JM Sahr’s intricate work on his uber-famous ‘101 Songs’, aka ‘Gone Phishin’ is one of the handful of detailed multi-song posters phans made over the years, and as featured in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish

Sahr grew up in New Hampshire, as well as Colorado, Florida and upstate NY. His first show was 7-22-92 in Nassau, NH, which opened his eyes to many things other than the jamminest band on the face of the earth. Sahr attended RIT and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. An artist by trade, he now works in the digital world, although his art ambitions are alive and well, while digital design pays the bills.

JM met the band on 4-29-94 at the Boatyard Village Pavilion in Clearwater, Florida. They were nonchalant as they exited the venue like normal patrons, and acted as if they were hanging out with a group of friends. Trey told stories of band hijinx near the bus, Mike was wandering on a golf cart, while Page and Fish were entertaining a small crowd for 15-20 minutes near the entrance of the very unique venue.

Although much more could be written of the bands impact that has both inspired and molded a great portion of his life, he likes to think that he explains this through this work with the poster. Enjoy.

cost – $15,  S+H – $5 w

website: www.jmsahr.com/101songs

Poster Detail:

Details on the poster:

Measurements:
The poster measures 23″ X 12″.

The Medium
It is Black and White for many reasons. When I first created the poster the only means I had of duplicating it was through a blueprint copier called a “Black-Line”. They hadn’t developed standard copy machines to accommodate this size yet. If it was full-color, the duplications would have cost me around $12 each to reproduce. Not good for sale on a lot with peeps only wanting to spend between $5-$15 for goods. Back then I was selling them for $5 each or 3 posters for $10. I actually have colored the poster on 3 separate occasions. The first one I did was with colored pencils and came out fantastic. I still have it stashed in my portfolio case. The second one I did was with colored pencils and hi-liters so it would glow under black light. This was and still is my favorite. The third one I did using colors that would have been used during the Rennassaince…..you know, Leonardo DiVinci, Michaelangelo, etc. It came out very “earthy” and warm.

More detail!

The Story of Designing it and Pulling It All Together (abridged):
With a stack of papers (about 40 sheets) with names, pictures, scribblings, beer stains, notes and even tears, I began thinking about a setting to incorporate the 103 images I just spent a month developing. Hmmmm. Some sort of theater. Some sort of party scene. Something that will ooze Phish Concert. It needed to have a parking lot, a colonnade of shops, mountains, a river, bridges, and a theater. And of course, about 150 little men and women doing what little men and women do. I decided to take the “alienessque” approach to illustrating the peeps. Afterall, the expressions on their faces were only important if the songs called for it. As in life, actions speak much louder than words. I would draw a bluff. A bluff that housed a sunken theater. Complete with all the amenities mentioned above. For the next 2 months I slept little, held my waiter/bartender position during the day and drew until my hand felt like marshmallow fluff. Mmm, Fluffernutters. Here’s a funny footnote. I did not have a drawing table at the time so I was forced to find a place in the apartment that was infrequently used, but had a good source of light. The stove top. I fastened the paper to a drawing board and used the stove top as my drawing table. The light in the little alcove thing above the stove was perfect and we certainly weren’t doing any kind of cooking as we all worked at a local Restaurant….ok, we weren’t cooking because we didn’t know how. There I said it. 2 months later it was finished. I was stunned, my roommates were stunned, and I firmly believed this was a winner.

Even more detail!