Attention, fans of Phish and Hold ‘Em Poker: As just announced at Phish.net, the second Phamily Poker Classic will take place in Lake Tahoe at Harvey’s Casino on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 10, and it will benefit The Mockingbird Foundation!
The tournament will be limited to 100 players (including bounty players), and it will be played during the afternoon of the 10th. The blinds and chip stacks will be structured so that nobody will miss a note of Phish.The entry fee will once again be $120, and at least half of that amount will go directly into the prize pool, with the remainder to be donated to The Mockingbird Foundation after accounting for tournament expenses. The tournament also will again be run by volunteers, including Kevin Young, Jamey Brill, and Charlie Dirksen, who organized the first Phamily Poker Classic last year in Atlantic City. Non-cash prizes will be raffled off during the tournament, and every player will receive a limited edition custom poster created by artist Jon Lamb of Like Minded Productions. Twenty of the posters will be signed and numbered by the artist, and printed on archival quality paper, and the final table’s players will each receive this special edition of the poster in the number that they are eliminated (e.g., tenth place will receive poster No. 10).
Tickets will be available through www.phamilypokerclassic.com beginning Monday, May 9th, at noon eastern time. If you played in this event last year and enjoyed it, please help us sell this event out by telling other fans about your experience! We hope that you will join us again and make this event as special as the original Phamily Poker Classic. With your continued support, these events hopefully will become common whenever Phish performs in poker-friendly towns.
Please see www.phamilypokerclassic.com for additional information. Also, if you or your business are interested in donating non-cash prizes to this event, please email Charlie at charlie@phish.net. Your contributions would be enormously appreciated. If you have any questions about the event itself, please email phamilypokerclassic@gmail.com.
Lawn Boys – A Tribute to Phish will perform this Saturday, December 18th, to benefit the Mockingbird Foundation. Lawn Boys will play two full sets of Phish classics, with a full light show, at The Luca Lounge, 222 Avenue B (b/w 13th and 14th), New York, NY. Tickets $10, and 50% of the door goes to Mockingbird, to support music education for children.
UPDATE: Due to a massive power outage last night at Luca Lounge, the show has been moved to Fontana's Bar, 105 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002-4482, (212) 334-6740. Enjoy the show!!
The Mockingbird Foundation is excited to announce THE PHAMILY POKER CLASSIC, a no-limit Texas Hold’em Tournament in Atlantic City to take place in the Tropicana’s poker room on the afternoons of October 30 (tournament) and 31 (final table). There will be both CASH and non-cash prizes, and some of the $120 ticket price (the “buy-in”) will benefit the Foundation. This event is being graciously organized by Phish fan Kevin Young, with the assistance of others including Foundation volunteers, and none of us are benefiting financially from this event. For more details and to purchase tickets, please see the event’s website. If you play, you will not miss any Phish. So please, make a hand for Mockingbird, and don’t delay in purchasing tickets, as this event is expected to sell-out. It is unlikely that tickets (seats) will be sold at the door.
Whether you play poker or not, and especially if you enjoy using the advertisement-free Phish.Net, please consider donating an “ante” or “blind” — $5 or $10 — to the Foundation. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. The Foundation is run entirely by volunteers with very little overhead. Your support for music education is greatly needed and appreciated.
Some individuals will play in the Tournament as “bounty players” for the Foundation, with non-cash prizes to be awarded to any player who busts them out of the Tournament. (One bounty player per table is expected.) If you have anything that you would like to donate for the benefit of the non-cash prize pool, then please email charlie at phish.net. We would enormously appreciate your support. We anticipate that there will be a table and some space on hand at this event for use by the Foundation, where the prizes may be viewed by Tournament participants and non-participants alike.
Thank you for your support of Phish.Net and The Mockingbird Foundation!
