Trey Anastasio Biography

Trey Anastasio, best known as the co-founder of the band Phish, was born in 1964 in Princeton, New Jersey. His early exposure to music led to a life-long love of not only playing, but also writing and producing. While attending the University of Vermont, he joined up with John Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Jeff Holdsworth to form Phish. After transferring to Goddard College, he began studying music composition more seriously and applied his new skills to many of the band’s early songs.

Phish encountered some changes to the lineup, but as of the late-1980’s, the band was enjoying steady success with its music.  The band released a series of hit albums before embarking on a long-term hiatus in the new millennium: Junta (1989), Lawn Boy (1990), A Picture of Nectar (1992), Rift (1993), Hoist (1994), Billy Breathes (1996), The Story of the Ghost (1998), and The Siket Disc (1999.)  As the driving compositional force behind the band, Trey Anastasio composed more than one hundred and fifty songs for Phish, most of them credited to him alone.

After Farmhouse (2000), for which Anastasio served as sole writer and producer, Trey embarked on a solo career and a variety of different projects which would challenge him musically. He joined forces with Les Claypool and Steward Copeland to create Oysterhead, and enjoyed success with them for two years. In 2002, Trey Anastasio released his official self-titled solo debut and embarked on a United States tour. Plasma, a live album, came next in 2003, followed by Seis de Mayo (2004), Shine (2005), and Bar 17 (2006.)

As a solo artist, Trey has also returned to his classical and compositional roots through his work with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Colorado Symphonies. Phish reunited to release Round Room (2002), Undermind (2004), and Joy (2009), but Trey Anastasio has continued his solo projects in addition to his commitment to Phish. In 2007, Trey Anastasio released The Horseshoe Curve, another instrumental work, and debuted his orchestral epic, Time Turns Elastic, in the following year.