To celebrate Phish having covered Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus in its entirety on 10/31/10, the Mockingird Foundation is offering a free download of Little Feat’s cover of Phish’s “Sample in a Jar“. Recorded for the Foundation’s double-disc tribute album Sharin’ in the Groove, this track has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for music education for children.
We welcome you to download the other 19 tracks, or the entire two-disc collection, including Dave Matthews, Arlo Guthrie, the Wailers, Jimmy Buffet, Tom Tom Club, Son Seals, Lake Trout, the Stanford Marching Band, and more, available from more than sixty distributors, including iTunes, MSN, Napster, Rhapsody, Liquid, MusicNet, MusicNow, MIH, GIM, Bitmunk, PassAlong, PayPlay, Tradebit, and Muze
Every purchase helps support great programs, such as the Atlantic City High School, which received $1,000 just last week.
Top From the Home Grown Music Network’s inaugural 2001 Home Grown Awards, announced 12/14/01:
CUSTOMER’S CHOICE – Sharin’ in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish -
How appropriate that in a year that saw our country go to war, our best
selling CD of the year is one that benefits charity organizations. Sharin’
in the Groove has already become our best-selling CD of all time. Big
thanks to The Mockingbird Foundation for making this album possible! Our
customers found this album irresistible, and with good reason. The tribute’
s two discs contain interpretations of Phish songs from artists as diverse
as Lake Trout, Gordon Stone, DJ Logic, Little Feat, The Stanford Marching
Band, and The Wailers, among many others. Also, Phish had been on hiatus
for over half of a year when the album was released. This CD is the
undisputed pick of Kind Music fans for 2001! The vast majority of the
proceeds from sales of Sharin’ in the Groove and The Phish Companion book
have already been dispersed to charities that benefit children’s music
education.Home Grown Music Network
Top 25 Albums of 2001 – Chosen by our customers and stores!1- Sharin’ in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish
2- Keller Williams – Loop
3- Deep Banana Blackout – Rowdy Duty
4- Steve Kimock Band – Live From the West Coast
5- Yonder Mountain String Band – Mountain Tracks Vol. 1
6- Sound Tribe Sector Nine – Offered Schematics Suggesting Peace
7- The Slip – From the Gecko
8- The Disco Biscuits – They Missed the Perfume
9- Deep Banana Blackout – Live in the Thousand Islands
10- Blueground Undergrass – Barnyard Gone Wrong
11- Yonder Mountain String Band – Elevation
12- Deep Banana Blackout – Feel the Peel
13- The Recipe – Night of The Porch People
14- Lake Trout – Alone At Last
15- Percy Hill – Color in Bloom
16- The Disco Biscuits – Encephalous Crime
17- The String Cheese Incident – Outside Inside
18- Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – self-titled
19- Keller Williams – Breathe
20- Yonder Mountain String Band – Town by Town
21- Pickin’ on Widespread Panic: A Bluegrass Tribute
22- Sound Tribe Sector Nine – Interplanetary Escape Vehicle
23- The Recipe – Geode
24- Widespread Panic – Don’t Tell The Band
25- Moon Boot Lover – Back On Earth
The Mockingbird Foundation cannot thank you enough for selling out the release party for Sharin’ in the Groove, which was held on July 12 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The Foundation would also like to acknowledge Merl Saunders and his Funky Friends, Ten Ton Chicken (who did a fantastic “Moma” and more), special guests Radim Zenkl (amazing Chekoslovakian mandolinist who performed a surprise 45-minute interim set), Martin Fierro (saxophonist who used to play with Zero, Jerry Garcia, Legion of Mary, and others), and two guys from the Tower of Power, and thank them all for their fantastic music, generosity, and supportive spirit. There was over four hours of music at the party, and Merl pushed beyond the curfew by nearly an hour! The special event also included brief stints by the Foundation’s VP Charlie Dirksen (introducing Radim Zenkl) and the Foundation’s Funding Director Kristen Godard (introducing Merl and presenting him with a plaque of thanks), the tribute album premiered to the audience over the PA pre-show, and shirts and other items not available elsewhere, all for charity.
Over $5000 was raised for the charities, the Community Music Center of San Francisco and San Francisco Performances. The free analog tapes (around 250) that were given away went pretty quickly. If you got some tapes please drop me a line and let me know what you think of ‘em. Also, over 120 copies of the album were sold at the party. If you would like more information on the Foundation and the album, please see www.mbird.org/album, and thank you for supporting music education for children!
