Covid-19 Relief For Music Education
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mockingbird Foundation will use Emergency Grant funds to rapidly help protect music education in these unprecedented times, beginning with $25,000. Between now and July 31st, the Foundation will also match the first $25,000 in donations made by our community, to give at least $75,000 total to #ProtectMusicEd!
Please click here to donate!
Due to the slowed economy, programs across the country may be cut significantly because of budget constraints, while they are also losing the fundraising revenue generated by live performances. Some programs will struggle to survive on their own; meanwhile, all are adjusting to new circumstances that few were completely prepared to face. We asked several of our past grant recipients to share details about their current and expected future financial needs as they adapt in response to the pandemic. Here are a few of their responses:
"A grant from The Mockingbird Foundation would help put instruments in children's hands to facilitate virtual learning from home."
"It would allow me to buy an online, interactive music curriculum for my students to use."
"To help cover the cost of our program instructors because we have seen a huge loss in future funding and current donors." "Funding will help us to provide financial aid to students whose families can no longer afford our program fees." "Truthfully, my department is so underfunded and lacking in resources that any amount of money would be greatly beneficial for my students."
Thanks so much for supporting music education for children! Please help us spread the word by sharing this page and using #ProtectMusicEd on social media.
PHRE FORUM THIS WEEKEND
Phans for Racial Equity (PHRE) will host two events via Zoom this Saturday, May 30th, for which you can register at https://bit.ly/3fO2gXa (or see the QR code in image to the right.)
Beginning at 5 p.m. ET, Jay Curley of Ben & Jerry's will host a public forum -- "In a Minute I'll be PHRE: Origins & Organizing" -- to address how phans of color's experiences at Phish shows are different from those of white phans, and to talk about what fans can do together to make the scene as inclusive as possible as well as an opportunity and responsibility to act for racial justice in the broader world. The forum will also address PHRE's origins, including the "Phish Scene So White: Let's Talk" article, the online backlash, and what that says about the Phish fan community; as well as about PHRE's mission and core activities, including tabling at Phish shows and working with venues to address harassment, and how folks can get involved.
At 7:30 p.m. ET, come back for "Party Time! Happy Hour", to hang out and listen to some great music from a diverse and exciting lineup of performers who are excited to support PHRE's mission: Jackie Venson, Hayley Jane, Gordon Sterling, Garrin Benfield, Neel Singh, and Andy Greenberg (of Runaway Gin).
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 418
Welcome to the 418th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the final and most difficult contest of May - thanks again to my broniac @schvice for his help on one of the clips! If you haven't noticed, while I may be the mouthpiece for this thing, I've got a whole crew of MJM Hall of Famers sending me juicy clips year-round. That's how we keep this series rolling despite rapidly approaching the ten year mark (!?), which, incidentally will be celebrated during MJM420 #blazeon. As usual, the winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and dates of all three mystery clips. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. I hope you enjoy yourself this Memorial Day.
20-20 VISION
The country bluegrass classic, "20-20 Vision" was first recorded by Gene Autry (aka The Singing Cowboy) in 1957. This ophthalmology-focused lamentation of infidelity made its Phish debut on 12/28/19 during the MSG New Year’s run....
Give Mockingbird A Ride?
If you find yourself at home a lot these days, maybe you have a vehicle that you don't expect to use much in the foreseeable future? Maybe you could use an extra tax deduction? We can help you on both counts, and benefit music education in the process.
You can now donate a car, truck, motorcycle, RV, or boat to benefit the all-volunteer, fan-run Mockingbird Foundation. Fill out an easy form, and we'll get it picked up and processed, at no cost to you. You'll get an initial donation receipt from CARS, acknowledgement from the Mockingbird Foundation, and then a tax receipt when it sells.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 417
Welcome to the 417th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third contest of May - this week's clips come courtesy of MJM Hall of Famer @justino. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of both mystery clips. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!
MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION VIRTUAL RUN
Announcing the 2020 Mockingbird Foundation Virtual Run!
Summer 2020 is shaping up to be a year of canceled events. Maybe we can’t gather in large groups, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to be together as a community, to both share an event and help The Mockingbird Foundation support music education! Outdoor walks and runs - with social distancing maintained - are considered to be essential activities for our physical and mental health. Let’s get together as a community and agree on this: we’re about to run!
Read the details below and then sign up!
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 416
Welcome to the 416th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second contest of May - thanks to fellow MJM HoFer and overall broniac @schvice for feeding the blahg one of this week's clips. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!
THE PRINCETON FOOTNOTES COVER "JULIUS"
In case you missed it, The Princeton Footnotes released a cover of “Julius” that has over eleven thousand views on YouTube as of today. I touched-base with Douglas Corzine (Princeton ’20) about the group and the background of their cover of “Julius.” -charlie
CD: So what’s the background of this excellent cover?
DC: The Footnotes have been around since 1959, and our repertoire changes every year. “Julius” was one of the group's signature songs in the early 2000’s, but the arrangement was retired about ten years ago.
JAM OF THE ERA
Following the completion of the 2019 edition of the annual Jam of the Year (JOTY) tournament, forum regular @Ry_storm proposed a larger-scale Jam of the Era tournament for all of 3.0 (so far) to keep everyone listening while many of us are stuck at home or otherwise out of our regular routines.
Seeding was done through an open call to forum users to rank up to 64 unique versions of songs since 2009. 238 different selections were made through dozens of submissions.
MYSTERY JAM MONDAY PART 415
Welcome to the 415th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first and easiest of May. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours after I've posted the new clip, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET. Good luck, and May the Fourth be with you!
PHISH.NET #HOMETASKING #3 ANNOUNCED
This launches the third of at least 10 weekend-long challenges to help get you out of Zoom, back into some Phishiness, and engaged with housemates, with something to share as a result. Top that with weekly prizes, a grand prize, and the glory of crushing the competition with your creativity and wit, and... how could you not take part??
This week's challenge calls for a bit more effort, the first of a series of three that might involve moving furniture, perhaps redecorating, maybe even making use of blankets or boxes or whatever you have round the house. As always, post your 20-second video to this thread by Monday at noon Pacific, after which your submissions will be judged by a guest Taskmaster, with a montage to be posted prior to Tuesday's Dinner & a Movie archive show.
You have 72 hours, and your time... starts... NOW!
LARP PHISH ALBUM COVERS RATED
This past weekend's challenge in the Phish.net #Hometasking series was to create a live-action representation of a Phish album cover. And this week's Taskmaster Chris Cagle has completed his evaluations, made his decisions, and put together some fantastic viewing for your setbreak or post-Dinner & a Movie viewing:
Phish.net Hometasking #2
We've announced the second in our series of 10(+?) weekend tasks designed to give you a bit of Phishy fun and frivolity in the absence of places to go and other things to do. (Tasks 3, 5, and 8 are particularly designed to engage the kiddos, if you're looking for family bonding, but we hope that each is somewhat entertaining.) The announcements come each Friday at noon Pacific, with a deadline of Monday noon pacific to post your video (of no more than 20 seconds) in the given .net forum thread. We'll mail some prizes each week, with a grand prize at the end - and plenty of time left to get on the leaderboard.
Task #2 has been announced, and submissions have started. Be safe, and make good choices!
Phish.net #Hometasking
British comedians Alex Horne and Greg Davies host a panel show on BBC called Taskmaster, of five comedians challenged to creatively accomplish a series of tasks, such as camouflaging themselves, long-distance painting, and destroying a cake. Alex creates the tasks, the panel members compete doing them, and Greg (the Taskmaster) ranks them, esp. when time or distance isn’t the criterion. (The U.S. version kinda sucks, btw.)
