Trey Anastasio, frontman and lead guitarist for Phish, has teamed up with Orchestra Nashville for a project called Time Turns Elastic. When the orchestra starts its 2008-2009 season at the Ryman Auditorium Anastasio will be there, too.

The work is touted as groundbreaking for vocals, orchestra, and electric guitar. Given the work Anastasio has done with Phish and some of his more ambitious solo products, the Time Turns Elastic project promises to be creative and interesting beyond measure. The first team up for Orchestra Nashville and Anastasio was back in 2004 and 80,000 fans were treated to “new classical” music. The collaboration was such a hit that the work continued.

Anastasio has been working on this newest collaboration for 18 months now, as he’s been off the road. A lot of emotion went into the work, and all who have worked on it seem to believe that a lot of emotion will come out of it, as well. It’s like nothing else out there, with long passages of orchestral music intertwined with vocals and unparalleled electric guitar work.

Some think it odd that the Ryman – a traditionally country music venue – would be the choice for this music, but it’s actually not so strange when you consider that Orchestra Nashville has a serious reputation for music that goes beyond the boundaries.