In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Trey Anastasio talks extensively about the preparation for the Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well shows celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary. Now, the magazine has posted an extended interview with Anastasio where he digs into specifics right down to song selection for the shows. The guitarist says he is “in the thick of it” when it comes to studying Garcia’s guitar. “I get up really early, when it’s still dark. I light a little fire in the fireplace, take my guitar and do a song. Yesterday, I did “Help on the Way.” I’ll spend a few hours in the morning on it, then do it again later in the day.”

Anastasio discussed his approach to the shows, saying that he doesn’t want it to become too solo-oriented. “That’s where a lot of jam-type music goes wrong for me,” he said. “It can turn self-indulgent on a dime.”

He also dished on his favorite eras of Grateful Dead, saying, “I have been finding that I’ve narrowed down my favorite eras to 1974 and 1977. And there’s really great stuff for me in 1971, when it was like, ‘What’s going on here?” It was so unhinged.”

As far as song selection is concerned, Anastasio said he initially made a list entitled “60 Songs It Would Be Sad Not to Hear One Last Time,” which took him about a minute to compile. “Then Bob sent me this e-mail: ‘I’ll help ruin your vacation. You can learn these 60 songs.’ And I wrote back: ‘These are great. May I be so bold as to add the possibility of ‘Casey Jones,’ ‘Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,’ ‘Friend of the Devil,’ ‘Tennessee Jed,’ ‘Bertha,’ ‘Dire Wolf,’ ‘Sugaree,’ ‘Candyman,’ Dupree’s Diamond Blkues,’ ‘China Doll.’” [laughs] None of those were on his list. And the ones that were were great.’ He also made sure to add, “My guess is they won’t know [what we’re playing] until five minutes before we go on.”

Vocally, Anastasio had high praise for Garcia, saying that, “In my opinion, Jerry was one of the great American singers.” He also added, “I don’t think anybody can be Jerry’s voice. My thought is, I love Jerry’s voice, and I love these songs. I’m happy to joyously sing whatever comes my way. But my take on it is that everybody sings – the audience too.”

One of the most interesting responses comes when Anastasio is asked what from this experience he believes he’ll bring back to Phish when they return to the road following the run. His response:

One is just guitar stuff. I’ve made a conscious effort to learn everything I could about Jerry’s incredible style. I’m playing in different positions on the neck. It’s opened up a whole world of people I’d never listened to before. I’m exploring this Fifties and early Sixties country stuff. The other thing has to do with songwriting. When you get inside of these songs, especially the Garcia-Hunter ones, they’re so vivid – the lyrics, the spacing, the intent.

Can I give you a few, quick examples? I was listening to “Brown-Eyed Women,” which is Garcia-Hunter, and “Jack Straw,” which is Hunter and Weir. Both of those songs, are character songs about people from the Depression. When you talk about the Bakersfield, California country sound, that’s where the Okies ended up. So those sounds and that lyric content are married.