Trey Anastasio - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN - 3.23.25
“Don’t fuck it up” are the words Graham Nash said to Trey backstage at a CSNY show in the early 2000’s. “…and then I fucked it up”, Trey said laughingly.
Trey told this story about all the guys in Phish going to see CSNY in the peak of their early 2000’s fame, riding the high from the famed Big Cypress show. They were backstage and Graham Nash was complimenting him on all the band had accomplished and Trey said in the middle of it Graham grabs him by the shoulders and begs him not to screw it up. The crowd laughed; Trey, always open about his substance mistakes of that time, laughed; and then made note of how he managed to not heed Graham’s warning and fucked it all up anyways. The crowd laughed big this time. The pics here where Trey is being expressive with his hands are from this story.
Another story he told was of his first time playing the Ryman. A solo show again in the early 2000’s where he said he had been partying for a few days so his voice was not where he should have been. He said sitting in the front row that night was Vince Gill, whom he reveres, and knowing his voice was not good just looked at him in shame as he tried to just get through the show. He then acknowledged that Vince’s daughter was in the crowd tonight so he was trying his best to redeem himself to Vince through her.
The songs were beautiful on this night, Trey’s voice was as good as I’ve ever heard, and the music bouncing around the room sounded pristine. No wonder musicians love playing the Ryman.
This was my first time in the Ryman. I’m not sure how I managed to go this long without seeing a show in this historical music venue but it meant a lot to me that the first was with Trey, an artist whose music has been a foundational sound for me since I was 17. The cherry on top being that I was able to photograph the show.