There are a good number of Mockingbird Foundation tshirts left from the event. They are 100% heavy cotton, and come in three kinds: black (L or XL) and forest green (XL only) with white logo on the front left breast ($12); white with orange logo on the left front breast ($12, available in M, XXL, and XL); and white with blue logo on the front left breast, and with a full color Sharin’ in the Groove album cover on the back ($20). The small profit from these shirts will benefit music education for children. If you would one of these shirts (fwiw, the Foundation has no plans at this time to order any more…), just email me the type, color and size, and your address. It’ll be $1.88 postage per shirt…
ICE MAGAZINE, July 2001, http://www.icemagazine.com, “Ice Cubes”
The Mockingbird Foundation, the non-profit Phish organization maintained by fans, unleashes a double-disc tribute album for the group on June 26. Entitled Sharing in the Groove, the impressive track list includes “Bouncing Around the Room” (Arlo Guthrie and Xavier), “Gumbo” (Jimmy Buffett), “Alumni Blues” (Hot Tuna), “Waste” (Dave Mathews), “Sample in a Jar” (Little Feat), “Sand” (Tom Tom Club), “Cars Trucks Busses” (Project Logic and John Scofield), “Axilla (Part II)” (Preston School of Indistry, featuring former members of Pavement) and “Chalkdust Torture” (Los Villains, anchored by Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Louis Perez).
The Mockingbird Foundation is pleased to announce the distribution of its double-disc charity cover album. SHARIN’ IN THE GROOVE: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF PHISH includes contributions from Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett, Arlo Guthrie, Tom Tom Club, the Wailers, John Scofield, and Hot Tuna, plus members of Los Lobos and Pavement, and many more. Proceeds support music education for children.
The Mockingbird Foundation and Trans World Entertainment have agreed to partner in a brick-and-mortar relationship which ensures availability of the release at more than 1100 stores in 44 states as well as through its website (www.twec.com), where it will soon be a featured highlight. Phish Dry Goods (www.phish.com/drygoods) and Homegrown Music Network (www.homegrownmusic.net) are showing their support for the project by offering it online as well.
The tribute is now available online for preorders through all three partners. (See direct links below.) On July 17, it will be available at Trans World brick-and-mortar stores including Disc Jockey, Camelot Music, Coconuts Music & Movies, FYE (For Your Entertainment), Planet Music, Record Town, Spec’s Music, Strawberries, The Wall, and Waxie Maxie’s.
Additionally, the Mockingbird Foundation is offering several bonus tracks for download from its website. The tracks include “Wolfman’s Brother” by Phil Lesh and Friends and “Cars Trucks Buses” by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and are available only to those who have completed a preorder at one of the three partner websites.
The Mockingbird Foundation was incorporated by Phish fans in 1997. Sharin’ in the Groove is the second fund-raising effort of the all-volunteer organization. The group’s first project was a 928-book, The Phish Companion, which was published last fall by Backbeat Books (formerly Miller Freeman Books) and has sold nearly 34,000 copies. The Foundation’s net proceeds from both projects are donated to charity, supporting music education for children.
PHISH TRIBUTE ALBUM RELEASE PARTY IN SAN FRANCISCO
ON JULY 12, FEATURING MERL SAUNDERS AND FRIENDS
The Mockingbird Foundation is thrilled to announce a very special event at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall 
on Thursday, July 12. Merl Saunders and Friends will headline a concert to celebrate the release of the Foundation’s Phish tribute album, Sharin’ in the Groove. The Bay Area improv-rock band Ten Ton Chicken will open.
Thanks to Merl Saunders, Ten Ton Chicken, and the Great American Music Hall, a significant part of the ticket price for this concert will benefit local music education for children charities: The Community Music Center and San Francisco Performances’ Arts Education Program.
Doors will open at 7:00pm, with showtime at 8:00pm. Tickets are $20 and will be on-sale starting Wednesday, May 30. Special guests are expected. Tickets are available through GDTSTOO, the Great American Music Hall box office, Tickets.com, and Ticketweb.com.
The charity table at this event will have 
information about the various charities involved (the Foundation, Community Music Center and San Francisco Performances). And it will also have at least 130 tapes and CDR’s of free music that will be given away. Be sure to bring any Phish (or other band) tapes or discs that you want to give away (and/or trade with other fans).
The Mockingbird Foundation was incorporated by Phish fans in 1997 as an all-volunteer effort with no salaries, office, or paid staff. Its first project was a 928-page book, The Phish Companion, which has already generated thousands of dollars for charity. The first $10,500 was disbursed last month, and the next disbursements will be in July. All of the Foundation’s net royalties from both projects are donated to music education for children.
