Parke Puterbaugh and I have at least a couple of things in common. We've both covered music for some of the same magazines, and we've both written books either with or for or at least tolerated by Phish.

The Phish Book, published in 1998 and, ahem, currently out of print, was a collaboration with the band, who kindly submitted to long hours of interviews in order to let the band tell their its story in their own words amid a lot of stunning photographs.

Parke, on the other hand, went the biography route, having previously worked as Phish's unofficial in-house writer for album-release biographies, press releases, and festival playbills. His new book Phish: The Biography, covers the band's earliest days through its breakup and subsequent reunion last year. Where I caught the band at what many still consider to be the peak of its career, Parke carried through the trials, tribulations, and unexpected redemption. It's a terrific tale, almost a love story, about a band, its community, and the forces that draw them together and/or tear them asunder.

We two helping, friendly chroniclers spoke recently about our respective tomes and the ever-evolving nature of all things Phish.

Richard Gehr: You write in Phish: The Biography that Rolling Stone didn't run the Phish feature that they'd assigned you for nearly two years, which must have been frustrating. Why do you think the mainstream music press resisted reporting on the band for so long, despite their obvious popularity?

Parke Puterbaugh: I got the assignment in 1995, at which point they were ready to do something big on the band. Between assignment and delivery, however, there was a shakeup in the music department and the new guys who came in - Keith Moerer and Jim DeRogatis - their orientation was much more indie-rock. I think Phish were somewhat of a victim of indie-rock snobbery. Even so, they realized they had to run something on them, and every half-year or so Moerer would call up and say, "Hey, I think we're going to run that Phish feature after all. Can you freshen it up for us?" And I'd be sent off to some big event of theirs, like a New Year's Eve concert, and totally redo the story and bring it up to date. Read more »

In addition to their Music for Relief track, the Dave Matthews Band is offering five previously unreleased live track for sale on its website. The Haiti Relief Project EP (and a limited-edition T-shirt) will benefit Dave Matthews's Bama Works Haiti Relief Fund. The EP costs only $5.

Moreover, proceeds from all other merchandise the band sells TODAY will also go to Haiti relief efforts.

The staff of Ants Marching, the Dave Matthews Band fan forum, helped select the versions the five songs that appear on the EP. The art, which also appears on the Haiti Relief Project T-shirt, was donated by designer Adam Larson of Adam+Company.)

The Haiti Relief Project features five previously unreleased live tracks from Dave Matthews Band. The collection kicks off with "Butterfly," a song Matthews wrote for the film Because of Winn Dixie and performed solo in this 2007 recording. It's followed by a 2004 version of "Cry Freedom" featuring a powerful performance from LeRoi Moore, the group's saxophonist, who passed away in 2008. Three tracks captured on the band's 2009 summer tour - "Out Of My Hands," "Lying In The Hands Of God" and "Dive In" - are also included.

Read more »

As part of HeadCount's "What's Your Issue?" campaign, we publish regular updates on each of six issues. The following is our latest Health Care Reform update.

Since the last health care update, MTV's reality show "Jersey Shore" and the character "The Situation" have been fist pumpin' their way into the cultural spotlight. Perhaps it's just what America needs right now. But the health care debacle is still the situation in politics - one that has changed a bit since the last update. The Democrats' health care reform efforts got stopped in its tracks when Republican Scott Brown won an upset victory in the race for the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by the late Ted Kennedy. With that, Democrats lost their sixty-vote super-majority in the Senate, which means they can no longer prevent a Republican filibuster. This could mean we're totally back to the drawing board on health care reform. No wonder the country is looking for a little escape and entertainment. So let's have some fun with health care and Jersey Shore.

