Recently, Phish announced pre-order details for one of the most ambitious merch products they’ve ever created – the Joy Box. This monstrous limited edition box set includes the CD plus 10 posters dedicated to each one of Joy’s 10 tracks each designed by a different artist, an extensive hard-bound booklet, as well as a “complete second album” called Party Time along with a  DVD featuring some of Phish’s live performances from the first half of 2009.

As part of our celebrated Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program we’ve got two copies of the Joy Box to give to two of our lucky readers. We wanted to make things interesting, so we’ll ask eight questions over the next month and each answer you give will count as one entry in the contest. That’s right, you can enter eight times by answering all eight questions. Just don’t get greedy and answer the same question twice. This contest will run until September 25, 2009 at 11:59PM.

Just follow the rules below, and we’ll announce our winners on 9/28:

• To enter the contest leave a comment below telling us what track off of Joy are you most excited to hear when the album comes out on September 8?
• All comments must be longer than 10 words and shorter than 50
• Your comment must be left by 11:59 PM EST on Friday,  September 25
• Don’t be greedy, only one entry per person, per question
• Two winners will be selected at random from all entries to all eight questions
• Winners receive one copy of the Joy Box each

So there you have it. As you see, question #1 is “what track off of Joy are you most excited to hear when the album comes out on September 8?” Keep on checking Hidden Track as you never know when we’ll post the next question.

• Previously on HT: Joy Review
• Dry Goods: Joy Box Pre-order

Phish reminded us this summer that they are very much aware of the tremendous back catalog of gems in their repetoire. Whereas 1998 was the Summer under the Covers, this year was all about the bustout.

It started on the first night of the tour at Fenway Park with the appearance of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s The Ballad of Curtis Loew, a tune that hadn’t been played in over 600 shows. The trend continued with bustouts at Bonnaroo, Hartford, Shoreline and SPAC. In fact, most shows this summer contained at least one song not in the regular rotation. Some were played well, others were flubbed. But the effort is there.

Below is a list of the top 15 Phish bustouts ever. This doesn’t take into account songs that had never been played before or special one-time covers. These are tunes that were played and then shelved only to return again. Listed by longest gap between performances…

Mustang Sally – 8-05-88 > 6-15-09
(1134 shows between)

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Phish brought this one back in a big way at Bonnaroo this year, making it part of their three-song collaboration with Bruce Springsteen. Resurrected more than 21 years after its last known performance as part of the Colorado ’88 shows, this was probably a one-time affair and I wouldn’t expect to see it added to the regular rotation.

READ ON for 14 of the bustiest Phish bustouts…

The Allman Brothers Band/Widespread Panic tour continued last night at Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY on the ninth anniversary of former Allmans bassist Allen Woody’s passing. Warren Haynes dedicated the Allman’s set to Woody.

As has been the case on most shows this tour, there were sit-ins a plenty between the two acts in Bethel. Take a look at the setlists…

08/26/09 Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, Bethel, NY
The Allman Brothers Band with Widespread Panic

O: Let’s Get The Show On The Road, Love Tractor, Pickin’ Up The Pieces, Machine > Barstools And Dreamers, Party At Your Mama’s House, Ribs And Whiskey, Greta, Papa’s Home > Drums > Papa’s Home*, Red Hot Mama**, Chainsaw City**, Imitation Leather Shoes

O: Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, No One To Run With, End of the Line, Fourty-Four Blues***, Highway 61 Revisited****, Dreams, Soulshine, The Same Thing*****, Franklin’s Tower******, Leave My Blues at Home > JaBuMa > Leave My Blues at Home, Jessica

E: Melissa, You Don’t Love Me

* with Danny Louis on keyboard
** with Danny Louis on keyboard, Warren Haynes on guitar
*** with Bruce Katz on keyboard
**** with John ‘Jojo’ Herman on keyboard, John Bell on guitar, and Tony Coleman on drums
***** with Danny Louis on keyboard, Jay Collins on saxophone, and Tony Coleman on drums
****** with Danny Louis on keyboard, Jimmy Herring on guitar

[Warren Haynes dedicated the show to Allen Woody]

[Setlist via burnthday at Allmanbrothersband.com]

The guest spot action started early when Gov’t Mule keyboard player Danny Louis joined Widespread Panic for Papa’s Home before Warren Haynes came out for a cover of P-Funk’s Red Hot Mama and the Jerry Joseph-penned Chainsaw City. The Allmans didn’t waste much time either, welcoming Bruce Katz on keyboards for Fourty-Four Blues during their set. WSP keyboardist Jojo Hermann and John Bell along with drummer Tony Coleman came out for the Highway 61 Revisited that followed. Danny Louis and Coleman returned along with sax wiz Jay Collins for The Same Thing. Finally, Louis and Jimmy Herring added some spice to the Allman’s cover of Franklin’s Tower. The tour continues tonight at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY starting at 7PM.

