Introducing Bears Gone Phishin’: A Fusion of Grateful Dead, Phish, and Widespread Panic
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2| October 22, 2024 at 8:39 amchubesHMFICLocal Scene: Charleston, SCRank: FlurryPoints: 20702
Introducing Bears Gone Phishin’: A Fusion of Grateful Dead, Phish, and Widespread Panic
Published: October 22, 2024Bears Gone Phishin’ is a South Carolina-born fusion of Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, and Phish music, blended into a unique jam band cocktail. Founded by three SC jam scene flagbearers: Andy Greenberg of Phish tribute Runaway Gin, Wallace Mullinax of Grateful Dead tribute The Reckoning, and Sean Mills of Widespread Panic tribute Machine Funk.
Bears Gone Phishin’ made their debut in June 2024 with a sold out Charleston Pour House show, and they’re set to return to the PoHo this Halloween night, Thursday, October 31st, for their third show ever. I spoke with Andy Greenberg about this marvelous occasion and the formation of the band, which also includes Jennifer Reiser (Runaway Gin), Bobby Hogg (Reckoning), Wes Powers (Reckoning, Sol Driven Train),and Steven Sandifer (Dangermuffin).
“We’re fusing them all together,” Greenberg says. “It brings together all those fanbases, and Phish fans have expressed that they can finally hang out with their Widespread friends in public.”
Bears Gone Phishin’ has been a successful project so far, and the group is excited to continue exploring these musical ideas together.
Forming Bears Gone Phishin’
The roots of the collaboration can be traced back to Florence, SC, where Andy, Wallace, and Sean all grew up together, and have maintained friendships and musical partnerships ever since.
“We all grew up together in Florence and we started playing music together way back when,” Greenberg explains. “The three of us all being from Florence and all being the heads of Widespread, Phish, and Grateful Dead tribute bands, is a weird coincidence that I always thought about. How is it that all three of us grew up together and we ended up running these three bands?”
In 2023, The Reckoning, Runaway Gin, and Machine Funk all played at Jerry Fest in Columbia, SC, and Greenberg got to thinking.
“While I was watching Machine Funk and then watching The Reckoning afterwards, I was just like, why don’t we just combine these three bands? Because the three of us are good buddies and we grew up together. These fanbases are a little bit separated, and it felt like bringing them together would be a nice vibe.”
About the Name
The name Bears Gone Phishin’ is a clever mashup of influences from all three bands. For one, it’s inspired by the Widespread Panic song, “Bear’s Gone Fishin’”, except they changed the spelling to include Phish. The “bear” is also a nod to both the iconic Grateful Dead dancing bears, and Augustus Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the Dead’s first sound guy, inventor of the Wall of Sound, and the LSD chemist credited with manufacturing and distributing most of the acid that was consumed in the United States during the 1960s and 70s.
“He was this instrumental figure in the Grateful Dead and really in the birth of the whole scene that we’re kind of a part of here,” Greenberg says. “So I thought it was a good thing to commemorate Bear.”
Crafting the Setlist
The music of the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, and Phish are three distinct styles (that do overlap at times). They all share a common improvisational driving force, and are known for seamless transitions, especially between certain songs, such as “Scarlet Begonias” into “Fire on the Mountain” by the Grateful Dead, as one foundational example.
“I love the music of all three bands and I was very excited about the different opportunities of putting these songs together,” Greenberg says. “I’ve never done the fusion hybrid tribute thing before. It’s really shocking to be in a Panic song and then jump into a Grateful Dead song or a Phish song.”
Since each musician brings knowledge of a different catalogue to the table, there is a learning curve involved for everyone in the band.
“My first approach to this as the Phish guy is to bring the guys in real slowly because our rhythm section is familiar with Phish but not as familiar,” Greenberg continues. “Also the Phish stuff is probably the most difficult to play. So we’ve started out with some songs that are a little bit more obscure for sure.”
Musical Kinship in the Rhythm Section
They’re growing out of that quickly, though, and are starting to work in more of the mainline Phish songs with complex composed sections. He also mentioned a fun musical kinship between Phish’s “2001” (A Space Odyssey) and the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” — both upbeat party songs.
Since Bears Gone Phishin’ has both a drummer and a percussionist, the sound lends itself to these rhythmically-driven songs, which readers who have seen either of the aforementioned songs performed live know, tends to create a giant dance party.
“With Widespread, we’re kind of just sticking with the bangers honestly. Widespread is the adrenaline shot to the circulatory system of the whole project,” Greenberg continues. “It’s really interesting how they supercharge the shows. They’re really good openers and really good closers, and the crowd energy during the Widespread stuff… man the interaction is amazing.”
The full video of the September 21st Bears Gone Phishin’ show at the Asheville Music Hall is up on YouTube, and Greenberg explains that this is the best way to get a feel for what they’re doing with this project.
Halloween at the Charleston Pour House
Greenberg didn’t want to spoil any surprises, but he did confirm a Halloween theme to the setlist, of course, and are planning for a full costume party.
“We’re going to choose music that is spooky,” he confirms. “We’ll pick songs that those three bands played during Halloween historically. Musically we’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeve. I don’t want to reveal too much about it, but it’s definitely not going to be a normal show.”
Rising local act, and Extra Chill Fest 2023 alumnus Omiwimo will kick off the night on the deck. Early bird tickets to Bears Gone Phishin’ on October 31st are sold out. Remaining tickets are available here. Omiwimo on the deck for $5 cash.
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