* The Situation went on The Tonight Show and nicknamed Conan O'Brien "The Solution." Well, what's the solution now for health care reform? An option supported by some Democrats is a quick vote on the same exact bill the Senate approved, meaning it would not go back to the Senate for another vote. But Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the current Senate bill would not receive the necessary House votes. Led by President Obama, other Democrats support a pared-back health care bill containing only those provisions that are not controversial. These provisions would include pre-existing conditions coverage, a national insurance exchange, a Medicare amendment and the expansion of Medicaid. On the other hand, many Republicans reject the idea of a slimmed-down version of the current legislation and call for just starting over.

* So the question is what does the PUBLIC want? What do YOU want? Where is YOUR voice on this matter? The latest Rasmussen reports indicate that 58% of voters now oppose the plan supported by President Obama. As for popular aspects of reform, more than 70% support creating a new national insurance exchange and requiring health insurance companies to accept applicants with pre-existing conditions. As for the least popular aspects, the majority of voters strongly reject Medicare cuts and excise taxes on "Cadillac" health plans provided by employers. Also not to be overlooked, 78% of voters expect it to cost more than projected.

* The music community has been pumpin' its fists as well. Musicians in Vermont have assembled a CD with proceeds benefiting the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign of the Vermont Worker's Center.
HeadCount band Nine Inch Nails is hosting the story of Eric De La Cruz on the main page of their website. Eric died last year partly because he was unable to obtain health care due to a pre-existing condition.

Want to know more? You can follow our daily headlines on Twitter or check out our Health Care Reform Issue page. If you want to try a little democracy in action, email your Senators and Congressional reps. 'Cause Health Care Reform is a situation that's worth pumpin' your fists for.

Last fall, we had a poll measuring how many of you had health insurance and where you got it. About 35% of you said you were without insurance, and it kicked off a great stream of comments posted online. We're now going to start asking a new question every few weeks. We invite you to participate in the poll and, if so-inclined, expound a bit on why you answered the way you did.

This month's community question deals with sustainability and climate change. Here goes:

Howard Zinn, who died of a heart attack yesterday at age 87, was an Air Force bombardier before becoming a politically engaged historian, civil-rights activist, vital Vietnam War opponent, prolific writer, indefatigable instigator, and probably the country's best-known demystifier of American mythology, largely through his best-selling 1980 book, A People's History of the United States. As others have said, he was a historian who made history and we seemed to be in the middle of a Howard Zinn revival at the time of his death.

In Democracy Now's excellent rapid-responsive tribute to Zinn, the poet Alice Walker recalls her former professor speaking to a crowd in Atlanta, where he taught at the all-female Spelman College from 1955 to 1963. "Well, I stand to the left of Mao Tse Tung," he declared to his staunch, pre-civil rights audience, admitting something close to a hanging offense at the time. Noam Chomsky, Zinn's less entertaining but equally brilliant and provocative close friend, says of Zinn, "He was fearless, he was simple, he was straightforward. He said the right things, said them eloquently, and inspired others to move forward in ways they wouldn't have done....He could look back on a life of real, unusual achievement." Last year The History Channel screened The People Speak, a documentary inspired by ordinary people who fought back against the powers that be. It was narrated by Matt Damon and featured readings and performances by Eddie Vedder, Bob Dylan, Lupe Fiasco, Josh Brolin, Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, Pink, Morgan Freeman, Benjamin Bratt, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Marisa Tomei, Bruce Springsteen, and John Legend.

The point of civil disobedience, Zinn says in the documentary inspired by his 1994 autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, is "to upset people, to trouble them, to disturb them." He was a rabble-rouser for sure. But even more, according to Naomi Klein, "He was everybody's favorite teacher, the teacher who changed your life. But he was that for millions and millions of people....We just lost our favorite teacher." Zinn, Klein adds, taught people "to believe in themselves and their power to change the world."

For what may be his last published piece, The Nation recently asked Zinn what he thought the high point of President Obama's first year has been, as well as its biggest disappointment. His reply is especially resonant the morning after Obama's impressive State of the Union address last night:

I' ve been searching hard for a highlight. The only thing that comes close
is some of Obama's rhetoric; I don't see any kind of a highlight in his
actions and policies.

