This interview series is a summer-long series spotlighting the bands performing at Asbury Jams every Thursday at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Produced by ElmThree – Asbury Jams brings rising local, regional and national touring bands from the jam scene to the City that Bruce Built.
New Jersey is no stranger to cover and tribute bands — especially in the summertime. The soundtrack for every shore bar and club, every venue with a patio or stage features bands covering Springsteen, Bon Jovi, “Mr. Brightside,” “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “My Own Worst Enemy.”
However, Reprise is no ordinary cover band. First and foremost, Reprise is a legit supergroup as its features members of Pink Talking Fish, Twiddle, Kung Fu, Ulu, and the legendary Pink Floyd tribute act, The Machine. Second, Reprise doesn’t play your standard bar fare, they cover the songs of the iconic jam band Phish. But wait, there’s more. Reprise doesn’t play a setlist of Phish hits and call it a night. No, Reprise pays homage to specific setlists from shows throughout the band’s legendary career.
This week, Reprise finds themselves in New Jersey where they will be performing the entire sets (jams, improv, banter and all) from a 1993 State Theater (New Brunswick) and a July 4, 2000 show at the Sony-Blockbuster Entertainment Center (now Freedom Mortagage Pavillion) in Camden.
Recently, we caught up with Scott Chasolen, keyboardist of Reprise, to discuss the band’s origin story, their run in New Jersey this week, what shows they chose to reprise and more.
Reprise is an absolute supergroup as members have performed in Ulu, The Machine, Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish and Twiddle. Can you talk about how Reprise all came together.
Reprise is the brainchild of Tom Marshall, lyricist for Phish. He and Cal [Kehoe] had been writing a song together, and Tom had the idea of creating a band that could perform entire shows. The members were then chosen based on friendship and musicianship. At first the band was only an experiment with our inaugural shows at Nectar’s in Burlington, VT, but we had such a great time playing together and the response was so positive that we couldn’t stop.
Also, talk about the decision to “reprise” specific shows of Phish as opposed to just doing an array of popular Phish songs?
It was all Tom’s idea! He came up with our name as well.
Can you talk about the live “reprises” — how much from the live show are you bringing into your performance? Are you recreating the exact onstage banter? The same vibe? The same improv-ed moments?
We study the shows. The banter is half the fun so we always touch on the silly things that happened. With the jams, we map out the more involved lengthy improvs and hit any notable themes or sections that developed and connect the dots in between with our own flavors. Each year (or sometimes each tour) has a certain vibe and approach behind the playing. It’s really interesting to examine how the band evolved and changed over time.
You’ll be coming to New Jersey this week and are “reprising” The 4th of July 2000 show from Camden, NJ at Homestead in Morristown, NJ and the May 3, 1993 show at The State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ for The Wonder Bar Show. Can you discuss why you chose those particular songs for these particular venues?
We choose shows that occurred in or near the region where we’re playing. Sometimes it’s based on the difficulty level or someone’s personal preference. For Asbury, 5/3/93 was our manager Ed Maier’s first show and he requested it!
Is there a “reprise” that you’ve gotten the most demand for?
People seem to want to hear Halloween shows, NYE shows, and festivals. You know, all the three set shows that are five hours long (laughs).
Are there any “reprises” that the band has on their wishlist that they have not done yet?
So many!
What do you love about being in this band?
Personally, I love the challenge of learning these songs and the privilege of performing them with such stellar musicians for enthusiastic audiences who are excited to be there! Giving people a chance to relive and experience it again if they were at the original show, or experience it for the first time if they were not. For me, I saw many shows in the 90’s and it’s really meaningful to be part of this project since I witnessed so much of it as a fan.
What are 5 things you’re excited for Reprise in the rest of 2025, early 2026?
Super psyched for our two shows in NYC at Brooklyn Bowl on 11/7 and 11/8! Excited to expand beyond the Northeast in 2026. Excited to eventually learn Fluffhead, we’ve been avoiding it!
