by Dean Budnick

December 1 is the official release date of Phish: The Biography. The author, Parke Puterbaugh, began his association with the band while on assignment from Rolling Stone in May 1995. He continued his relationship with Phish even after the piece finally ran (in the Feb 20, 1997 issue with Gillian Anderson on the cover). Over the years, Puterbaugh helped the band with any number of writing projects (including the 1996 Phishbill) and has now opted for the long-form  approach. In the following conversation, Puterbaugh talks about his first meeting with the band, his approach to the book and about the stonewalling on his part that allowed him to fold in an account of the group’s return in 2009. He’s out there walking the grounds of Festival 8 this very weekend, so if you somehow you happen upon him, be sure to extend a greeting (his first name Parke, rhymes with lark).

 

Your initial connection to Phish came through a

Rolling Stone assignment. Were you altogether unfamiliar with them at that point?

I was pretty unfamiliar although I wouldn’t say I’d never heard a note. At that point in time they hadn’t registered across my screen, in part because I was in graduate school and a lot of my time and energy was going towards pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science. So I wasn’t delving as deeply into new music as much as I would typically. I was familiar with the name and a bit of the story but until I got the assignment and found out for myself, I was largely ignorant of what they were all about and probably subject to many of the same myths and preconceptions that everyone else was.

Parke Puterbaugh Glimpses The Forest