In celebration of Phish’s 13-show run at Madison Square Garden, the Mockingbird Foundation will announce 13 unsolicited “miracle grants” supporting music programs across the country. Each board member identified their favorite Phish show, and we found a worthy music education program nearby, part of the Foundation’s long-standing Tour Grants program. We’re presenting these 13 special grants chronologically, based on the dates of those favorited shows.

This $19,500 in grants is part of a long-standing Mockingbird effort to help bring music from the Phish community to the local community, and are one of many ways fans contribute to the areas in which the band performs. The thirteen recipients include a wide array of settings, genres, and populations served, and are listed here in the order in which they’ve been announced at Phish.net (with a parenthetical link to the specific blog announcement):

The Mockingbird Foundation is an all-volunteer, fan-founded and -managed 501c3 supporting music education for children. It is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net since 1994. A leading grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 348 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $1.1M. Funds for grants are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.

Phish first formed in 1983 at Goddard College in Vermont, and developed a large and fervent fanbase through tireless touring and unpredictable, kinetic live performances. Their 2017 summer tour begins tonight in Chicago, IL.

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