Jamtronica pioneers the Disco Biscuits have just announced that they’ll be closing out one of the best years in their history with five New Year’s Run shows at the Nokia Theatre in New York City on December 26, 27, 29, 30 and 31. As if that news wasn’t enough to get any Bisco fan extremely excited, the band also broke the news that they will be playing the Electric Factory in their hometown of Philadelphia on November 27 and 28.

[Photo by Dave Vann]

The Biscuits are currently rehearsing for their extensive fall tour which kicks off in Baltimore on 9/11 and will cross the country during the months of September and October and ends with five November shows in California. Check out the band’s website for free downloads of two tracks from their new album, Planet Anthem, which is scheduled for a January 2010 release.

Cream – Anyone For Tennis

Around mid-afternoon tomorrow, the 2nd annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival will kick off in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, featuring a diverse and eclectic roster of acts across seven stages. For those of us who were unable to make the trip out to the Bay Area, fear not as the folks behind the fest have teamed up with YouTube to stream the festival all weekend long, which will include sets from Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Thievery Corporation, The Dead Weather, Atmosphere and more.

• List Time: P4K’s Top 500 Songs Of The ’00s
• Rainn Wilson responsible naming new Weezer album Raditude
• Cover Alert: Mark Lanegan tackles Afghan Whigs
• Bob Wier sat in with Sean Lennon at his recent San Francisco gig
• Wilco, Neko Case & OCMS to play on A Prairie Home Companion
• Bob Dylan mistaken for a homeless man & considers voicing GPS

Finally, it’s been a few years since we heard any new material from Norah Jones. The multi-Grammy winning singer-songwriter has been keeping busy acting, playing in various side-projects & lending her talents to everyone from Willie Nelson to Mike Patton. For her next album, which is due in November, Jones has recruited some impressive talent to help her out, as both Ryan Adams & Okkervil River front man Will Sheff have songwriting credits, and both Marc Ribot & Smokey Hormel also contributed as backing musicians.

Some musicians are simply built for the road. Anytime somebody asks John “Jojo” Hermann, the man best known for his role as the keyboardist laying down the funky clavinet and organ tones for Widespread Panic, what he thinks about long term plans, their legacy as a band or what he looks back most fondly on over the years, he always seems to say, “touring.”

Even though the summer is in wind-down mode, the Widespread Panic & Allman Brothers co-bill tour has just begun to set the east coast ablaze and will continue doing so across the country throughout the fall. Still, JoJo already has more musical plans on the horizon.

In mid-September, during the break between legs on the tour, JoJo and longtime friend singer/songwriter Sherman Ewing will perform a series of intimate club dates in the southeast billed as the Missing Cats. With nothing more than acoustic guitar, upright piano, a friendship built over twenty-plus years and a couple damn good senses of humor, these dates will surely provide a great way to experience the good-natured keyboard player in the most casual of settings.

Ryan Dembinsky: In terms of the short tour, what type of balance can we expect between brand new material and existing tunes from your solo albums with the Smiling Assassins as well as Widespread Panic material? Any Sherman and the Bureaucrats material gonna make it out of hiding?

JoJo Hermann: We’ve talked about some old Bureaucrats songs, but Sherman and I are basically playing an equal combination of songs from the Smiling Assassins and some new stuff we wrote this summer. Sherman will be playing some material off his solo albums before I delve into my piano boogie heroes tunes – players such as Professor Longhair, Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, and of course, Dr. John. Then we perform together.

READ ON for the rest of Ryan’s conversation with JoJo…

Way back in August of 2008, I spoke with Mike Gordon about his solo album and Mike broke the news that he was working on a comprehensive website featuring an online scavenger hunt based on Andelman’s Yard…

We’re working on a project that I haven’t told anybody about yet, for my website where we taped the different phases of writing Andelman’s Yard and it’s like an online scavenger hunt where you can find audio samples but you have to do a little quiz to get to the next one. That should be kinda fun. It was really fun to put together but it’s not ready yet.

The site is finally live and it’s AMAZING. Check it out.

Last Week’s Sauce is a recurring column featuring recordings of shows that took place the previous week. Thanks to CTDave for the photo.

Artist & Title: The Bad Plus – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Date & Venue: 2009-08-21 Highline Ballroom New York, NY
Taper & Show Download: Scott Bernstein

This is the first of two recordings from last week captured during Highline Ballroom’s “piano series”. This is a great take on the, oh yeah, Neil Sedaka song. Extra props to taper Scott Bernstein (note: different than our editor Scott Bernstein, they get that lot) for taking the time to even-out the levels of the applause – a problem you get on many jazz recordings when songs end. The Bad Plus next play at the Rimouski International Festi Jazz. In a bit of Last Week’s Sauce coincidence (see below), their next gig after that will be with the Marco Benevento Trio in Boulder, CO.

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READ ON for more from the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Widespread Panic…

Jambands.com was updated this morning with a number of interesting new articles and columns so we figured we’d use this space to tell you about some of them. We’ll start by mentioning our own Randy Ray’s interview with another of our pals Umphrey’s LD Jeff Waful. For the second part of Randy and Jeff’s chat, they discuss Mr. Waful’s tenure as Uncle Sammy’s manager, Jambands.com news editor, moe. LD and his current position.

