The Powerful Pills — A Tribute to Phish

Spawned from a mutual love of one of the Great American Rock Bands, The Powerful Pills have become a magnet for fans of exploratory improvisation and high weirdness. They’re a Phish tribute, and they’re fulfilling their mission with aplomb and skill -- and to a quickly growing audience, no less. The band formed about a year ago, with guys from Dead Ahead Ohio and the weekly jam night at Iggy’s coming together over a shared interest in Phish. “The improv element of it was the stipulation on the band: We wanted to do a Phish tribute where play the songs, but we jam,” Donovan says. “That’s always been the key to the band. Every time we place a song, it’s different. Once we get out of the structure of the song, it then becomes Bill, Steve, Joe and Jason improvising on what we have going -- in the style of Phish.” (Eric Sandy)