The Foundation’s latest project, a Phish tribute album entitled Sharin’ in the Groove, features an exciting and unusual group of musicians: Merl Saunders, The Wailers, Jimmy Buffett, Michael Ray and Cosmic Krewe, Little Feat, Arlo Guthrie and Xavier, Gordon Stone Trio, Amfibian (featuring Phish lyricist Tom Marshall), Son Seals and Rebecca’s Statue, Project Logic with John Scofield, The Tom Tom Club, Scott Kanberg (of Pavement), Lake Trout, FRED (the international champion barbershop quartet), the Vermont Youth Orchestra, the Stanford Marching Band, Dave Hidalgo and Louie Perez (of Los Lobos), The Boredoms, Hot Tuna, and Dave Matthews.
The tribute album is expected to be released in June 2001.
Merl Saunders is legendary 
in the Bay Area for his funky, soulful rock and roll. A master showman and generous person, Merl’s brilliance on organ is outshined only by his huge heart. His tireless work for the rainforest and in the promotion of other charitable causes never ceases to amaze us.
Ten Ton Chicken has been jamming it up in the Bay Area for some time, and now has a new line-up with a new bass player and saxophonist. As described on their website, a TTC gig is very energetic with “frenetic peaks of improvisation, powerfully deep funk, writhing, sweating, dancing bodies, bhs everywhere, culminating in a musical stew that becomes absolutely unglued, swirling through the eddies and currents of a hundred musical tide pools. Or, something like that.”
We hope you are as excited as we are. Many people are coming to San Francisco from out of town (even from the east coast) for this special event, especially because Trey Anastasio’s solo tour hits the Greek Theater across the Bay in Berkeley the following two nights (July 13 and 14). We hope you can join us too, and help support music education for children.
PHISH TRIBUTE CREDITED TO EXTENSIVE PRODUCTION GENEROSITY
The Mockingbird Foundation today released more details about its forthcoming all-for-charity Phish cover album, Sharin’ in the Groove. The album was credited to the generous support of the many artists, managers, producers, engineers, studios, writers, designers, and others who participated without any compensation. Neither the artists nor Foundation volunteers will profit, and many of the artists absorbed significant expenses in their search to perfect their covers.
Final preparations are being provided by generous New Yorkers. The release will be mastered by Gene Paul, Les’ son and chief engineer at DB Plus. Liner notes will be written by noted music writer, and author of The Phish Book, Richard Gehr. Graphic design and layout for the liner booklet are being provided by Chris Kornmann, a freelance graphic designer who has worked with Verve, Sony, Tommy Boy, and others. The cover was designed by Chris with photographs taken at Phish shows by Pete Sitzman.
Engineers and studios who have provided gratis services include (counter-clockwise from the West) Melvin Seals and Seals Studio, San Francisco, CA; Bruce Bennett and Exocet Studios, Atlanta, GA; Steve Schwartzberg in Atlanta, GA; Jeff Thomas and Ryan Nichols in Charlottesville VA; Steve Wright and Wright Way Studio, Baltimore, MD; Mark Richardson and TMF Studios, New York, NY; Doug Mckean and Clubhouse Music Studio, Westport, CT; Greg Steele and Derek Studios, Dalton, MA; and Chuck Eller and Troy Peters, Charlotte, VT.
All of these services are being provided to the project gratis, as are those of the artists, including Arlo Guthrie, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews, the Wailers, Project Logic, John Scofield, and Tom Tom Club. The Mockingbird Foundation takes this advance opportunity to extend thanks to each of our collaborators on this project. The complete artist list will be announced May 10th. The playlist was announced April 20th. Preorders will be taken later this month.
The Mockingbird Foundation was incorporated by Phish fans in 1997 as an all-volunteer effort with no salaries, office, or paid staff. Its first project was a 928-page book, The Phish Companion, which has already generated thousands of dollars for charity. The first $10,500 was disbursed last month, and the next disbursements will be in July. Sharing in the Groove, the Phish tribute album, will be released within the next two months. All of the Foundation’s net royalties from both projects are donated to music education for children.
Little Feat’s new album, Chinese Work Songs, will be released Tuesday, June 20. The album includes a cover of Phish’s “Sample in a Jar,” chosen in connection with Little Feat’s participation with the Mockingbird Foundation. A sample clip is available online, streamed via Liquid Audio. The full single is at radio stations, but a station near you may not get it until you request that they play it.