Let’s take a quick look at other Jambands.com articles published today…

• Dave Schools sits for a Jambands.com Reader Interview
• Schools’ bandmate JoJo Hermann chats with Amy Jacques
• Mike Greenhaus speaks with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows
• Randy Ray pays tribute to Les Paul with some random thoughts
• John Zinkand went from jaded to loving it at The Gorge shows
• Ryan Montbleau discusses his new album with Fady Khalil

Finally, Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux isn’t the new guy anymore. Lemieux spoke with John Patrick Gatta about Rhino taking over the vault from Grateful Dead Productions, his relationship with Dick Latvala and what’s in store for the next batch of archival releases for a two-part series.

The Ryan Montbleau Band decend upon New York City tomorrow for their annual Rocks Off cruise. In honor of the RMB’s first trip to the Big Apple in a while, here’s a clip of the Boston-based rockers performing Honeymoon Eyes at the legendary Sun Studios…

Ryan Montbleau Band – Honeymoon Eyes

The summer of 2009 has treated our friends The McLovins really well. Not only did they turn heads at Gathering of the Vibes, released their debut album and picked one helluva first Phish show to attend at Hartford but they’ve written a new, fantastic tune called Virtual Circle.

The young trio recently had a live performance of Virtual Circle videotaped and we’re proud to bring you the world premiere of the clip. Take a look…

• Previously on HT: Interview – McLovins Be Superbad

Whenever a renowned live act like Phish or the Grateful Dead or Widespread Panic record an album, there’s always talk of trying to replicate the band’s live sound in the studio. On most releases that doesn’t happen, but on Phish’s new album on JEMP Records – set to be released on September 8 – entitled Joy, producer Steve Lillywhite (Phish – Billy Breathes, DMB – Under The Table and Dreaming, U2 – October) has successfully captured the energy and spirit that has made the quartet one of the top touring acts of all time.

The members of Phish came together to record Joy just after their highly successful reunion shows in Hampton and the lack of tension and angst between the band members comes through on the album’s ten tracks, all of which have been played live at this point. Just as with Wilco’s latest release, Wilco (The Album), Joy seems to be dedicated to the fanbase that has long followed the whims of Phish through a hiatus and a breakup and came back as strong as ever this summer. Joy demonstrates that you don’t have to be going through turmoil to come out with a solid record.

Joy starts with the peppy Backwards Down The Number Line which features a ripping two minute solo from guitarist Trey Anastasio, just one of many blistering – albeit straight forward – guitar solos on the disc. Number Line also features Trey harmonizing with himself during the chorus thanks to double-tracked vocals – another key component of Joy that seems to happen on every track. READ ON for more of my thoughts on Phish’s new album…

If you’re not familiar with the story of Daniel Johnston, then immediately stop reading this post and find yourself a copy of the riveting documentary The Devil And Daniel Johnston. Johnston’s homespun recordings made him into a cult figure amongst musicians, for everyone from Kurt Cobain to M. Ward – who put a version of To Go Home on his Post-War album. Johnston, who is afflicted with bi-polar disorder, has returned to touring in recent years and will again be hitting the road this fall in support his next album Is & Always Was – which will hit stores on October 6.

If you’re not into a night with the quirky singer-songwriter, than maybe you’ll be interested in hitting on of these recently announced tours…

• Soul legend Bettye LaVette schedules dates into 2010
• Camera Obscura line up a 14-date mid-November run
• The Ravonettes and Black Angels team up short two week jaunt
• JJ Grey & Mofro head out for a lengthy cross-country fall tour
• Gypsy-punk act Gogol Bordello will spend October on the road
• Dan Deacon brings is electro-rock weirdness to a city near you

Finally, this fall Assembly Of Dust will team up with the recently formed Emmitt-Nershi Band for an 18-date cross-country run that kicks off on September 24 at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA. The two bands filled with stalwarts of the jam scene, will both be touring behind new releases – AoD with their guest-laden album Some Assembly Required and EMB behind their debut New Country Blues – due out on September 29.

This week, we have the long overdue Cover Wars debut from legendary British rockers Dire Straits. Sultans Of Swing was the band’s first single off their first album, which was self-titled and released in 1978.

In The Fender Stratocaster Handbook: How To Buy, Maintain, Set Up, Troubleshoot, and Modify Your Strat, Mark Knopfler shares how Sultans Of Swing almost had an entirely different melody, funny to think if the song would have still been popular with the alternate structure. Knopfler says no.

I originally wrote Sultans Of Swing on my National steel guitar, open tuned. Same lyrics, but a different tune. Since I can’t remember it, it was completely unremarkable! When I got the Strat and plugged it into an old Vibrolux, it became something else.

Check out the rest of that page over on Google Books for some funny quotes from Mark as he discusses the pros and cons of music theory.

The Contestants:

Agents Of Good Roots: Here’s a blast from the past in the jambands department. Fans of the Dave Matthews Band might remember these guys as the band that Dave shared some stage time with in the mid 1990′s. Source: 2-5-2000

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READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…