As far as disappointments, I wasn't terribly disappointed because I didn't
expect that much. I expected him to be a traditional Democratic president.
On foreign policy, that's hardly any different from a Republican--as
nationalist, expansionist, imperial and warlike. So in that sense, there's
no expectation and no disappointment. On domestic policy, traditionally
Democratic presidents are more reformist, closer to the labor movement, more
willing to pass legislation on behalf of ordinary people--and that's been
true of Obama. But Democratic reforms have also been limited, cautious.
Obama's no exception. On healthcare, for example, he starts out with a
compromise, and when you start out with a compromise, you end with a
compromise of a compromise, which is where we are now.

Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. The president will cover terrorism, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the relief efforts in Haiti, but the bulk of his speech will focus on the economy, job creation, and the needs of struggling families. His plan is expected to include proposals to lower the cap on federal student loan payments to 10% and to increase the childcare tax credit.

The tradition of addressing Congress the first month of each year began with George Washington in 1790. Until 1923, when Calvin Coolidge’s State of the Union address was broadcast over the radio, American citizens could only read reports of the address in newspapers. Harry Truman’s 1947 address was the first to be broadcast on television.

Obama will deliver his speech on all major news networks as usual and, for the first time, the White House will stream the address live on its website. The White House will also host a live chat on its Facebook page. YouTube’s CitizenTube station will also stream the speech; viewers can post comments and questions for the President there, too, where he’ll answer them next week.

The Republican National Committee and Democratic Party are encouraging supporters to organize Watch Parties. To find a party near you, or to host your own party, visit either the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, or both. The televised Republican response to the State of the Union will be given by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the RNC will post minute-by-minute responses and fact checks here beginning at 9 p.m.

If every administration gets the pop star it deserves, the current White House resident could do a whole lot worse than Michael Franti, with whom he has more than biracial parents in common. Franti released an optimistic single, "Obama Song," shortly after the election, ended up playing three inauguration galas, and, per his comments below, continues to support Barack Obama even as political reality begins to overshadow hopeful idealism. Franti, the granola circuit's original party-for-peacenik, is one of rock's too-few uniters. Nobody feels alienated at a Michael Franti & Spearhead show, even when he's criticizing the Patriot Act. Likewise, his 2008 documentary I Know I'm Not Alone was a sincere attempt on this outspoken lefty's part to understand all sides of Middle Eastern issues, from Israeli settlers and Palestinian refugees to the American soldiers on the ground in Iraq.

Franti's latest album, the Jamaica-flavored All Rebel Rockers, hit Billboard's Top-40 when it was released in 2008, while his love-is-all-around you single, "Say Hey (I Love You)," topped out at #18. That's the kind of popularity that gets you invited on tours with the likes of John Mayer, and the pair will hit the road on February 4.

Having released "Obama Song" shortly after the 2008 election, what’s your assessment of its subject's first year in office? Any big surprises or disappointments?

It's about what I expected. I knew he’d be under a lot of strain because he inherited the worst situation: a couple of wars and the economy. The biggest surprise was how Fox News became the Obama 24-7 attack center. I was a little surprised that he went after health care reform so quickly. I’ve been really impressed by his resilience. He’s been under incredible attack but has continued to press on to do what he said he was gonna do.

Did you feel like there's any disconnect between the promises he made during the campaign and what he's done since inauguration? I'm thinking about Guantanamo and various lapses in transparency.

I never had those illusions. He’s President of the United States, so that kind of goes with the job. You’re going to disappoint a lot of people. Everybody who votes for you is going to think you hold their agenda dearest to your heart. I'm not anti-military, but I am against using military solutions for social issues, and that’s something I see happening. We’re using hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the ground to do what civilians should be doing: helping people to go to school and create lives for themselves so they don’t feel like they have to strap a bomb onto their bodies and walk into a supermarket. Read more »

If you were already concerned that big business had its hands in politicians' pockets, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday to allow corporations and unions to spend as much money as they want to support or attack congressional and presidential candidates.