The single will also be streamed on the web, as a feature on the Little Feat Radio Hour, a weekly syndicated radio broadcast. This week’s edition will be a two-hour special, featuring Feat’s new album, in its entirety, as well as interviews with the band. The show is typically broadcast through a network of radio stations, but this two-hour special will be broadcast only locally (Humbolt) and live on the web. Phish fans have been invited to “test the servers”, and we’ve been assured that volume won’t be a problem, so listen in for Feat’s comments on Phish and “Sample in a Jar.” (Thursday June 15, 6-8pm PST)
A future edition of the Little Feat Radio Hour will focus on Phish and the Mockingbird Foundation’s album of bands covering Phish, all for charity. That show will include archive tracks of Phish covering Little Feat, as well as Q&A with Mockingbird director Ellis Godard, probably tracks from the Mockingbird Foundation album, and possibly some call-in.
For more information:
http://www.littlefeatradiohour.com
BUSINESS WIRE, February 8, 2000, http://www.businesswire.com
“Fans Organize Phish Tribute Album For Charity”
The Mockingbird Foundation announced today that it would produce a Phish tribute album with the profits going entirely to charity. The release will feature 12-15 artists covering original Phish material and will include both studio and live contributions from a variety of top musicians.
“The Mockingbird Tribute,” as it is tentatively titled, will pay homage to Phish’s music. Over the past 16 years, Phish has developed a repertoire of hundreds of original songs ranging from bluegrass to jazz. Their material is well known for blazing improvisation and complex composition material and has been documented on nearly a dozen releases. They have shared the stage with dozens of musicians ranging from Son Seals to Jimmy Buffet, and have influenced an entire genre of “jam bands” in musical style and showmanship.
“We are still finalizing the concept and participants,” said producer Ellis Godard. “We aim to include the all-stars of Phish history, from those who performed with the band on stage to those influenced by their music.” The final list is expected in late February.
The album is being produced by the Mockingbird Foundation, a group of ambitious fans who incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1997 to undertake several Phish-related projects for charity. The group is also publishing a book which project founder Craig Delucia describes as “the definitive Phish encyclopedia.” The foundation, the book, and the tribute take their name from a character in several Phish songs, the Famous Mockingbird, who helps wayward society by retrieving the book of knowledge from an evil invader and returning it to the people. The Mockingbird Foundation website is at http//www.phish.net/mockingbird.
Phish was founded in 1983 at the University of Vermont and moved to its current lineup in 1985. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman, bassist Mike Gordon, and keyboardist Page McConnell have been touring the country for the past 16 years, slowly becoming one of the nation’s largest live acts. They recently released a 6-CD live box set recorded in 1998 at two concerts in Hampton, Virginia. Phish’s millennium celebration at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida was the largest and top-grossing millennium concert in North America. The band’s official website is at http//www.phish.com.
FANS ORGANIZE PHISH TRIBUTE ALBUM FOR CHARITY
Release to feature studio and live contributions from leading artists
The Mockingbird Foundation announced today that it would produce a Phish tribute album with the profits going entirely to charity. The release will feature approximately twelve artists covering original Phish material and will include both studio and live contributions from a variety of top musicians.
“The Mockingbird Tribute”, as it is tentatively titled, will pay homage to Phish’s music. Over the past 16 years of recording, Phish has developed a repertoire of hundreds of original songs ranging from bluegrass to jazz. Their material is well known for blazing improvisation and complex composition material and has been documented on nearly a dozen releases. They have shared the stage with dozens of musicians ranging from Son Seals to Jimmy Buffet, and have influenced an entire genre, of “jam bands” in musical style and showmanship.
“We are still finalizing the list of participants,” said producer Ellis Godard. “The tribute album aims to include the all-stars of Phish history and will include acts who have performed with the band on stage and those who have been influenced by their music.” Several high-profile artists have already confirmed their participation and the final list is expected in late February.
The album is being produced by the Mockingbird Foundation, a group of ambitious fans who incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1997 to undertake several Phish-related projects for charity. The group is also publishing a book which project founder Craig Delucia describes as “the definitive Phish encyclopedia”. The foundation, the book, and the tribute take their name from a character in several Phish songs, the Famous Mockingbird, who helps wayward society by retrieving the book of knowledge from an evil invader and returning it to the people. The Mockingbird Foundation website is at http//www.phish.net/mockingbird.
Phish was founded in 1983 at the University of Vermont and moved to its current lineup in 1985. Guitarist Trey Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman, bassist Mike Gordon, and keyboardist Page McConnell have been touring the country for the past 16 years, slowly becoming one of the nations largest live acts. They recently released a 6-CD live box set recorded in 1998 at two concerts in Hampton, Virginia. Phish’s top-grossing millennium celebration at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida was the largest millennium concert in North America. Their next release is expected in May. The band’s official website is at http//www.phish.com
