This song was originally written by Mike in October of 2007. As Mike revealed in an interview, he had full intentions of putting it on his next solo album, but had the enjoyable experience of watching his song go through an evolutionary process morphing into musically what is one of the funkier tracks on Joy. The opening lyrics of "Sugar Shack" are a bit dark, "Standing on the edge of a cliff / I start to slip / Don't mind if I slide off." This is contrasted by the light-hearted Caribbean-calypso chorus and melody (strongly reminiscent of "Ya Mar") that provide an easy-going groove that fans love. Is it possible that Mike envisioned the shack to look something like this?

Phish, "Sugar Shack" – 6/17/10 Hartford, CT

As Mike himself noted, the debut of this song was not well executed, but thankfully the potential of this song was realized during track selection for Joy. Since the debut, "Sugar Shack" has continuously improved in quality as the band continues to hone the ending technical section. The 11/25/09 version in Philadelphia was executed fairly smoothly, but Trey really seemed to surrender to the calypso flow on 6/17/10. "Sugar Shack" has also found a regular home in the repertoire of Mike Gordon’s band.

Mike Gordon, "Sugar Shack" – 3/25/11, Falls Church, VA

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