MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION RELEASES FUNDING GUIDELINES;
INVITES LETTERS OF INQUIRY on MUSIC EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN

The Mockingbird Foundation today released funding guidelines regarding its planned disbursement of charitable funds to support music education. The guidelines clarify the Foundation’s interest area, invite letters of inquiry in solicitation of funding, and outline the application process. The guidelines are available at http://www.phish.net/mockingbird/funding/.

The Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation founded by Phish fans, is publishing a book about the band and its music. “The Phish Companion” will be an encyclopedic desk reference published by Miller Freeman, and is now available for pre-order at http://www.books.mfi.com/phish.html. The Foundation is also producing an album of acts covering Phish’s music, “Sharing in the Groove”.

The Foundation’s members, as well as those contributing material to the book and album, are not receiving any financial compensation for their efforts. The Foundation takes its name from a character in several Phish songs, the Famous Mockingbird, who helps a wayward society by retrieving the book of knowledge from an evil invader and returning it to the people.

Phish was founded at the University of Vermont and includes guitarist Trey Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman, bassist Mike Gordon, and keyboardist Page McConnell. The band has toured the country for seventeen years, slowly becoming one of the nation’s most successfull live acts despite lack of play on radio or MTV. They recently released “Farmhouse,” their tenth studio effort, which sold 88,776 copies in its first week. Their millennium celebration at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida was one of the largest and top-grossing New Year’s concerts in the world, and included an eight-hour set that began at midnight. The band’s official website is at http://www.phish.com/.