Mike Gordon

In April 2017, Gordon and his bandmates recorded OGOGO, Mike's fifth studio album, as a band at Q Division in Boston. “All five of us decided not to do what we had done before, but to be fresher and try to find our own voices. That started happening in a some jams… I want things to be interesting in a way that would serve the song.” The album was produced by GRAMMY Award-winning Shawn Everett and was released on September 15, 2017.

His current touring band (again billed as "Mike Gordon") is Scott Murawski on guitar, Robert Walter on B3 Organ & Synth, drummer John Morgan Kimock and percussionist Craig Myers. The band has toured regularly since 2015. Gordon decided to tour as a quintet to differentiate his project's instrumentation from Phish.

In 2014, Gordon commissioned custom moiré instruments for himself and guitarist Scott Murawski to work with stage props being used on his 2014 Spring Tour. The guitar and bass (crafted specifically for this tour by Ben Lewry of Oakland, California's Visionary Instruments) are hollow, with LEDs inside that make them glow, and moiré screens stretched across the front. The LEDs in the guitars are manipulated by the lighting director, swapping colors and flashing patterns in response to the music.

As of December 2012, Gordon uses Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter Pro, Source Audio Bass Distortion Pro, Eventide Eclipse, Eventide Space, MXR graphic EQ, Boss graphic EQ and Electro Harmonix Super Ego, The Meatball envelope filter by Lovetone™, an Ibanez stomp box flanger, and an Eventide 4500 Harmonizer.

They played a small handful of dates in New England (and one date in Albany) in November and December 2011, including a show at The Egg in Albany, NY on December 11, 2011 that ended up being the focus of a live album Gordon released in 2013 simply called "The Egg". They again toured in March 2014 (and a few weekends in April) supporting Gordon's last solo album (co-written with band-mate Murawski) Overstep.

Gordon finished writing and recording his next solo album, Moss, at his home studio in Vermont in May 2010. The album was released by Rounder Records on October 19.

On March 6, 2009, Mike reunited with Phish at the Hampton Coliseum. The band has toured regularly since Summer 2009.

Gordon toured with this band from Summer 2008 through March 2014. The band made its debut late night talk-show television appearance on February 11, as musical guests on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, promoting Gordon's album Moss.

He joined Trey Anastasio at the first annual Rothbury Music Festival in July during his solo acoustic set. Anastasio and Phish drummer Jon Fishman joined Gordon for part of his set the same day. Gordon released an album entitled The Green Sparrow on Rounder Records on August 5, 2008.

On January 2, 2007, Gordon appeared with a group billed as The House Band containing many former members of The Grateful Dead playing at a party in honor of the new leadership of the United States House of Representatives hosted by Nancy Pelosi. The group included Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Bruce Hornsby and Warren Haynes.

In summer 2006, Gordon, along with Phish bandmate Trey Anastasio, again joined the Benevento-Russo Duo for a co-headlining tour with Phil Lesh and Friends before finishing the final leg of the tour on their own. The group performed various songs from each members' catalog, as well as a handful of brand new originals. The quartet parted ways after the tour ended in July.

In early 2006, Gordon teamed up with his mother, artist Marjorie Minkin, to present Another Side of In — a visual and audio art show featuring interactive sculptures created by Minkin and set to the music of Inside In. The interactive show appeared at the Boston Children's Museum beginning in January 2010.

Later in 2006, Gordon formed a honky-tonk band called Ramble Dove, consisting of himself, Brett Hughes, Neil Cleary, Marie Claire and Scott Murawski. The band came into fruition after Gordon's long-time stint as bass guitar player in a honky-tonk band led by Brett Hughes that performed each Tuesday night at the Burlington, Vermont, club, Radio Bean. The group performs a number of classic country songs and a few Gordon originals, such as "Ramble Dove", "Loosening Up The Rules" and the rare Phish song "Weekly Time".

In August 2006, Gordon joined the Rhythm Devils – a group featuring Kreutzmann, The Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, guitarist Steve Kimock and a host of backup players.

In December 2005, Gordon formed SerialPod with Anastasio and Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. The group debuted at the 17th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina.

In 2004, Gordon performed with The Benevento-Russo Duo for several shows benefiting Headcount, a voter registration organization. The trio played a number of dates in late 2004 and 2005 including the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2005 and a New Year's Eve series of shows in Florida and the northeastern United States. Gordon has originally met Joe Russo through Ropeadope founder Andy Hurwitz from in 2003 and jammed together in a few informal settings, leading to the Headcount benefit

In summer 2004, Gordon produced musician Joey Arkenstat's first album, Bane. Gordon is also credited with providing vocals and shofar accompaniment.

Gordon has played in several side-projects apart from Phish, including Grappa Boom with Jamie Masefield of the Jazz Mandolin Project, The Chieftains with Rosanne Cash, and Doug Perkins of Smokin' Grass. Gordon formed his own solo band featuring Josh Roseman, Scott Murawski, Julee Avallone, James Harvey, Gordon Stone, Jeannie Hill and Doug Belote in 2003.

He released his first solo album outside of Phish in 2003, entitled Inside In.

In 2002, Gordon recorded the album Clone with acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke. The duo reunited in 2005 for Sixty Six Steps, followed by a supporting tour. According to The Boston Globe, "the recording dormancy may end as Kottke and Gordon both confirmed plans for a get-together that will include Phish drummer Jon Fishman.". In August 2019, Gordon again confirmed that he and Kottke had returned to the studio to record a new album. Little is known about the actual record, except that it did happen.

Gordon began experimenting with a Modulus Quantum 5 bass guitar on stage with Phish as early as October 31, 1994. He made the switch to this instrument as his main bass at Phish's March 1, 1997, show at Markthalle in Hamburg, Germany to a Quantum 5 with two EMG DC pickups. He later acquired a TBX model which is the through-neck version of the same guitar. Gordon plays with a pick (Jim Dunlop 1.5mm triangular graphite picks) and Ken Smith Slickround™ (half flat) strings

He has played banjo since 1994, performing the instrument in concert with Phish and [Phil Lesh] (albeit an electric banjo) and in the studio on the 2007 Bernie Worrell album Improvisczario.

Gordon met Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, and Jeff Holdsworth while attending college at University of Vermont, where the rock band Phish formed in 1983. He answered a posted flyer hanging in the dorms at UVM by Trey Anastasio, looking for a bass player for a new band.

Michael Eliot "Mike" Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano and guitar. He is also a filmmaker (Rising Low, Outside Out) and author (Mike's Corner). He has released five solo studio albums.