Mike Gordon
(born June 3, 1965 in Sudbury, Massachusetts) is a bass player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion. He is also an award-winning filmmaker.
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MIKE GORDON TICKETS
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Biography
Gordon met
Trey Anastasio,
Jon Fishman, and
Jeff Holdsworth at the
University of Vermont, where Phish began in 1983.
In the music, Gordon's influence is the most obvious in Phish's many different renditions of various
bluegrass,
calypso and even traditional
Jewish songs (Gordon is
Jewish). He also contributed by singing, usually adding to the lower end of the harmony spectrum, as well as writing off-beat lyrics to amusing but thought-provoking songs.
Gordon played many roles in Phish. Until the band became too big for self-management, he dealt with practically all public relations and fan communication, such as answering fan mail, managing funds, and booking gigs. Gordon wrote 17 Phish original songs and coauthored 22 Phish tracks.
On
August 11,
2003, Gordon was arrested for endangering the welfare of a minor after an alleged photo shoot involving a nine-year-old girl inside a deserted boathouse behind Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh,
New York, following a performance by
The Dead. The girl's father was a leader of a Hells Angels chapter. While being held before police arrived to arrest him, the Angels "were not gentle with the sensitive areas of the rock star's body." After his arrest, he told officers, "I may have shown bad judgment, but I am not a pedophile."
[1] A month later, Gordon was officially cleared of any wrongdoing.
[2]
Instruments
Like Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, Gordon played custom-made basses built by
Paul Languedoc. Mike played two Languedoc basses, including a "dragon" bass, but switched to a
Modulus Quantum 5 bass (similar to the Quantam 6 played by
Phil Lesh) in 1997 and has relied on it ever since. This instrument is known for deep tones and a "futuristic" sound, largely attributable to a unique construction including a neck that is made entirely of a lightweight, extremely robust carbon-graphite compound, not dissimilar to a material selected by
NASA for use on the Space Shuttle.
Mike's unique sound is also attributable to a bevy of signal processing equipment including an ADA MB-1 pre-amp, a Lexicon reverb unit, an Ibanez flanger (used at the beginning of "Down with Disease"), a Lovetone Meatball (also used at the beginning of "Down with Disease") and a Boss SYB-1 Bass Synthesizer.
Mike has used a variety of amplifier and speaker combinations including the SWR SM-900 amp/Goliath 4x10" enclosure but has been seen most recently using David Eden WT-800 amps and David Eden D410XLT cabinets. He has played banjo since 1994, performing the instrument in concert with Phish and
Phil Lesh (albeit an electric banjo) and in the studio on the 2007
Bernie Worrell album
Improvisczario
. Mike Played an Inferno Bass during "Frankenstein" at the East Troy, WI show on 6/21/2009.
Other musical projects
Gordon has played in several side-projects apart from Phish, including Grappa Boom with Jamie Masefield of the
Jazz Mandolin Project,
The Chieftains with
Rosanne Cash, and Doug Perkins of Smokin' Grass.
In 2002, Gordon recorded the critically acclaimed
Clone
album with acoustic guitar master
Leo Kottke. The duo reunited in 2005 for
Sixty Six Steps
.
Gordon formed his own solo band featuring
Josh Roseman,
Scott Murawski, Julee Avallone, James Harvey, Gordon Stone, Jeannie Hill, and Doug Belote in 2003 and released
Inside In
based loosely on
Outside Out
.
In the summer of 2004 Gordon produced musician Joey Arkenstat's debut album,
Bane
. Gordon is also credited with providing vocals and
shofar accompaniment.
In 2004, Gordon performed with The
Benevento-Russo Duo for several shows benefiting Headcount, a voter registration organization. The trio played a number of dates throughout late 2004 and 2005 including the
Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2005 and a
New Year's Eve series of shows in
Florida and the
northeast.
In December 2005, Gordon formed
SerialPod with Anastasio and
Grateful Dead drummer
Bill Kreutzmann. The group debuted at the 17th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in
Asheville,
North Carolina.
