If you know anything about Phish then you know bassist Mike Gordon. He’s the Cactus; the quite, stone-faced odd man out. You never hear much about him and you certainly don’t hear much from him but he holds it down year after year, show after show dropping massive bass lines and providing vocals for some of Phish’s best and most popular songs

Although Gordo has been with Phish from the start he’s never ceased to create music away from the band (this was especially true during Phish’s hiatus). He’s collaborated with numerous other musicians and has released a number of great solo albums over the years including “The Green Sparrow” in 2008 and “Moss” in 2010. Now Mike is back to present his fourth studio solo album “Overstep”.

“Overstep” is officially being released on February 25th but you can stream it online for free at RollingStone.com. It’s a great album from one of the most iconic bassists in the scene. Personally I’ve always been a big fan of Mike’s voice and his lyrics are cool too. What sets him apart from a lot of other musicians though is his incredible music IQ. He knows how to bring a song together and can just as easily write the music for guitar as he can for bass. Right off the bat the first song on the album, “Ether” features some fantastic guitar riffs and solos and performed live by a talented guitarist like Trey (guitarist for Phish) will give it a whole new dimension.

Mike switches things up on this album. As you would expect the bass lines are a huge part of the album but he also adds some lighter elements to his tracks. You can tell he had a lot of fun making this album. It’s a lot less “jammy” and less technical. Many of the tracks like “Jump” are light and studio friendly unlike many Phish songs which sound bare and incomplete in the studio. “Overstep” doesn’t feel that way.

Those of you who are familiar with Phish’s repertoire and recent set lists will already know “Yarmouth Road” (which became wildly popular during the 2013 Fall and 2013/2014 Winter tours) which appears on this album. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album.

This is a rare opportunity (one that isn’t offered by many big name musicians these days) to hear the new album in its entirety for free before it hits shelves and iTunes. So head over to RollingStone.com to hear it. You can also hear some select tracks from Mike Gordon on his SoundCloud/MikeGordon.

Catch Mike “The Cactus” Gordon Live as he promotes his album before Phish’s 2014 Summer Tour at:

The Westcott Theatre (Syracuse, NY) February 28 th

Webster Hall (New York, NY) March 1 st

Union Transfer (Philadelphia, PA) March 2 nd

9:30 Club (Washington, DC) March 4 th

The Orange Peel (Asheville, NC) March 6 th

Stage AE (Pittsburgh, PA) March 7 th

Park West (Chicago, IL) March 8 th

The Barrymore Theatre (Madison, WI) March 9 th

The Varsity Theatre (Minneapolis, MN) March 11 th

The Boulder Theatre (Boulder, CO) March 14 th

Park City Live (Park City, UT) March 15 th

El Rey Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) March 17 th

The Fillmore (San Francisco, CA) March 18 th

The Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR) March 19 th

The Neptune Theatre (Seattle, WA) March 21 st

The Rio Theatre (Vancouver, BC) March 22 nd

House of Blues (Boston, MA) March 28 th

The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performing Center (Plymouth, NH) March 29 th

The Bearsville Theatre (Woodstock, NY) March 30 th

Tarrytown Music Hall (Tarrytown, NY) April 4 th

Higher Ground (Burlington, VT) April 6th

So far my favorite new Mike songs off the new album “Overstep” are:

Ether

Jumping

Paint

Surface

Check out this awesome video of Phish performing “Yarmouth Road” in Atlantic City on 11/02/13.

@EEMalyshev