Jon Fishman

Infobox musical artist
Name = Jon Fishman


Img_capt = Jon Fishman on stage with Trey Anastasio at the Gorge on July 13, 2003.
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Fish, Henrietta
Born = Birth date and age|1965|2|19|mf=y
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Origin =
Instrument = drums, percussion, Guitar, Bass, Electrolux vacuum cleaner, trombone, mandolin
Genre = Jam, jazz fusion, neo-psychedelia
Occupation = musician
Years_active = 1983 - present
Label =
Associated_acts = Phish, Pork Tornado, Surrender to the Air, Jazz Mandolin Project, Everyone Orchestra, J. Willis Pratt and We're Bionic, Bad Hat, Yonder Mountain String Band, Touchpants
Current_members =
Past_members =

Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer best known for his work with the jam band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 18 Phish originals, 7 of them as a solo credit [http://www.mbird.org/book] .

Fishman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was then adopted, and grew up in Syracuse, New York with a Jewish family. Fishman had a passion for the drums from an early age, and emulated John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, Bill Bruford of Yes, and Keith Moon of The Who. He went to Jamesville-Dewitt High School in a suburb of Syracuse, and after graduation in 1983, he attended the University of Vermont for one year, where he co-founded Phish. He then transferred with guitarist Trey Anastasio to Goddard College, where he wrote his senior study on "A Self-Teaching Guide to Drumming in Retrospect." As of 2005, he lived in Essex, Vermont. [cite web |last=Crawford |first=Matt |date=January 5, 2005 |title=Phish ex-drummer scraps Shelburne wind tower plan |url=http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/towns/shelburne/1.htm |publisher="Burlington Free Press" |accessdate=2007-12-04]

Phish

The band Phish was named after him (he is commonly referred to as “Fish” among [http://www.phish.net/faq/henrietta-names.html many other nicknames] ) though other explanations for the name have been given [http://www.phish.net/faq/name.html] . Other than drumming, he also sang back-up vocals and occasionally lead-vocals (usually on cover songs, most of them humorous). He was well-known on tour for his Electrolux vacuum cleaner solos and his distinctively-patterned frock (blue with red donuts).

Other musical projects

Fishman also plays drums in the rock band Pork Tornado, and has performed with the Jazz Mandolin Project for several years as well. As of late, he has been a member of two large musical collectives, The Everyone Orchestra and The Village. He is also a member of the Burlington, VT comedy troupe Touchpants with Colby Dix and Chris Friday and is their regular touring drummer. In 2007, he emerged from semi-retirement to perform a series of shows with the Yonder Mountain String Band, including a large portion of their set at the Rothbury Music Festival which happened the summer of 2008.

Drug use

Fishman and the other members of Phish, with the exception of Mike Gordon, were admitted psychedelic drug users. He once claimed that for a whole year he would set his alarm clock for 5 AM, ingest some LSD, go back to sleep, and at 7:30 the acid would wake him up to go to school. He stated that this was the year in which he got his best grades. He also has claimed that he consumed acid at every single gig during the first two years of the band's history. [http://www.phisharchive.com/articles/1996/fishuk.html Interview with Jon Fishman]

References