With over 350 shows performed since their inception in 2014, Runaway Gin is the World's Most Active Phish Tribute Band. On July 4th, 2015, after the second show of the Grateful Dead GD50 run, Runaway Gin sold out the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago and catapulting them from a Southeastern regional act onto the National scene.
The members of Runaway Gin are long time Phish fans who have united with the goal of creating musical moments inspired by Phish. The band's song list is constantly growing and their improvisational and communication skills are constantly developing independently and together. Like Phish, Runaway Gin will never play the same show or jam the same way twice making every show a unique experience and every moment pure artistic creation.
MEMBER BIOS: Andy Greenberg - guitar, vocals
Originally from Florence, SC, Andy began playing piano at the age of 5, receiving classical instruction and earning top ratings in the National Piano Guild. At the age of 12 he learned his first chord on the guitar and taught himself to play by ear. Andy started listening to Phish in 1992 while at summer camp. The first song he heard was "Sparkle" and it reminded him of one of his favorite bands at that time: They Might Be Giants. He proceeded to dive head first into the album Rift and soon Phish's whole catalog often stopping to figure out songs on both piano and guitar to satisfy his vehement musical curiosity. Eventually Phish would ride to the top of Andy's list of favorite bands a spot reserved for the likes of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
His first Phish show was a gift from his parents for his 15th Birthday- 7 days before his birthday:
Saturday, 11/18/1995 North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC
Set 1: Dinner and a Movie > Bouncing Around the Room > Reba, Lawn Boy, Punch You In the Eye > Slave to the Traffic Light, I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome[1], Sample in a Jar
Set 2: AC/DC Bag > Sparkle > Free, I'm So Tired, You Enjoy Myself, Contact > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Acoustic Army, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Cavern
Encore: Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?[2]
[1] Acoustic. [2] Dr. Jack McConnell on vocals.
Teases: · Brick House jam in You Enjoy Myself Since 1995 Andy has been to well over 100 shows. What Andy has learned from playing Phish : always listen first and foremost - relax and surrender to the flow. There's always a bigger Phish!
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Bobby Hogg - bass, vocals
Bobby first discovered Phish as a tween in the early 90's when he stumbled across a tape of 4/16/92 Anaconda Theatre in his big sisters music collection. This exotic music was rather foreign to his underdeveloped ear, and seemed absurdly quirky at first taste. Upon playing the tape for his little brother, the two decided that they did in fact enjoy the sounds emanating from their tape deck, and were eager to keep listening. It is safe to say that over the next few years Bobby suffered irreversible ear damage whilst donning his headphones and cranking his Sony Walkman to full volume, rocking out to the music of Phish late into the night.
Bobby's first show was:
12/30/1996 FleetCenter, Boston, MA
Set 1: Ya Mar, The Sloth, Llama, Gumbo, Reba[1], Talk[2], Funky B%@#$[3], Theme From the Bottom > Good Times Bad Times
Set 2: Timber (Jerry) > Uncle Pen, AC/DC Bag, Guyute, Tweezer -> Lifeboy > Scent of a Mule[4], Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Possum
[1] No whistling. [2] Trey on acoustic guitar. [3] P.A. cut out. [4] Page/Mike Mule Duel and Steven Wright ringing a desk bell three times.
Since that show Bobby has seen Phish around 50 times, and is eagerly anticipating many more shows to come!
Jennifer Reiser - keyboards, vocals
Throughout Jennifer's life, there was never a time when she wasn't listening to Phish. Raised in Greensboro, NC, her father introduced her to Phish when she was young, and she was instantly captivated by the complex absurdity of both the vocals and the instrumentation. When she was 11, her family inherited an old upright piano, and she proceeded to spend many years learning to play songs by Phish, Yes, and the Grateful Dead. She began taking piano lessons, and a few years later she was accepted into Weaver Academy, a magnet high-school for performing arts, where she majored in piano. After graduating, she attended the School of Music at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she received her bachelor’s degree.
On the side, Jennifer records and produces her own music, having released a solo album as well as a number of songs with her band Fifth Species. She occasionally fills in on the keys for local Phish and Grateful Dead tribute bands around her hometown.
Jennifer’s first Phish show was the infamous “naked guy” show in Charlottesville, VA on December 5, 2009.
SET 1: AC/DC Bag > Chalk Dust Torture, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Divided Sky, Ya Mar[1], Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley, The Old Home Place > Cavern > Funky Bitch, David Bowie, The Wedge, Bold As Love
SET 2: Tweezer -> Light > Piper -> Free, Sweet Virginia, Harry Hood > Suzy Greenberg > Golgi Apparatus, Run Like an Antelope[1]
ENCORE: Loving Cup > Tweezer Reprise [1] Alternate lyrics referencing a naked stage crasher. John Pope - drums, vocals
John Pope is an American drummer from Charleston, South Carolina. He began playing drums at age 9, taking lessons from a local music shop and listening to drummers like Dave Grohl and Chad Smith for inspiration. Around the age of 13, he became interested in improvisational music and was drawn to the likes of Phish, John Scofield, and Medeski Martin & Wood, among others. John attended his first Phish show at age 14 in Greensboro, NC, where phish closed with an epic First Tube > YEM: 3/1/2003 Greensboro Colosseum, Greensboro, NC
Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, The Moma Dance, Foam, Lawn Boy, Character Zero > Divided Sky, Mountains in the Mist, Waves > Sample in a Jar
Set 2: Rock and Roll > Wilson > Piper > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Wolfman's Brother -> Boogie On Reggae Woman, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Run Like an Antelope, Carolina
Encore: First Tube > You Enjoy Myself -> Proud Mary[1]
[1] a cappella.
Teases: · Oye Como Va and Another One Bites the Dust teases in Piper · Oye Como Va and Daniel Saw the Stone teases in You Enjoy Myself
Throughout high school and college, Pope studied jazz on his own time, largely self-taught. At age 19, he started playing in bars in Charleston, SC. By age 22, Pope was playing in multiple touring bands, most notably Old You, a Charleston-based psychedelic rock/jazz group. He joined Runaway Gin in 2015 and has been instrumental in guiding the band's progress over the past year. Show less
