Bassist turned bandleader October 10, 2003 - Times Leader By Gareth Peard Phish's Mike Gordon is taking on a leadership role Since IT, Phish's early-August, tour-ending weekend festival in Northern Maine, 'it' has taken on new meaning for bassist Mike Gordon. "It's a whole new role. It's a wild feeling. It's almost too much. It can get to you if youÕre not careful, the feeling of control. It almost feels like more power than a person should have." However, Gordon seems to be handling 'it' just fine. "I exist pretty well in the background and I also can be a leader," he modestly noted. "I've done it with directing movies." Gordon found an airport loiter on Monday afternoon to be ample downtime for contemplating the latest of his many endeavors in the past year and the previous night's tour-opening show at The Fillmore in San Francisco. "I loved it; first ever solo band concert," Gordon euphorically stated. "There were some things to be ironed out probably, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. It's just a great band and they were really going for it." Fresh off of his second artistic achievement in just over a month (his debut solo album "Inside In" was released on August 26), Gordon has seized the current Phish mini-hiatus to entertain some inner musings. Onstage, Gordon's thoughts transfer to the music being created. "There were some moments that I was just thinking, "This is everything I like about music all rolled up into one ball," he related of some jam-induced revelations at the Fillmore. "I had assembled all these people that I really like from different walks of life; kind of the funky and the country. They were at their best; (they) just really wanted to have a lot of fun and groove - really good stuff." The band consists of James Harvey on keyboards, Gordon Stone on pedal steel and banjo, trombonist Josh Roseman (Dave Holland, Charlie Hunter), guitarist Scott Murawski (Max Creek), tap dancer and vocalist Jeannie Hill, flutist and vocalist Julee Avallone (Dr. Juice) and drummer Doug Belote (Anders Osborne, Tony Furtado). Gordon and friends spent all of last week at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York, for deep, absorbing rehearsals before heading out on the nine-date tour. "We were practicing for 12 hours a day, and some of us were jamming for another four or five hours, afterwards. So it was really intensive." It had to be. The band convened in only a week to learn each of "Inside In's" 15 songs, and then some, with Harvey and Stone being the eight-piece's only other musicians who actually contributed to the album. Assuming the rare role of bandleader, Gordon looked to spread symmetry among his new collaborators, and allowed originals from different band members to be included in the repertoire. "We came up with about 35 songs. People contributed different song ideas, and we checked them out to see how they would sound. There's pretty cool songs between all the others. The good thing about it is that it's very democratic and everyone in the band has contributed, and made decisions and suggestions." For the time being Gordon gets to enjoy a new persona. Although being the focal choreographer behind "Inside In" and now the tour, his introspective approach has been the synthesis of an enduring project, allowing the embrace of many artists along the way. Copyright © 2003 Times Leader