They’re now doing a #hometasking series, giving viewers 30 hours to submit a 20-second video completing a task, such as create an epic sporting moment in your kitchen, do something extraordinary with a pair of trousers, and make the best dancing elephant. Worldwide, they’re giving kids something to do, families a way to come together, and even young (and not so young) adults a goofy way to get off Zoom and entertain each other from afar. (We're big fans at Chateau Lemuria: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)
So… obviously (duh)… We’re doing a phish.net edition of #hometasking! (We’re not the first to piggyback, btw - and Alex did an earlier Advent series.) We’ll announce a Phish-related #hometasking challenge in a new forum thread each Friday afternoon. You’ll have 72 hours to submit it to the thread, and we’ll announce the “best” by Tuesday evening, prior to Dinner & a Movie. Task #1 is already up:
We’ll identify a top tier of submissions by likes on posts, so please weigh in on your faves. (Like Alex, I don’t like to judge). Those will get ranked by a .net luminary serving as the Taskmaster for that task - this week, David “ZZYZX”/”The Timer” Steinberg, the man behind PhishStats. Top winner each week will be mailed a copy of Sharin' in the Groove and two Mockingbird stickers; top overall winner at the end of the run wins a limited-edition TPC3 Jersey featuring art by AJ Masthay. We’ll track the progress over coming weeks on a leaderboard - and, oi, do we have a list of tasks! No tour? No problem! We’ve got couches, we’ve got kids, and we’ve got Phish.net!
TURTLE IN THE CLOUDS
In rock music, popular longevity is almost like a magic trick. It involves constructing a Jenga tower of music and moments that cumulatively add up to a rich legacy, while not pulling out too many pieces that might cause it to come crashing down. It involves knowing when to take chances and when to stay safe; when to dramatically evolve and when to simply offer the illusion of newness; when to give fans what they want and when to give fans what they need. Fortunately for Phish and those who love the band, these kinds of tricks have been a strength from go, and on Halloween of 2018, they pulled off one of their best tricks yet: they became a fictional band to evolve into a better Phish....
TIDE TURNS
The tide was high and the child shed tears as the moon disappeared behind the crowns of trees.
As he grew up, exploring the world, he started to lose sight of the moonlight that once guided him. He journeyed out on his own, trying experiences he proclaimed and believed from which he would always abstain. “Just once” turned into “Once a month”; and then “Only weekends” until it naturally transformed to every day. ...
Phish Yoga Sat The 14th
There'll be another session of Phish Yoga this coming Saturday, March 14, from 3:15 to 4:15 at the Yoga Collective NYC. It'll be 60 minutes of Vinyasa Yoga, set to Phish music, with like-minded folks and good vibes all around. All proceeds benefit the all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation, supporting music education for children with almost no overhead. Tickets are available thru Eventbrite.
Biggest. Grant Round. Ever.
The Mockingbird Foundation has announced the largest round of grants in its 24-year history, with twenty grants in twelve states totalling $141,263. More than half the grants in this round were made above the requested amount - including one grant matched by the Kristy Anastasio Manning Memorial Fund, two grants doubled by Phish's own Waterwheel Foundation, and five grant amounts increased by Mockingbird's board of directors having been impressed by strong organizations with clear vision and demonstrated needs. All grants fund music education for children. Total grants for the entirely fan-run, entirely volunteer (no staff, no salaries, no office) nonprofit now exceed $1.6M.
Speed Up Security On Summer Tour!
Tired of waiting for security to go through your bag on the way into a show? Toss your stuff in a clear backpack with two compartments, elastic mesh side pockets, zipper closures, adjustable shoulder straps… and the Mockingbird Foundation logo. Ideal for the growing number of events and venues that are only allowing clear bags, and may help speed entry everywhere. Plus, a great conversation starter: Proceeds benefit music education for children, through an all-volunteer organization run entirely by fans of the band.
Phish.net
The Mockingbird Foundation