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    Some Phish songs simply sound like they were written to include horns accompaniment; “Cavern” and “Gumbo” immediately come to mind. Even in the early days, fans sometimes got to hear such accompaniment from guests like Carl Gerhard, Dave Grippo and Russ Remington. In 1991, though, Phish took the concept of “guest horn players” one step further and organized what many fans refer to as “The Horns Tour.” From 7/11 through 7/27, Phish toured with Gerhard on trumpet, Grippo on alto sax and Remington on tenor sax. They were called The Giant Country Horns, or GCH for short, and they brought new life to many Phish standards. They also allowed the band to cover new songs where horns were integral (such as “Touch Me” and “Moose the Mooche”) and play jazz numbers that had been shelved (such as “Caravan” and “Flat Fee”). Even live Phish staples such as “Tweezer,” “Mike’s Groove” and “You Enjoy Myself” took on a new dimension when augmented with horns.
    In April of 1994, the GCH returned, in a new, six-piece lineup, with Don Glasgo (trombone), Mike Hewitt (baritone sax), Chris Peterman (tenor sax) and Joey Sommerville (trumpet) joining Grippo and Gerhard. This version of the GCH appeared on 4/4/94 and 4/15/94, accompanying such songs as “Buried Alive,” “The Landlady,” “Julius,” “Magilla,” “Split Open and Melt,” “Wolfman's Brother,” “I Wanna Be Like You,” “The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony,” “Suzy Greenberg,” “Alumni Blues” and “Cavern.” As with the original GCH lineup, Phish tried songs that they might not have otherwise played, including “Magilla” (played for the first time since March of 1993) and “Alumni Blues” (unfinished, but still played for the first time since 10/10/91).
    Individual members of the group have continued to appear with Phish, and Grippo and Remington have become integral parts of Trey’s solo band, so a return of the GCH at some future junction is, like all things Phishy, not impossible. The band has turned to other horn lineups since April of 1994, though, including the Cosmic Country Horns appearances later that year.