it happened like this: both my parents and some friend of ours have houses outside burlington, on the road where phish was rumored to have a studio. but, as i said, i had sworn off the stalking-esque habit, and had not gone driving up and down all the driveways looking for the studio, although i considered it. =)

in the summer of '99, these friends had asked my husband and i to house-sit (never a problem in a slice of paradise where you can't see another house, and have a full view of the peaks of mt. mansfield). so there we were, sitting outside and enjoying the night, with phish on the stereo. after a while, i went in to check the tape, because it was sounding a bit more garbled than usual, being a great-great-great descendant of a show tape. while fiddling, i turned down the volume, and imagine our surprise when some of the music faded, but not all of it!

we realized we were listening to instruments amped up, outside, not a mile from where we sat! there was no mistaking who it was... i mean, we just knew. they were jamming away for over an hour, and i swear we didn't move a muscle! the strange thing was that i didn't recognize any of the songs, other than a riff of fluffhead.

it wasn't until farmhouse was released months later that things started to make sense. there were the songs we had heard. we'll never forget the thrill of hearing phish outside, in the middle of nowhere. concerts are great, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to hear them playing for themselves (and us!) alone.

i've heard that, since then, phish has moved on from that studio. so here's my only opportunity to thank them for such a magical night. peace

- MFerriot