Mercy (Trey Anastasio album)

Last updated

Mercy
Mercy Trey Anastasio album cover.jpeg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 11, 2022
Genre Folk
Length33:28
Label Rubber Jungle
Producer
Trey Anastasio chronology
Lonely Trip
(2020)
Mercy
(2022)
January
(2023)

Mercy is the twelfth studio album by guitarist and songwriter Trey Anastasio, released on March 11, 2022. [1] It is his first fully acoustic album and was produced by Bryce Goggin and Robert Stevenson. [2]

Contents

Two songs from this album - "Hey Stranger" and "Mercy" - were re-recorded by Phish for their sixteenth studio album, Evolve , set to be released in July 2024.

Background

Mercy is Anastasio's second album recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, after 2020's Lonely Trip , and is seen as a companion to that album. He has said that he intends to implement the songs on the album into Phish's repertoire in the near future. [3]

Anastasio felt that the songs needed to be heard in sparse arrangements, saying in the liner notes:

It’s two years since we went into hiding. This is still going on, and it’s an even lonelier trip… Here I was, still at home, playing acoustic guitar. I thought, “These songs just want to be one guy with a guitar, singing.” [4]

On the album, Anastasio used a custom-made acoustic guitar by Adam Buchwald of Circle Strings commissioned by Phish keyboardist Page McConnell as a birthday gift. Some songs on the album include more than one guitar part, overlaid on top of an existing part, with Anastasio explaining:

The decision was made very quickly: "Let me double the guitar." I was listening to the first take on headphones and playing off it. It was like jamming with myself. [5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Trey Anastasio

Mercy track listing
No.TitleLength
1."A Little More Time"3:39
2."Mercy"4:27
3."Flying Blind"3:07
4."Blazing Down the Twisted Wire"3:41
5."6 1/2 Minutes"3:54
6."Roll Like a River"4:32
7."Hey Stranger"3:33
8."Arc"3:45
9."Ever Changing Tide"2:50
Total length:33:28

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phish</span> American rock band

Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the lead vocalist. The band is known for their musical improvisation and jams during their concert performances and for their devoted fan following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trey Anastasio</span> American guitarist (born 1964)

Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish original songs, 141 of them as a solo credit, in addition to 41 credits attributed to the band as a whole.

<i>Billy Breathes</i> 1996 studio album by Phish

Billy Breathes is the sixth studio album by American rock band Phish, released by Elektra Records on October 15, 1996. The album was credited with connecting the band, known for its jam band concerts and devoted cult following, with a more mainstream audience. The first single, "Free", was the band's most successful song on two Billboard rock charts, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart and at #24 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart. The album itself became the band's highest-charting album on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Gordon</span> American bass guitarist and vocalist

Michael Eliot Gordon is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano and guitar. He is also a filmmaker and author. He has released six solo studio albums and three studio albums with acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke.

<i>Rift</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Phish

Rift is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on February 2, 1993, by Elektra Records. It is a concept album, detailing the experience of a man dreaming about the rift in his relationship with his girlfriend. Rift was recorded in September and October 1992 and produced by Barry Beckett. Rift was certified gold by the RIAA on October 15, 1997.

<i>The Story of the Ghost</i> 1998 studio album by Phish

The Story of the Ghost is the seventh studio album by American rock band Phish, released by Elektra Records on October 27, 1998. The album features an emphasis on the jazz-funk influenced "cow-funk" style, which the group had been experimenting with in concert throughout 1997 and 1998. The album's first single was "Birds of a Feather", which was a Top 20 hit on Billboard magazine's Adult Alternative Songs chart. The album's cover was painted by visual artist George Condo.

Dave Matthews & Friends is an American jam band that was put together for a tour to support Dave Matthews' solo debut, Some Devil. Most of the musicians participated in the album's production. The band consists of:

Trey Anastasio Band, or TAB, is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish. The band has existed in several permutations since 1998. Versions of the band have had different members, and briefly used the names Eight Foot Fluorescent Tubes and 70 Volt Parade. The current lineup consists of Anastasio, Russ Lawton (drums), Ray Paczkowski (keyboards), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Dezron Douglas (bass), Natalie Cressman, and Jennifer Hartswick. Anastasio and Lawton are the only remaining members from the band's original 1998 formation. Musicians from TAB have accompanied Anastasio on several of his solo studio albums.

<i>Live Phish Volume 12</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 12 is a live album by American rock band Phish, which was recorded live at the Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, on August 13, 1996.