Hundreds of Phish fans will be looking for sold-out tickets in Denver this August – and not just for the Phish show. MOCK SHOW: RED ROCKS – a poster exhibition in support of music education for children – is on its way to selling out. The event will feature dozens of poster artists, including Jim Pollock, David Welker, Ryan Kerrigan, Fred Hosman, Tripp, Bruce Horan, Tim Ripley, Ian Millard, Jamie Huntsman, Jon Blake, Justin Helton, Erin Cadigan, Drew Findley, Jonathan Lamb, Michael Ortiz, Joshua Jacobs, Uncle & Aunt Ebeneezer, AJ Masthay, and The Faded Line.
Mock show will be held at a Sheraton Denver West exhibition space that features views of the Denver skyline & surrounding mountains, only 6 miles (less than 10 minutes) from Red Rocks Amphitheater. This isn’t the first “poster convention” for Phish fans, but it’s the largest and grandest yet, twice the floor space and twice the artist roster of a recent event in Hampton. Ticket packages are available featuring a PollockPrints/Hosco Press collaboration benefit release Poster and/or T-Shirt.
The Mockingbird Foundation is pleased to assist with “Mock Show: Red Rocks” and encourages the support of Jim Pollock and other artists in the Phish community, through this and any other means. The Foundation will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the event’s (Pollock) poster and t-shirt sales, and will also sell poster tubes at the show; those funds will directly benefit music education for children. Your support is greatly appreciated.
The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about the band Phish and its music. Since its inception in 1996, the Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff. It fundraises for music education for children by celebrating the music of Phish through books, innovative recordings,
creative donation premiums,
and special events for the Phish fan community. Funds are distributed through a two-tiered application process that is one of the most competitive in the country.
The second edition of The Phish Companion (the Foundation’s 928-page authoritative encyclopedia) is available from major book outlets nationwide. Its double-disc tribute album Sharin’ in the Groove is available in CD format through Amazon, CDBaby.com, and Homegrown Music Network, as well as in digital format from iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, BuyMusic, MusicMatch, Sony Connect, MusicIsHere, Liquid Digital Media, PassAlong, MusicNet, Puretracks, MusicNow, and LoudEye! For more information about Mockingbird, or to make a donation, please visit www.mbird.org.
Phish was a rock band that started in 1983 and recently reunited for three shows in Hampton, Virginia. This will perform a summer tour that begins with a show at Fenway Park in Boston, and includes two performances at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (Manchester, Tennessee), as well as eleven other shows in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Wisconsin. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.
PHIX TO REUNITE AT BIG CYPRESS FOR LANGERADO FESTIVAL
BOULDER, COLORADO — On Friday night, March 7th at 11:55 p.m., those lucky enough to have seen the millennium in at Phish’s Big Cypress show (or not) can close their eyes and travel back in time as tribute band Phix takes the stage one more time at the sixth annual Langerado Music Festival at Big Cypress in the south Florida Everglades.
Phix is composed of four talented musicians who play Phish’s music and capture the spirit of that band’s live show with a deep, rotating setlist and extensive improvisational jamming.
Rather than duplicating note for note their songs or shows exactly the way Phish played them, the tribute band pitfall, Phix goes for a looser interpretation of their music which captures its improvisational essence. Their shows also mimic Phish shows in their unique setlists and their spontaneous, “anything can happen” nature.
Phix, consisting of Paul Murin (guitar), Derek Berg (keys), Chris Sheldon (drums), Brian Adams (bass) and Brad “Dex” Wertz (lights) from the Boulder, Colorado area has played about 500 shows in the U.S., Canada and Mexico since they began playing Phish’s music during that band’s “hiatus” in the summer of 2001.
Their shows include five benefit concerts for the Mockingbird Foundation, including their memorable first tour to the Northeast, where Phix played to an enthusiastic crowd downstairs at Nectar’s Restaurant in Burlington, Vermont on a snowy weekday evening in March 2004, as well as annual benefit shows in Denver, Colorado that ended in 2006, shortly before Phix ended its six-year run.
