The Poster Story.
And oh what a story it is.

1994 Englewood Colorado, My Kitchenette
Myself, and 2 of my good friends (Matty & Otto) are staring wide-eyed at the now famous "101 Grateful Dead Songs" Poster hanging in an area where a dining room table would have been if we were civilized human beings. Laughing and pointing, pointing and laughing. I stop for a second, look to Matty and say, "hey, why can't I do this with Phish?" Matt says "Do they even have 101 songs?" I think for a moment and say "I have no idea." It all began.

In the Beginning
In the beginning there was a great deal of research to accomplish. Fortunately we had a neighbor who knew a great deal more about Phish than we did. He was a complete asshole, but he was an information machine. I solicited his help in attempting to identify the 101 songs needed to at least set me off on the right foot. Between he and I and a truckload of bootlegs, we were able to come up around 90 original songs. NOT GOOD. I decided to throw in a couple of covers to fill the gap. It was a necessity then, but with more than 200 songs under their belt, redoing the poster now would be a breeze.

Illustrating The List
Oh, sugar. This took the longest. I had the list, now I needed an image to match every single song. Shit! I took the list and transferred it to a grid format leaving a small 4" X 4" box to the right of the listing. In each box I came up with a thumbnail that sufficiently illustrated either the title of the song or a lyric within the song. Some of the instrumental songs were impossible to match an image with. You'll notice some songs on street signs, license plates, etc. I must warn you that some songs are difficult to pick out and you're going to have to think about the lyrics for a handful of these. BUT, these are the funnest and bring the most joy when found. I find the wall in the bathroom, straight across from the bowl to be an ideal place to mount the poster. Time well spent.

Pulling It All Together
With a stack of papers (about 40 sheets) with names, pictures, scribblings, beer stains, notes and even tears, I began thinking about a setting to incorporate the 103 images I just spent a month developing. Hmmmm. Some sort of theater. Some sort of party scene. Something that will ooze Phish Concert. It needed to have a parking lot, a colonnade of shops, mountains, a river, bridges, and a theater. And of course, about 150 little men and women doing what little men and women do. I decided to take the "alienessque" approach to illustrating the peeps. Afterall, the expressions on their faces were only important if the songs called for it. As in life, actions speak much louder than words. I would draw a bluff. A bluff that housed a sunken theater. Complete with all the amenities mentioned above. For the next 2 months I slept little, held my waiter/bartender position during the day and drew until my hand felt like marshmallow fluff. Mmm, Fluffernutters. Here's a funny footnote. I did not have a drawing table at the time so I was forced to find a place in the apartment that was infrequently used, but had a good source of light. The stove top. I fastened the paper to a drawing board and used the stove top as my drawing table. The light in the little alcove thing above the stove was perfect and we certainly weren't doing any kind of cooking as we all worked at a local Restaurant....ok, we weren't cooking because we didn't know how. There I said it. 2 months later it was finished. I was stunned, my roommates were stunned, and I firmly believed this was a winner.

The Inaugural Selling
06-10-94 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison Colorado. Having spent nothing to have the poster copied (my girlfriend worked for an architect at the time and had access to their blueprint machine) I wasn't overly concerned about "losing money" on an investment. Although, I do take a lot of pride in what I do and was very anxious to see if the poster would be accepted as I intended it to be. It was. Bare in mind this was the first time I had attempted selling anything in the lots so I wasn't versed in time considerations, who to look out for, who to keep on your side, etc. I was a "lot sellin newbie". We only had about an hour and a half of selling time before we had to make our way into one of the most unique concert venues in the world. When I say "we", Matty was with me.
SELL, SELL, SELL. It was amazing how everything turned out. I had 2 rolls of 100 posters hidden in my 1978 Chevy Vega Wagon when we pulled in. After the show, after the dust settled, I had 75 left. I was selling them pretty hard-core at $5 a piece when I first started.....like I said, I was a "lot selling newbie". That's a lot of green for one night. The money went towards future Phish entertainment.......and some immediate accessories, if you know what I mean.

