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Taking Justin Bieber to a Phish Show

Toronto-bred musician Dan Kanter started performing in clubs when he was only 15 and, over the past 16 years, has collaborated with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Usher, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Ludacris, Boyz II Men, Mary J Blige and Busta Rhymes. He’s appeared on programs such as Saturday Night Live, Oprah, American Idol, MTV VMA’s, Late Night With David Letterman, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Ellen, The Today Show and Good Morning America. He’s also played Madison Square Garden six times. But after Wednesday night, he will forever be known to at least one sect of concertgoers as the man who brought Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez to a Phish show. For the past three years, the 31-year-old musician has worked with Bieber, serving as his Musical Director and lead guitarist. He also co-produced Bieber’s platinum-selling album My World Acoustic, appeared in the major-motion picture Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D and co-wrote/co-produced the song “Be Alright” on his smash album Believe.

While he’s certainly a fan of pop music and musical theater, Kanter also has deep roots in the jamband scene and has seen Phish live around 60 times (including one New Year’s Eve when he booked it to MSG to catch the Vermont Quartet after performing in Times Square with Bieber and Carlos Santana). After playing him Phish’s music for several years, Kanter finally brought the teen idol to a show in Long Beach, CA on Wednesday night. The Twitter world picked up on the story rather quickly and, soon after, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Phish LD Chris Kuroda would work on Bieber’s next tour. Two days later, Kanter talked with Relix/Jambands.com about his personally journey with Phish, his upcoming shows with Kuroda and the time his wife taught Bieber when to clap during “Stash.”

Click here for the extended conversation.