Last month, Chris and I talked about starting to learn cover songs to do a few acoustic duet shows this summer, and we should work on this tomorrow as well. We haven’t selected songs yet, but we should decide on at least two or three to learn.

I’ve taken a new approach recently: recording every little idea that comes to mind, no matter how mundane. I’ve started compiling the ideas and arranging them based on feel, key and chord structure to see if the pieces work when assembled together. I can now capture new bits of music and still feed my craving to edit myself without the fear of losing music along the way. A few have worked after tweaking, and others that I thought might work have failed.  It’s a fresh way to work, and I find it very exciting!

This period of Phish begins with my favorite two albums by the band; because of this, I remember being very excited about “Farmhouse” before its release. Phish took a hiatus after the tour for the album, and I felt it was a good idea for them to do so since their edge seemed missing from that record.

When Phish returned from their hiatus, they released “Round Room.” Again, I had great expectations about the release, but the album left me dissatisfied. So, when their “final” album, “Undermind,” hit store shelves, I did not have high hopes. When I finally heard it, I felt Phish had become a band that I really could not relate to anymore.

Last year, they put out a new album called “Joy” after a long split. I didn’t buy the album upon release, and I wasn’t in a hurry to listen to it. This weekend was my first listen.

I decided to review their albums from the ones that I love all the way through their latest release. I’m glad I did. The fresh listen to these albums has revealed some strong writing and playing that I missed before. I still don’t particularly care for “Round Room,” but it does have its moments. I hope they keep going for a long while as I think I am starting to understand what they are doing these days.