Vermont jam-rockers and veteran singer/songwriter are discussing recording together and possible tour.

Vermont jam-rockers Phish and veteran singer/songwriter Neil Young are planning to do

some collaborative recording, according to Elliot Roberts, Young's manager.

In addition, the artists have discussed touring together, although that idea appears to

have been set aside -- at least for now.

"The last thing that we heard from [Young], when he called us about a week ago, is that

he wanted us to go to his place out in San Francisco and write some music," explained

Trey Anastasio, Phish singer/guitarist, speaking from his hometown,

Burlington, Vt.

"[Young] asked about [touring, and] we would love to do it," Anastasio said. "And the last

thing he asked is that it would be a European tour only, that [it] would be this coming

summer -- August or even September."

However, the plan for a summer tour of Europe has been set aside, according to Roberts.

"The talk of the tour [and recording] is true, in a one-conversation kind-of way," Roberts

said. "Neil called Trey and talked to them about touring after they played the Bridge show

in October, but we've since decided not to tour Europe next summer. The whole idea

Neil had was, 'Let's get together and try and do something original.' If they toured, he

didn't want to have it be an oldies thing. He wanted to be able to do some originals."

Phish first played in public with Young at the Farm Aid Benefit in October. The two then played the Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View,

Calif., on Oct. 17 and 18. The annual all-acoustic, all-star concert raises funds for the

school co-founded by Young and his wife, Pegi, for disabled children.

Young is not new to live collaboration with other well-known bands, having toured and

recorded the album Mirror Ball with Seattle-based rockers Pearl Jam in 1995.

But a pairing with Phish would be unusual for Young, given his country/grunge leanings

and Phish's quirky sonic flights-of-fancy.

To hear Anastasio tell it, working with Young on tour -- especially in Europe -- would be a

thrill. "It would be one of the greatest honors. I think he's an incredible guy and an

incredible musician."

"I wish we could play more in Europe," added Anastasio, referring to the differences he

sees between American and European followers of his band.

"I would guess that our following in Europe is more detached," he said. "I don't know if

the whole Phish-fan phenomenon is viewed by Europeans just as an American thing.

But I hope the music will transcend that."

Phish-heads, as Phish fans are called, often are compared to Deadheads, the vast

contingent of fans devoted to defunct, San Francisco-based psychedelic rockers the

Grateful Dead. As with so-called Traveling Heads, the hard-core loyalists who followed

the Dead everywhere, every Phish concert is accompanied by a crowd of people who

move from town to town with the band.

"The Dead and the Deadheads to me seem like an American phenomenon," Anastasio

said. "It became like a kind of rite of passage for American kids, because the country's so

big. If you grew up, say, in New York, you'd never been in Utah or Colorado.

"The Dead became a cultural phenomenon where the kids at the age of 19 or 20 took a

summer off and followed the band around. And they would see the music, but they would

also see the country and have an adventure. And we seem to have taken that over in

some way," Anastasio continued.

"And we get the good and the bad with it. You get a great crowd, and you get towns that

won't have you because they're scared of kids coming into town. And I wonder what it

feels like in Europe, because the culture is different."

"[The fan phenomenon] is probably a blessing and a curse," Anastasio said. "It's what

made us who we are. I read an interview with Paul Stanley [from costumed hard-rockers

Kiss] and he was saying that if they started complaining about their makeup it would be

like being a lawyer complaining about wearing a tie. We're very fortunate. We're sitting in

a lucky place. We've got an audience that listens critically to our music. And to me, it's a

great thing having people complaining about certain things, but who will also notice

when we do something particularly good.

"It's especially evident when we go to Europe," Anastasio added.

In November, Phish released the studio album The Story of the Ghost, which

includes the single "Birds of a Feather" (RealAudio

excerpt). Ghost is the band's first album since 1997's live Slip Stitch and

Pass.