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Preface: Tom Marshall (born 11/12/63) is a friend of Trey's from high school, and lyricist or co-writer of many Phish songs, including "Character Zero" and "The Farmhouse". He penned the poem which became "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters", which became the critical seed for The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday.

Performance: He has appeared on stage on nine known occasions:

• to sing the lines he penned for "Antelope" at New Year's Eve shows for 1993, 1994, and 1995
• as the "Uber-Demon from Hell", singing Oasis' "Champagne Supernova" at 12-29-96
• lead-singer for Collective Soul's "Shine" (not Candlebox; they did "Far Behind"), during 12-31-95's Forbin > Mockingbird
• as a white-clad vision from the future, singing The Proclaimers' "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)" during the 12-30-97 "Harpua".
• lead-signing ChumbaWumba's "Tubthumping" for the 11-21-98 encore (also featuring Carl Gearhardt).
• lead-singing "Grind" at the 12-30-98 encore at MSG
• lead-singing on "Born to Run" as the encore 7-16-99 at PNC
• singing The Who's "We're Not Gonna Take It" at Nassau 10-8-99, and put his hand around Trey and looked into his eyes when he sang the lines "For you, I write the stories, in you, I find inspiration..." yadda yadda.

He also has his own band, Amfibian (note use of "f" instead of "ph").

Profession: Dan had posted an interview with Tom in which he said he is "sort of a freelance biology professor, between jobs at the moment, but willing to conduct impromptu seminars on the peltate leaf of the pennyroyal at the drop of a hat." Luann Abrahams responded (4/14/97): "Tom's a pretty modest guy, and he'll probably be cross with me for making this public, but people should know the extent of his reach. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Hawaii, Hanapepe, and he's got a doctorate in cremular biology from the University of Leiden. His most recent treatise on the effects of anabolic steroids on the spore path of kale sprouts was awarded the Chedric C. Cheswick Prize from the Cornwholh Institute for Effluent Research in Lavermaine, U.K. He likes to hide his light under a bushel, but it should be known that he squeezes time out for lyric writing by using infra-red goggles in his greenhouse while he stays up all night watching his spores replicate, yellow legal pad in hand, and writing poetry in the margins of his notes. He's a true renaissance man and I'm lucky to have met him (once)."

Prankster: Tom is rumored to have been instrumental in the starting of the uno craze, and has often convinced folks of incorrect titles (for example, calling Oblivious Fool "Olivia's Pool").

Participation: Typically, Trey works with Tom's lyrics to produce song. Occassionally, they've worked together -- for instance, spending time together in a farmhouse (which birthed the song "Farmhouse"). But Mike Gordon had this to say (in a jamtv.com interview released 10/30/98) of Ghost:

We were all using Tom's book, of ten years of his writing. I had never picked out lyrics and made up melodies to them from his book before. This was the first time. It had always been just Trey and Tom. So it was a lot more collaborative.

Production: In April 2000, Tom launched a new music production company, Furry Thug Productions.

Photo

See also: Unofficial Amfibian FAQ

Thanks also to Daniel Mielcarz, Dan Hantman, Shawn T. Foley, Brett Sterba, Keith Herrick, Cory Ferber, and Forrest Reda for corrections and additions.

"My poetry, I should think, has become the way of my giving out what music is within me." - Tom