Many, including President Obama, worry about the almighty dollar silencing the voice of the average American:

"With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics," said President Obama in a statement. "It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans....That's why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision."

Despite vows from the President and other political leaders, the Supreme Court's decision is grounded in the protection of free speech. The US Constitution stands in the way of any reform Congress might push for, because Congress cannot overturn a decision based on the Constitution. How 'bout them apples?

The decision, supported by the SCOTUS's five conservative members, abolishes the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law and the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act. The majority argued that a corporation has the same free-speech rights as an individual. The case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, actually concerned a conservative group's funding of an anti-Hillary Clinton movie to be released during last year's primaries - exactly the type of spending the McCain-Feingold law prohibits.

Justice John Paul Stevens, who dissented from the majority, explained his stance:

At bottom, the Court’s opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government since the founding....While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.

So taxpayers have given billions of dollars to banks and insurance companies to keep them afloat (and provide huge bonuses), and now we're going to tell these same corporations they can spend whatever they want to influence political elections.

Heck of a job, SCOTUS.

Although most of "More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" is devoted to National Lab Day and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman led off today with something I suspect we'll be hearing more of as the November elections loom larger. (Even considering the source.)

The most striking feature of Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency was the amazing, young, Internet-enabled, grass-roots movement he mobilized to get elected. The most striking feature of Obama’s presidency a year later is how thoroughly that movement has disappeared.

In part, it disappeared because the Obama team let it disappear, as Obama moved to pass what was necessary — the economic stimulus — and what he aspired to — health care — by exclusively playing inside baseball with Congress. The president seems to have thought that his majorities in the Senate and the House were so big that he never really had to mobilize “the people” to drive his agenda. Obama turned all his supporters into spectators of The Harry and Nancy Show. And, at the same time, that grass-roots movement went dormant on its own, apparently thinking that just getting the first African-American elected as president was the moon shot of this generation, and nothing more was necessary.

Everyone knows New York City is a special place.

Residents also know that New York has real problems: homelessness, joblessness, working poor, and a struggling education system are but a few of them. Last year as the global economy sank into a brutal recession, Mayor Mike Bloomberg used stimulus funding from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to stimulate volunteerism and address the challenges many New Yorkers struggle with every day.

The Mayor's office decided to organize a group of individuals charged with making New York the world’s easiest city in which to volunteer. The plan was announced on April 20, 2009. A quick turn-around resulted in the first New York City Civic Corps class being sworn in at City Hall in July. Nearly 200 volunteers were dispersed among 60 nonprofit and public agencies across the city with one goal: Create a sustainable impact by increasing volunteerism.

On January 22, six months into the program, the New York service community convened at City Hall for a “State of NYC Service” Address. As an NYC Corps member, I was not only invited to attend but also honored to be chosen to speak on behalf of my fellow members. After nervously sharing my experiences, both good and bad, I was followed by New York's Chief Service Officer, Diahann Billings-Burford.

Ms. Billings-Burford provided statistics documenting the program’s early successes, discussed some of the unexpected positive outcomes, and identified areas for improvement. Since July the NYC Civic Corps has recruited more than 18,000 volunteers who have served nearly 70,000 New Yorkers in need. The monetary value of services provided is well over $1 million. Impressive results, to say the least.

With another six months left, the NYC Civic Corps still has plenty of work to do. But the program’s early success has led NYC Service to continue the program into 201, pending funding. The program’s impact has been recognized nationally, and on Martin Luther King Day ten additional cities announced they would be initiating similar programs. With the recession continuing to adversely affect nonprofit fund raising, a state budget proposal cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from city funding, and more people than ever in need of help, the timing could not have been better.