Phish fans (phans) of color have long experienced discrimination and racism in the live music scene, and also the denial and erasure of their experiences by White phans who “don’t see color” and preach “love and light.”  

In September 2017, the HeadCount blog published an essay that reported on some of these phans’ experiences and asked White phans to reflect on the White privilege inherent to the jam band scene. While many White fans questioned the premise that racial inequities exist within or have relevance to the Phish community, others recognized that their privilege gave them a responsibility to work towards change. 

A group of phans came together in late 2017 to continue the conversation and figure out how to take action, both to make the scene more antiracist and to mobilize the Phish community as a force for good in the broader world.

Over the next six months, PHRE expanded into a Facebook group with several hundred phans committed to racial equity, and a dozen or so volunteers working to raise awareness and spark education and engagement in the scene. Then in the summer of 2018, two Black phans were viciously attacked at the Gorge, reigniting the conversation about race in our scene. PHRE responded, releasing a widely-read statement and pressing the band for action. As more voices joined the conversation about the incident, our membership grew substantially. PHRE also began tabling inside Phish shows to spread the word about our mission and engage phans in conversations about racial equity.

At the 2019 Phish Studies Conference, PHRE members served as panelists on the We’re All in This Together: Race and Racism in the Phish Community session, and authored an accompanying article currently under review for publication in the Public Philosophy Journal.

In May 2020, amidst renewed interest in racial equity in the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, PHRE held a virtual retreat for current and new members. Featuring participation by Tom Marshall, Natalie Cressman, and Beth Montouri-Rowles (of WaterWheel / Phish, Inc), the keynote panel moderated by Jay Curley from Ben & Jerry’s now has more than 13,000 views on PHRE’s YouTube channel. Shortly afterwards, PHRE launched its Jam Band Community Racial Equity Commitment Statement to channel this energy into action among our community.

In 2021, PHRE became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and was selected as a beneficiary of Phish’s virtual tour series “Dinner and a Movie” by the WaterWheel Foundation. We also established our BIPOC advisory board, to ensure we continue to center and elevate the voices of phans of color in key decisions.

We’re looking forward to our biggest year of impact yet in 2022, when we’ll be tabling at every venue along Phish’s summer tour!