The Inaugural Busting
06-11-94 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison Colorado. Seriously, I shit you not. I was as stunned as you may be. The day after I start selling these bitch's I get busted. How not so funny. I am flying solo this go-round as Matty has to be somewhere more important than a Phish concert, ahem, working. Pah-leez. I pull in early this time. As soon as the gates open at 3:30. I pop my hatchback and open shop. I sell several immediately to surrounding peeps who mention they saw me the night before. I am enjoying a wonderful day in the Colorado sun, knowing my artwork is floating around people's cars, houses, apartments, dorm rooms, etc. I feel as warm and fuzzy as one could. Then it happens. It happens. I remember it as clearly today as the day it happened. A man and woman approach me. I swear to god I recognize the woman. They ask me about the poster and how much it is. I say "5 each" they say "we'll take two". I reach for the roll, unravel two and hand them to the peeps. They immediately reach in their jackets and pull out name tags identifying themselves as record company rep's patrolling the lot for "lot selling newbies"---not really, but they may as well have said that. I look closer at the tags and see that the girl I thought I recognized is, in fact, Amy Skelton. The irony. I met Amy Skelton (Graduate of UNH) the year before at an after hours party for the band at UNH. I mention this to her and the friend that introduced us. She shrugs her shoulders, apologizes and tells me she has to take all the posters I have. I hand her the large roll of about 90 posters. She says "what about the other one?" I look and sure enough she can see the other roll of a hundred I have stashed under a fleece jacket in my back seat. SHIT. DOUBLE SHIT. I hand that over too. She and her not so big accomplice have 190 of my posters. I am officially sullen. I ask her why I have to relinquish them. She looks at the poster and starts to point out occurrences of items that are trademarked, copyrighted, and "unlicensed" for sale. I accept her explanation and plead with her to at least give a handful to the band. She says she will. Bitch.As soon as she disappeared into the distance, I walk to the car next to me, buy 2 beers, drink them fast, walk to the driver side of my car, open the door, reach in and remove a blanket from a pile on the floor, pull out another roll of 100 posters, snag 10 of them, put them in a backpack, close my car up and make my way through the lot to sell more. Lesson to be learned: always be mobile. Stay away from your stash. Only carry what you can carry. My first 'lot selling newbie" lesson. Many more would be learned over the course of 2 tours.

Ch-Ch-Changes
I got sick of hiding out and being sneaky in the lots. I decided to alter the poster for two reasons. #1 I needed to rid the poster of trademarked lingo, logos, etc. and #2 I wanted to add some new songs the band had introduced. I did. Officially the poster has been changed 3 times. I denoted the date changes near my signature. Now I was fresh and clear of all "lawsuit" material. This made me feel much better.

The Legacy
I have actually seen my poster hanging on walls of complete strangers in several instances. It is the most powerful feeling I have ever had. To actually see your own artwork being displayed by someone you know nothing of. Amazing. I remember the first time. I had tears welling up. I gained control of myself and asked the owner where she had gotten it. She blazed into a drawn out story that entailed my explanation of the poster, how she got it (Trade in Atlanta for some yummies) and how neat it was to have it. I was officially smitten. To this day, I have sold around 2,000 posters, traded around 200 and given away about 300.

Merriweather Post Pavilion (08-08-98) we arrived so late do to a completely ridiculous traffic jam, I was afraid of missing the first couple of songs. But I was hell bent on selling some posters. I grab more than usual, around 50, and head towards the venue. I end up selling around 20 and realize if we don't go in, we will miss a song or two. I run up to this sweet looking girl and ask if she was going in or not. She says "no". I hand her the tube filled with 30 posters and say "Merry Weather Christmas---I have to go, do with these what you will" and kiss her on the cheek.

In and Out of Retirement
The poster was officially framed on January 4th, 2000 soon after I finally made it home from Big Cypress. I vowed never to take it out again. The New Years shows were very busy for the poster and it seemed so fitting for it to go out with a bang. It has remained on my living room wall since then. UNTIL. Until I looked at the section on eBay devoted to Phish Memorabilia. I said to myself: you need to spread the love! I am spreading the love.

Never Fear!
The poster is periodically posted on eBay... around the Holidays, etc. - but always available for purchase here. Visit the "Availability"