"Only in Dreams" is a song by American rock band Weezer. It is the tenth and final track on their 1994 self-titled debut album. At 7 minutes and 59 seconds, it is Weezer's longest song to date. It is noteworthy for its three-minute crescendo of the two guitars, bass, and drums, in which the dynamics gradually increase and the timbre builds up layers until the climaxing guitar solo at the end.

<i>Joy</i> (Phish album) Album by Phish

Joy is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band Phish, released on September 8, 2009, on the band's own label, JEMP Records.

<i>Lonely Trip</i> 2020 studio album by Trey Anastasio

Lonely Trip is the eleventh solo studio album from Trey Anastasio. It was released on July 31, 2020. The album was mixed by Bryce Goggin, and was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>Kasvot Växt: í rokk</i> 2018 live album by Phish

Kasvot Växt: í rokk is a live album by American jam band Phish. It was released on music streaming services on November 9, 2018. It is a recording of the second set of their Halloween concert on October 31, 2018, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, in which the band performed music credited to "Kasvot Växt", a fictional Scandinavian progressive rock band. The ten songs played during this set were attributed to this band, and purported to appear on their 1981 album í rokk, but were in reality new original Phish songs, all of which have entered their live repertoire in varying capacities.

The Baker's Dozen was a series of thirteen concerts performed by Vermont-based jam band Phish between July 21 and August 6, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Each night featured a completely unique setlist with no songs repeated throughout the event, with the band playing 237 songs in total. The full set of shows was released as a box set entitled The Complete Baker's Dozen, alongside a three-disc live album of highlights, The Baker's Dozen: Live at Madison Square Garden.

<i>Ghosts of the Forest</i> (album) 2019 studio album by Ghosts of the Forest (a side project by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio)

Ghosts of the Forest is the debut album by the band of the same name, a side project led by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. The album was released on April 12, 2019 on vinyl and streaming services only.

<i>The Gorge 98</i> 2022 live album by Phish

The Gorge '98 is a live box set by Vermont-based jam band Phish. Released on December 9, 2022, it documents their performances at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Grant County, Washington on July 16 and 17, 1998.

LP on LP is a series of live albums by Vermont-based jam band Phish. The albums contain highlights from different Phish concerts, released on vinyl records. Due to the length of the typical Phish jam, all the albums so far have featured only one or two songs. Four volumes have been released thus far, with the first two being released on June 18, 2021, the third on August 5, 2022 and the fourth on January 13, 2023.

<i>Get More Down</i> 2022 studio album by Phish (as Sci-Fi Soldier)

Get More Down is an album by Vermont-based jam band Phish, released under the alter-ego "Sci-Fi Soldier". It was released for streaming and download on October 31, 2022 and contains the twelve songs debuted during the band's Halloween concert the previous year. Continuing their tradition of a "musical costume" during the second set of each Halloween concert, this show saw Phish perform as the band Sci-Fi Soldier, a futuristic, superhero-themed group, complete with costumes and alternate instruments to fit the theme. Get More Down features studio recordings of these songs, some of which have entered the band's setlists in later shows.

<i>January</i> (Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio album) 2023 studio album by Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio

January is a collaborative studio album by Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio, both members of Phish. It was released on March 10, 2023, through JEMP Records, the band's label. Produced by Bryce Goggin, it is McConnell and Anastasio's second collaborative release after 2020's December, an EP consisting of acoustic re-recordings of past Phish songs. The album is a digital-only release. "Dancing in Midair" was released as a single on March 7, 2023.

<i>Evolve</i> (Phish album) 2024 studio album by Phish

Evolve is the upcoming sixteenth studio album by Vermont-based jam band Phish. It is set to be released on July 12, 2024, through the band's own JEMP Records. It will be the first Phish album in four years, following Sigma Oasis (2020), although they also released the album Get More Down under the alter-ego "Sci-Fi Soldier" in 2022. Evolve will be produced by Bryce Goggin and Vance Powell. The album's cover art features a painting by Mehdi Ghadyanloo.

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Trey Anastasio – Mercy Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  2. Kahn, Andy (March 11, 2022). "Trey Anastasio Releases 'Mercy' Solo Acoustic Album". Jambase. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  3. Kahn, Andy (March 11, 2022). "Trey Anastasio Releases 'Mercy' Solo Acoustic Album". Jambase. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  4. Blistein, Jon (March 7, 2022). "Trey Anastasio Preps His First Acoustic Solo Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  5. "Trey Anastasio releases first Solo Acoustic Album Mercy". NYS Music. March 7, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.