Valdese History - Phish.net

Valdese

Originally Performed By	Trey Anastasio
Original Album	Evolve (2024)
Appears On
Music	Trey Anastasio
Lyrics By	Tom Marshall
Vocals	Trey (lead)
Historian	Cassidy McManus (donttouchthatknob)
Last Update	2025-10-13

History

In 2023, Trey Anastasio announced a run of shows with a new line-up of the Trey Anastasio Trio. This new three-piece featured TAB bassist Dezron Douglas on bass and Jon Fishman on drums. Over the three night stand, the band introduced fourteen new songs. Some of these songs, like “Oblivion” or “Pillow Jets,” entered Phish repertoire almost immediately, eventually appearing on the band’s 2024 studio album Evolve. Other songs, like “Perseid” or “Splinters of Hail,” were never played again. Sitting somewhere in between is a little ditty called “Valdese.”

“Valdese” debuted 6/11/23, the final night of the Trey Anastasio Trio run. This version was performed in a lower key than all later versions. It is a little slower than the tempo the song will settle at. Dezron’s bass line mostly follows Trey’s guitar part, eventually settling into a funkier feel. Fishman plays a standard rock groove, emphasizing the ones and threes. While the band is still working out the arrangement, structurally the song is as it will later appear.

The lyrics, written by Trey and Tom Marshall, are fairly cryptic. It’s a song about memories that weaves imagery of cameras, trees, and ghosts. The first verse sets the tone, asking the listener to “please return the focus to the setting where I left,” so the narrator can “picture you floating with the ghost above the trees.” This seems to be a metaphorical camera, the part of one’s mind that captures memories like a camera captures photos.

The song goes on, exploring feelings of being trapped. We’re given the image of ghosts in trees again, but their earlier positive connotation turns negative. These ghosts are waiting with sharpened teeth for “a poor fool to wander beneath, on his blind journey to Valdese.” Sometimes memories are the ghosts that stay with us, sometimes they’re the ghosts that haunt us.

Which brings us to the central question, what is Valdese? Well, according to Trey, it’s inspired by the real town of Valdese, North Carolina. It’s a small town of about five thousand people in the western part of the state. During a later acoustic show, Trey claimed that something memorable happened to him there, but would not clarify what. So whatever story is in the chapter on Valdese is only for Trey and Tom to know.

One month after the Trey Anastasio Trio shows, Phish began their summer tour. The band wasted no time introducing Trey’s new material, playing “Oblivion” on the very first night. Over the course of the run, the band introduced a whole batch of new songs. But “Valdese” was not among this new batch of songs, and that’s where the story ends.

Until about a year later, when Phish released Evolve. The album featured an assortment of 4.0 Phish songs – songs from Trey’s lockdown-era solo albums like “A Wave of Hope” and “Mercy,” Trey Trio songs like “Monsters” and “Ether Edge,” even a new Mike song called “Human Nature.” And the second to last track (or third to last track if you bought the vinyl record) was the grand return of “Valdese.” The song just barely made the cut for the album, as Trey said in a 2024 GuitarWorld interview: “Sometimes I get overruled, which happened on this album with ‘Valdese,’ which I kept trying to cut because I don’t like long albums, and people kept saying it was their favorite song on the record, so I gave into that.”

It’s easy to see why people persuaded Trey to keep it on the album. The arrangement especially makes the song pop. Mostly built around Trey’s electric guitar part, what you’ll notice immediately is the orchestral backing, arranged by Patrick Hart. The song then slowly layers in the other members of Phish. Like Dezron, Mike’s bass line mostly mirrors Trey’s guitar. Fishman trades his rock groove for a more country feel, keeping a steady beat with the bass drum, snare and tambourine. Page provides some faint synth parts that add fun textures. It grooves along nicely, building to a nice climax as they hit the “nine is the number” refrain.

After the album’s release, fans wondered when the two unplayed songs would enter Phish rotation. On 7/20/24, the band played their first take on “Human Nature,” leaving only “Valdese” unplayed. If you listen to 8/10/24 on LivePhish, you can hear a very passionate fan screaming “PLAY VALDESE” at the end of set 1. And then… the band didn’t play it. All summer. And that’s where the story ends.

Until about six months later, when Trey embarked on a 2025 solo acoustic tour. On 3/9/25, the second night of the tour, Trey played the first acoustic version of “Valdese.” This version is a little rough around the edges – not bad, but needed a little more rehearsal of the song’s odd chord changes. Trey played it again a few shows later on 3/15/25. This version is much improved over the last version, though even Trey admits he’s “just learning how to play that one.” It was not played for the rest of the solo acoustic tour.

Fans hoped that Trey was learning how to play the song so that Phish could play it at their upcoming spring tour. The 2025 spring tour came and went and… the band didn’t play it. And the summer tour came around. Rumors went around the band soundchecked it at Forest Hills (they didn’t) and… still nothing. To date, Trey has played “Valdese” three times. Phish hasn’t played it at all. I, the humble historian for this song, have played it at more gigs than Trey has. So, until the next time I get my hopes up, THAT is where the story ends.

Last significant update: 10/13/25