This afternoon, former 70 Volt Parade vocalist Trey Anastasio announced a solo tour that puts together the members of his Classic TAB ensemble with a three-piece horn section for three weeks worth of shows. For this run of shows Anastasio will be backed by Classic TAB members Tony Markellis on bass, Russ Lawton on drums and Ray Paczkowski on keyboards as well as a three-piece horn section featuring Jennifer Hartswick, Russ Remington and Natalie Cressman.

Trey Promo Pic

The tour which features 16 shows in 21 days opens in the city that Coran Capshaw built, Charlottesville Virginia at the Jefferson Theatre. Trey is bringing his band to a few states that Phish hasn’t been able to hit in their first year back, most notably Georgia as well as Kansas and the District Of Columbia. The venues are exclusively clubs and theaters and for some reason their New York City stop is at one of the cities most hated venues, Terminal 5.

Let’s take a look at the players:

Tony Markellis [bass]: The “Meatman” first performed with Trey in 1998 as part of his Eight Foot Florescent Tubes project that opened the original Higher Ground in Winooski. Trey enjoyed the experience so much that he asked Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton to join him on his first solo tour back in 1999. Tony was a member of TAB through the 2003 Spring Tour and returned for the Classic TAB shows in 2008.

READ ON for profiles on the rest of the members of Trey’s band and the full list of tour dates…

Russ Lawton [drums]: Lawton also first played with Trey at the Higher Ground opening as a member of Eight Foot Florescent Tubes before joining TAB from 1999-2003. Over the years Russ has performed with Strangefolk, The Chrome Cowboys and with Mike Gordon for the recording of Inside In and The Green Sparrow. Most recently Lawton has been teaming up with Ray Paczkowski for duo gigs in Burlington.

Ray Paczkowski [keyboards]: Ray first joined TAB for the 2001 Summer Tour and has been a staple of Trey bands since that point as he was the only TAB member to be included in Anastasio’s 70 Volt Parade disaster. Ray has spent the past few months tending to his dairy farm in Vermont and playing Duo gigs with Russ Lawton.

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Russ and Ray

Jennifer Hartswick [trumpet]: Jennifer first worked with Trey when she recorded a trumpet part for Birds of a Feather during the recording of Story of the Ghost. Anastasio asked Hartswick to join TAB before the Winter 2001 and she instantly became a fan favorite. Jennifer returned to the fold at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in 2005 and performed with TAB through the Langerado shows in 2007. Over the past few years, Hartswick has released an incredible album, True, and often performs with HT Favorites Van Ghost.

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JHa

Russ Remington [sax]: Russ Remington has the longest history with Anastasio of anyone in the band having first toured with Phish as a member of the Giant Country Horns in the Summer of 1991. Trey welcomed Russ to TAB for the 2001 Summer Tour and remained with the unit through the 2003 Spring Tour returning for the “Undectet” dates at the end of 2006.

Natalie Cressman [trombone]: 18-year-old Natalie Cressman may be young, but she has plenty of experience in the music biz performing with the likes of Sheila E., Santana, Steven Bernstein and Peter Apfelbaum and the Hieroglyphics Ensemble. Her father, Jeff Cressman, performed with Trey as a member of the “Undectet” in 2006. Jeff is currently a member of Santana’s band and will be playing in Las Vegas while his daughter tours with Trey.

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Natalie on Trombone

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Natalie Singing

A limited number of tickets for all shows will be available through a real-time ticket presale directly through Trey’s online ticketing system at http://treytickets.rlc.net. The presale begins tomorrow, January 6th at 10am ET and will end Thursday, January 14th at 5:00pm ET. Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning Thursday, January 14th at 10:00am ET. For complete ticketing information, please visit the Tour page.

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The Tour Dates:

02/08/2010 Jefferson Theatre, Charlottesville VA
02/09/2010 9:30 Club, Washington DC
02/11/2010 Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA
02/12/2010 House Of Blues, Boston MA
02/13/2010 Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford CT
02/14/2010 Count Basie Theater, Red Bank NJ
02/16/2010 Terminal 5, New York NY
02/18/2010 Pabst Theater, Milwaukee WI
02/19/2010 The Riviera, Chicago IL
02/20/2010 State Theatre, Minneapolis MN
02/21/2010 Uptown Theatre, Kansas City KS
02/23/2010 The Pageant, St. Louis MO
02/25/2010 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville TN
02/26/2010 The Fillmore, Charlotte NC
02/27/2010 The Tabernacle, Atlanta GA
02/28/2010 Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville TN

The tour opener will be a benefit concert.

This show is a benefit for the Kristine Anastasio Manning Memorial Fund. The date marks what would have been the 47th birthday of Trey’s sister, Kristine, an esteemed environmentalist and author who died of neuroendocrine cancer last April.

HT Staff

Hidden Track was started in October of 2006 and features a team of dedicated contributors from across the country. This article was written by one of the newest members of our team or was a collaboration by more than one contributor. Want to contribute to Hidden Track? Send us a pitch to scott at glidemagazine dot com.

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