In early 2006, Gordon teamed up with his mother, artist Marjorie Minkin, to present
Another Side of In
— a visual and audio art show featuring interactive sculptures created by Minkin and set to the music of
Inside In
.
Later in the year, Gordon formed
Ramble Dove. The band came into fruition after Gordon's long-time stint as bass player in a
honky tonk band led by Brett Hughes that performed each Tuesday night at the Burlington, Vermont club, Radio Bean. The group performs a number of classic
country songs and a few Gordon originals, such as "Ramble Dove," "Loosening Up The Rules," and the rare Phish song "Weekly Time."
That summer, Gordon, along with Phish bandmate Trey Anastasio, again joined the Benevento-Russo Duo for a co-headlining tour with
Phil Lesh and Friends before finishing the final leg of the tour on their own. The group performed various songs from each members' catalog, as well as a handful of brand new originals. The quartet parted ways after the tour ended in July.
In August, Gordon joined the
Rhythm Devils - a group featuring Kreutzmann, Dead drummer
Mickey Hart, guitarist
Steve Kimock and a host of backup players.
On
January 2, 2007, Gordon appeared with a group billed as
The House Band
containing many former members of
The Grateful Dead playing at a party in honor of the new leadership of the
United States House of Representatives hosted by
Nancy Pelosi. The group included
Mickey Hart,
Bill Kreutzmann,
Bob Weir,
Bruce Hornsby, and
Warren Haynes.
Gordon performed at a concert in
Hawaii on September 21 with Kimock and Kreutzmann, and on November 2, appeared during the second set of a
Ratdog concert at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington Vermont, joining the band on the songs "Stuff," "Bird Song," and "Cassidy." On January 5, Gordon again teamed with Kreutzmann and Scott Murawski in Jaco, Costa Rica for a gig at Docelunas, playing a range of covers and originals including "Keep On Growing," "Estimated Prophet," "Twist" and "Intensified."
Mike emerged from touring hibernation this year and performed with his own solo band for the first time since 2003 at The Iron Horse Music Hall in
Northampton, MA on June 30, 2008. He joined
Trey Anastasio at the first annual
Rothbury Music Festival in July during his solo acoustic set. Anastasio and former
Phish bandmate
Jon Fishman joined Mike for part of his set during the same day. Mike released an album entitled
The Green Sparrow
on Rounder Records on August 5. His current touring band includes
Scott Murawski on guitar, Brooklyn drummer Todd Isler, keyboardist Tom Cleary, and percussionist Craig Myers. Mike completed at 25-date supporting tour across the US with his band in the summer of 2008 and a short four-night stint in December of that year. They will tour again in September of 2009.
On March 6, 2009, Mike reunited with Phish with a 3-day stint in Hampton,Virginia. Phish then toured all over the U.S.in the Summer of 2009.
Albums
- Clone
(with Leo Kottke) (October 8, 2002)
- Inside In
(August 19, 2003)
- Sixty Six Steps
(with Leo Kottke) (August 23, 2005)
- Live From Bonnaroo 2005
(with the Benevento-Russo Duo) (July 18, 2006, recorded live in 2005)
- The Green Sparrow
(August 5, 2008)
Books
Films
- Tracking
(Phish, 1994)
- Outside Out
(2000)
- Rising Low
(2002)
- The Down with Disease
music video for Phish
Awards
- Sixty Six Steps
won album of the year at the 2006 Jammy Awards.
- Rising Low
was the winner of the Joe Jarvis Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2002 Newport International Film Festival.
- Outside Out
garnered the audience award at the South by Southwest festival.
References
- 'Phish' Bassist Arrested; Allegedly Found In Secluded Area With 9-Year-Old August, 19, 2003; local6.com
- Phish Bassist Gordon Cleared Prosecutors drop child endangerment charges; RollingStone.com; September 19, 2003