Phix has earned the love and respect of thousands of Phish fans who have heard them play, as well the personal approval of Mike Gordon and Page McConnell who have come out to see them. The band is excited to soon be playing one more time and making a homage to another iconic, never to be forgotten concert venue on the huge pastures of the Big Cypress Indian Reservation.
Phix will be appearing on the second night of the Langerado festival, Friday, March 7. The festival runs from Thursday, March 6 to Sunday, March 9th. Tickets for the festival are still available at the Langerado Festival website http://www.langerado.com/ or by calling 1-800-594-TIXX (8499).
The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about the band Phish and its music. Since its inception in 1996, the Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff. It raises funds for music education for children by celebrating the music of Phish through books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community. Funds are distributed through a two-tiered application process that is one of the most competitive in the country.
The second edition of The Phish Companion (the Foundation’s 928-page authoritative encyclopedia) is available from major book outlets nationwide. Its double-disc tribute album Sharin’ in the Groove is available in CD format through Amazon, CDBaby.com, and Homegrown Music Network, as well as in digital format from iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, BuyMusic, MusicMatch, Sony Connect, MusicIsHere, Liquid Digital Media, PassAlong, MusicNet, Puretracks, MusicNow, and LoudEye! For more information about Mockingbird, or to make a donation, please visit www.mbird.org.
Phish was a rock band that started in 1983 and performed its final show on August 15, 2004. For more information about Phish, please visit http://www.phish.com.
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The Mockingbird Foundation will be a beneficiary of SuperJam 2005, featuring Addison Groove Project w/ special guest Oshe, at Heritage Hall in the the Glens Falls Civic Center, Saturday, April 30. Doors open at 7pm, and the show begins at 8pm. Tickets are $12, on sale now at hte Glens Falls Civic Center Box Office, Ticketmaster locations, and www.ticketmaster.com. Proceeds from the event benefit the Mockingbird Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
The event will also include a raffle with a growing list of at least thirteen fantastic prizes. The grand prize will be two tickets to the Bonnaroo Music Festival! Other prizes will include:
- Two tickets (one prize) to see Soulive at the Higher Ground in Burlington (5/12)
- A signed Phish concert photo from Alpine Valley by Jason Kaczorowski (PostArt productions, MBIRD photographer)
- Four gift certificates (separate prizes) from LivePhishDownloads, of their June archival releases
- A gift certificate for the Wizard of Floyd DVD from The Silvermine in downtown Glens Falls
- Three copies (separate prizes) of the limited edition DVD The Everyone Orchestra – First Annual Pangaea Project Benefit featuring Jon Fishman, Kai Ekhardt, Julia Butterfly Hill, Tony Furtado, Tye North, Dennis Kucinich and many more.
- One copy of the Phish Companion 2nd Edition
- Two CDs (separate prizes) from Addison Groove Project
In conjunction with the event, the Mockingbird Foundation has secured a discounted rate for the night of the show at two nearby hotels:
- The Best Inn (at Exit 18 off I-87) offers two double beds for $54.95/room (a discount of nearly 40%) and a continental breakfast the next morning. Call the BEST INN at 518-793-8891 for reservations, and be sure to mention “the Mockingbird Event” for this discount.
- The Queensbury Hotel, a 5 minute walk from the Civic Center, offers one room with either a queen or 2 doubles for $69. Call 518-792-1121 and mention “The Mockingbird Event”.
For more details see, www.mbird.org, www.wgfr.org, www.addisongroove.com, www.oshe.org
The Mockingbird Foundation expresses sincere thanks to Superfly, LivePhish, nugs.net, Jason Kaczorowski, The Alternative Silvermine of Glens Falls, groovetv, Higher Ground, & AGP for their generous contributions to the raffle, and to the Best Inn and the Queensbury Hotel for arranging reduced hotel rates for the concert goers.
