesday, December 11th.  For full information or to make a bid, click here.

The RFK CENTER’s core programs focus on the power of the individual, working through alliances and organizations, to generate change. The RFK PARTNERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS bolster the efficacy of human rights defenders through sustained, strategic partnerships, extending their reach to legislators, diplomats, international institutions, and corporations. RFK SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER educates students and the public about human rights issues and provides the tools for creating change in their communities; RFK COMPASS convenes the financial community to advance a discussion of the connections among investment performance, fiduciary duty, and public interest issues to optimize risk-adjusted rates of returns and address current and future global challenges. Through its offices in Florence, Italy, RFK EUROPE extends its human rights education and advocacy programs across Europe, raising awareness and igniting change.

The RFK CENTER amplifies the work of activists, authors, journalists, and students to a global audience through five annual awards. The RFK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD recognizes an individual who stands up to oppression at grave personal risk in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights. The RFK BOOK AWARD honors the book that most forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy’s priorities: concern for the poor and the powerless, the struggle for even-handed justice, and a remedy for disparities of power and opportunity. The RFK JOURNALISM AWARDS celebrate excellence in investigative journalism on a wide spectrum of social justice issues. RFK EUROPE established the RFK HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY JOURNALISM AWARD to recognize the achievements of youth who investigate human rights issues and advocate for change. The RFK RIPPLE OF HOPE AWARD lauds leaders of the international business, entertainment, and activist communities who demonstrate commitment to social change.

In the tradition of Robert Kennedy, the RFK CENTER has forged effective collaborations with NGOs, universities, legal clinics, and the media on behalf of oppressed communities.

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit charitable organization, CFC#: 54276. They depend on tax-deductible donations to make their mission possible.  To make a donation to the Center, please click here.

In 2004, our Phish fan volunteer charity, The Mockingbird Foundation, established a special emergency grant fund of 3% of our revenues to make emergency grants to public schools and youth music programs which lost instruments to vandalism and storm damage.  We have since donated over $15,000 in $1,000 emergency grants after several acts of vandalism and natural disasters.  

It appears that that there will be a similar need for emergency storm damage grants as schools and community youth music programs begin to dig out from the effects of last week's Hurricane Sandy and assess damage to musical instruments in their band and orchestra rooms.

We received this letter yesterday from a public school teacher, Elizabeth Altbacker, of the Long Beach public schools on Long Island by email and want to share it with you so that you can get a sense of how devestating these natural disasters are to already cash-strapped youth music programs, and how you can help:

To:  Ellis Godard (ellis@mbird.org)

Hello,

A fellow teacher directed me to your site.  I teach in the Long Beach City Schools on Long Island.  I am the Middle School Band teacher, more than that, I am an alumni of Long Beach City Schools.  Our Middle School sits on a half mile stretch of land surrounded by the ocean and the bay.  During Hurricane Sandy water destroyed the town I grew up in but it did not break the spirit of the students and their families.  On our first day back to school we had about 80% attendance!

Right now I am dealing with the unknown.  Although our district opened, our building did not.  I was able to peak into my band room but could not assess the damage.  There was water in the room I can tell by the silt and sand on the floor but it was too dark to see very far.  My concern is of course the mold that is growing the longer the instruments sit in a damp room.

This band room was my band room as a child.  I remember in 1986 when my band director ordered the drum set my student continue to play on.  Like so many instruments, I remember their history, which of my friends played them.  When I assign kids instruments, I often tell them how old they are and how I took such pride in inheriting them from my teacher.  For the past 18 years, I have carefully maintained the instruments I've inherited and built the inventory to a point that every child who needs an instrument gets one.  This is very important in a city where there is a high rate of free lunches given.

I hope I will get into my room and see that everything is fine, however I know that not to be case, if it was on the floor it was ruined, and maybe those in lockers are ruined if the mold is bad.  On top of that the instruments that were home with children may or may not have gotten washed away or thrown away if they were damaged.  I hope to keep an open line of communication with your organization in hopes that you can help rebuild the program that raised me so that I can continue to give my students what my teacher gave me.

 

Liz Altbacker

Here's how you can help:  Go to the "donate" link on the Phish.net or Mockingbird Foundation (mbird.org) homepages and donate $5, $10 or as much as you can through PayPal.  You can also go directly to PayPal (www.paypal.com) and use our PayPal donations address, "donations@mbird.org".  If you donate through PayPal, put "Sandy Relief" or "Emergency Relief" in the comment box.

Or you can mail a check to the Mockingbird Foundation Emergency Fund c/o Treasurer Ellis Godard, 12407 Willow Grove Court, Moorpark, CA 93021-2758

As always, donations to Mockingbird are fully tax-deductable.  Many corporate employers and the federal government may also "match" your donation. If your company has such a charities "matching grants" program, contact your HR department.  (We have been the beneficiary of several large donations this year through Phish fans who work for such generous companies).

If you're in a band, you can host a disaster relief benefit event for Mockingbird like The Lawn Boys' successful event last week at The Canal Room in New York City.  We can help with publicity, street team materials and tabling volunteers through Phish.net.  Contact Jack Lebowitz (jack@mbird.org) if you can possibly help stage a benefit, for further information.

If you are a teacher or youth music program leader who knows of any candidates for emergency relief grants, please contact us by email at "mockingbird@mbird.org" or Ellis Godard's mailing address above.

Thanks for all you can do to help!!  Phish fans' donations to The Mockingbird Foundation for music education for kids is one of the best things you can do to pay the incredible gift of music forward to the next generation, and helps us all leave a positive legacy!

As reported by Relix, the latest issue of Rolling Stone features an article by David Fricke in which the band discusses their 2004 breakup.

According to Relix:

Drummer Jon Fishman, recalls that Trey Anastasio “came to the band, in ’04, totally out of his mind, saying, ‘The only way I can describe this is, if I don’t get out of Phish now, I’ll die.’ When your good friend says this to you, you go, ‘It should have never come to this. Absolutely, go home. Nobody should die over this.’ ”

It has been announced that Trey's sold-out show from the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York will be webcast on Sunday evening (October 28, 2012). To pre-order the webcast, please visit:

http://www.livephish.com/phish/Trey-Anastasio-Webcast-Capitol-Theatre-10-28-2012.asp

Last May, Jim James of My Morning Jacket clued Phish fans in on the group's plans to return to Madison Square Garden for New Year's Eve when he told Rolling Stone that "Phish booked [MSG] for the next four years" after being asked about MMJ's own plans for the holiday. Five months later, Phish has confirmed the first of those four years, announcing a four-night run at Madison Square Garden. These shows will be Phish's 24th through 27th shows in this venerable hall, but the first to offer general admission on the floor. 

An online "mail order" is currently underway at tickets.phish.com and will end Monday, October 15 at 12:00 pm ET. General on sale will begin Saturday, October 20, at 12:00 pm ET through ticketmaster.com or by phone calling 866.858.0008.