Every Phish fan has someone who was integral in introducing them to the music that ultimately changed their life. For the older crowd, this might be the person who dubbed you your first Phish tape. Or it might be the person who first dragged you to a Phish show when you had no idea that it would change your life. Or they might have sent you an email with an mp3, and simply said, “Thank me later.”
Foundation board member Andrew Hitz came up with a way for you to thank that person, your “Phish Mentor,” by supporting the next generation of musicians who could grow up to be someone else’s “Phish.” Please consider donating $5 to The Mockingbird Foundation in honor of the person or people who got you into Phish, your “Phish Mentor.” You can donate by clicking on the “Make a Donation” button on the right side of the home pages of either Phish.net or Mbird.org – or use the button provided below, created specifically for mentor donations. Simply add a note with the person’s name when you donate, and make it clear the person is your Phish Mentor. (If any donation that you intended to be for a mentor has not been acknowledged as such, or if you forgot to specify them when you made the donation, just email us.)
We’ll then acknowledge your thanks both on this page and, of course, in the list of current-year contributors. (If you want your donation to be anonymous, there is no need to mention your Mentor at all, of course, and just keep them in your heart in spirit. And if you decide that you’d like more or less included below that what you initially noted on Paypal, just email us.)
We all owe a debt of gratitude to a special someone for introducing us to this music, this culture, this community. And what cooler way to thank your Phish Mentor than to donate less than the cost of a beer at a show to an all-volunteer-run charity founded by Phish fans dedicated to raising funds for the musical education of the next generation? Plus, donations are 100% tax deductible, as the Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
The Foundation will be accepting these donations for inclusion on the list of Phish Mentors through the end of the Summer Tour 2013. Every dollar really, really counts.
- 710Labs thanks Thanks to Flick and Neil
- Adam Schneider thanks John Jensen. ‘My life changed in early 1993 (or was it the end of 1992?) when I first heard Phish.’
- Andrew Hitz thanks my Phish mentor Russell Beebe. NYE ’93 was a night I knew was changing my life as it happened. Forever indebted.
- Becky Stillwell thanks Thank you to my Phish Mentor Walt Sarkees for introducing me to Phish 17 years ago!! xoxo
- Benjamin St Clair thanks Derek Dennison
- Cameron Parker thanks Kirsten Ginder Moore got me out of the gutter and into the Aladdin oh so many years ago and so the community can blame her for all of this. Was super nice to see her and her family in Tahoe after all these years. Huzzah!!
- David Valente thanks For two mentors. Todd McCarthy, who made me listen to the Sacramento Gamehendge, and specifically the LIzards solo, and Dean Budnick, who sent me a newbie “starter set” of tapes in a massive B&P after he posted an offer on rec.music.phish. Thanks guys!
- Dennis Conroy thanks I’d like to thank Brian Casper for getting me hooked first on recordings, then being there with me for shows #1 and #10 among others. So very grateful!!!
- Evan Locke thanks Thanks to the wonderful tapers for allowing me to get hooked on the best band ever!
- Gregg Lariosa thanks Tim Rodier, ‘for taking me to my first 2 shows: 10/21/96 and 10/22/96 at MSG. Amazing times. FREAKAPAUG!!!’
- James Mulrooney thanks Joshua Siegel
- Josh Wenger thanks Uno Clay
- Julio Garcia thanks Thank you to my “Phish Mentor” who introduced me to Phish and then took me to my first show, 12/30/94. 19 Years later still touring strong….Thank you Mike Walsh!
- Kelly Schaaf-Brown thanks My Mentor -Dave Donohue took me to my first Phish show, Barre VT in 1991. As of now I’ve seen 145 and still had time to work full time, get married, and have a child!
- Kelly Walborn thanks Ryan Coners. ‘if it wasn’t for him I wouldnt be the person I am today.. i love him and i love phish’
- Lorijane Burns thanks Thank you to my Phish Mentor Dennis Marion for hours upon hours of dancing in the kitchen…
- Luke Lagraff thanks I wish to thank Jimmy Gallagher for giving me the first set of 11/18/95 on tape. Reba and Punch hooked me. And congrats to him on the birth of his daughter, Zelle. Love you and we still haven’t gone Phishin’ together! This Fall!!
- Mark Herman thanks Adam Copel, ‘and I am forever grateful for what he did!!!’
- Mark Hutchison thanks I’d like to thank Aaron Rosenthal for being one of my earliest Phish mentors. He drove many round-trips across town way more times than he probably ought to have, and rewound tapes in his car way more times than was probably good for either of us.
- Matthew Pajtas thanks my buddy Connors
- Paul Dyer thanks Thank you Patrick Dyer, for getting me to Davis, CA 12/2/93. It may the shortest show we’ve ever seen, but, Giant Country Horns, Ice>Simple, DMB opened…our relationship changed that night! Cheers!
- Pete Mason thanks for my Phish mentor, Mike Z. brought me to my first show and life has just gotten better as a result. Thanks Z!
- Ron Lauer thanks mentor ‘unknown’
- Silas Cole thanks Noah Cole is my Phish mentor! Ethan Cole gets the honorable mention.
- Stanley Jackson thanks 0
- Stephen Logan thanks For my mentor Phil Drucker. A teacher who dragged me to my first show 23 years ago at the 23 East Cabaret. Who knew what that drunken tequila filled night would start for me.
- Trammell Summers thanks JJ Mohr, Jr. for all the many great times spent on tour and for your incredible friendship and generosity over the years. Happy 40th birthday, Leroy!