The Mockingbird Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about the band Phish and its music. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996. It fundraises for music education for children by celebrating the music of Phish, through comprehensive books, innovative recordings, creative donation premiums, and special events for the Phish fan community. The second edition of The Phish Companion – the Foundation’s 928-page authoritative encyclopedia – is available from major book outlets as well as through www.mbird.org.
Phish was a rock band that started in 1983 and performed its final show in August 2004. For more information about Phish, see http://www.phish.com.
THE MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION is pleased to announce a benefit show on Saturday, February 2, 2002 at the Tongue & Groove (Van Ness & Union) in San Francisco. The benefit will feature the improvisational rock of TEN TON CHICKEN and OUROBOROS. Ten Ton Chicken will play two sets after Ouroboros’s set. Showtime 9:30pm.
The all-volunteer, nonprofit Mockingbird Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation. It was founded by Phish fans in 1997 to benefit music education for children. The Foundation compiled the most encyclopedic bible on Phish to date, THE PHISH COMPANION, which was released in Fall 2000 by Backbeat Books (formerly Miller Freeman). The Foundation’s latest project, a tribute album to Phish called SHARIN’ IN THE GROOVE, features an exciting and unusual group of musicians, including Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Arlo Guthrie, Amfibian (featuring Phish lyricist Tom Marshall), Project Logic with John Scofield, Dave Hidalgo & Louie Perez (of Los Lobos), and many others. SHARIN’ IN THE GROOVE is available in more than 1,100 stores in 44 states, including Camelot Music, Coconuts, Disc Jockey, FYE (For Your Entertainment), Planet Music, Record Town, Spec’s Music, Strawberries, The Wall, and Waxie Maxie’s. More information on the tribute album and the Foundation is available at http://www.mockingbirdfoundation.org/.
The Bay Area’s own TEN TON CHICKEN opened the FOUNDATION’s tribute album release party at the Great American Music Hall last summer. Their set was very well-received by the many Phish fans in attendance. See http://www.tentonchicken.com/ for more information about them and their great music!
OUROBOROS is turning heads with their improvisational rock. They contributed a cover of Phish’s WILSON to the FOUNDATION (see http://mockingbird.goodhumans.net/bonus.html), and they graciously seek once again to help benefit music education for children with this event. For more information about them, check out http://www.gratefulfamily.com/ouroboros/snakeviewer.html
We hope you join us, TEN TON CHICKEN, OUROBOROS, and other Phish fans in support of music education for children on February 2 at the Tongue & Groove. If you can’t make it but are interested in supporting the FOUNDATION in other ways, then please drop cdirksen@earthlink.net a line.
Sincerely and Happy Holidays,
THE MOCKINGBIRD FOUNDATION
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…
The Mockingbird Foundation is pleased to announced that it has received the Mimi Fishman Memorial Award, the Jammy that honors notable contributions to community service. The Board of the Foundation humbly accepts the award on behalf of the many charitable groups, especially the organizations involved in music education, that benefit from its fundraising activities.
Mimi Fishman Foundation Director David Shulman presented the award to long-time Mockingbird volunteers Jack Lebowitz and Kat Griffin at last night’s Jammys ceremony, which took place at the Roseland Ballroom in New York. The show featured more than five hours of non-stop music and award presentations, culminating in a two-stage dueling jam on “Cissy Strut” in honor of the Meters. Awards were presented in eleven categories.
The Mockingbird Foundation extends its thanks to the fans who voted and to Jambands.com, for spreading their love of music. Most of all, the Foundation is grateful to the inspiring memory of Mimi Fishman, mother of Phish drummer Jon Fishman, for her years of service to the community.
Finally, the Foundation congratulates the other community service organizations that were nominated, and commends them for their charitable efforts.
The Mockingbird Foundation was founded as an all-volunteer organization in 1997 by fans of the band Phish. Its members have released The Phish Companion, a 928-book about the band and its music, and are preparing for the release of Sharin’ in the Groove, a double-disc cover album. The Foundation’s net proceeds go 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.
