The Giant Country Horns were a group of musicians who joined rock band

Phish 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 ...

for 14 concerts during the band's 1991 summer tour. The horn section, named after "Giant Country" White Bread, added new arrangements to classic Phish songs including "Suzy Greenberg", "Stash", "Split Open and Melt" and many other originals and

cover song In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

s. The original trio included

Dave Grippo Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

(a music teacher from

South Burlington, Vermont South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292, making it the sec ...

) on

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

, Russell Remington on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

, and Carl Gerhard on

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

. Phish guitarist

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, 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 ...

frequently announced the lineup using their nicknames: Dave "The Truth" Grippo, Russell "Killer" Remington, and Carl "Gears" Gerhard. This lineup can be heard on ''Live Phish Volume 19'' (July 12, 1991) and on the July 19, 1991, release from the

Live Phish Series Phish is an American rock band noted for their live concerts and musical improvisation, improvisational Jam band, jamming. Audience recordings of Phish's live shows have been traded among fans since the band's earliest days. In addition to numero ...

. In 1994, a different lineup performed with Phish under the name Cosmic Country Horns for a limited number of shows. In addition to Grippo and Gerhard, this expanded horn section included Joey Somerville Jr. and Michael Ray on trumpet, Chris Peterman on tenor saxophone, Mike Hewitt on

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

, and Don Glasgo (a professor at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

) on

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

. This lineup can be heard on the song "

Gumbo Gumbo () is a stew that is popular among the U.S. Gulf Coast community, the New Orleans stew variation being the official state cuisine of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfis ...

" from the platinum selling ''

A Live One ''A Live One'' is a live album by the American rock band Phish, released on June 27, 1995, by Elektra Records. The album was the band's first official live release, their first album to be certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Associatio ...

'' double album.Budnick 1996
p. 62
Members of the Giant Country Horns have appeared as special guests at Phish shows several times since 1991, and Grippo and Gerhard have appeared on a number of other

releases. From 2001–2004, Grippo and Remington recorded and toured with Anastasio as members of his first backing band. In late 2005, Remington joined Anastasio's new backing band a few months after the outfit debuted. Both Remington and Grippo have performed with Anastasio's latest backing band as well.

References

External links

Giant Country Horns on Phish.net
{{Phish Support staff of Phish Brass instrument organizations