A tiny seaside community in Maine could soon be under the influence of a world-famous rock 'n roll drummer.
Jon Fishman, the percussion-pounding star of the band Phish, says he's running the job of selectman in the town of Lincolnville.
And his inspiration for entering politics, the 52-year-old music man says, is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran for last year's Democratic presidential nomination.
"Bernie was saying, 'Look at all of you people who got on the Sanders campaign ... You should run for your local offices, your school boards, your select boards and committees,'" Fishman told The Free Press.
"I really want to go into this with both feet. If I'm going to do it, I want to do a good job. I'm going to be engaged, and I have no interest in doing it half-assed."
Lincolnville, a 43-square municipality on Penobscot Bay, was named after Revolutionary War Gen. Benjamin Lincoln and is home to just 2,164 residents.
The Lincolnville election will be held June 13 at a local school, just down the street from where Fishman and his wife, Briar, own a general store.
Phish — founded in 1983 by Fishman, Trey Anastasio, Jeff Holdsworth, and Mike Gordon — has developed a huge following its unique blend of psychedelic and progressive rock, jazz, funk, bluegrass and country. The group has released 16 studio albums and plays to sellout crowds across the country.
If Fishman, 52, wins the municipal seat next month, he'll follow in the footsteps of other leading pop stars who've served in public office.
Sonny Bono, the "Sonny and Cher" star who penned "The Beat Goes On" and "I Got You Babe," was elected mayor of Palm Springs in 1998 and became a Republican U.S. congressman from California in 1994.
John Hall the singing, guitar-playing leader of Orleans, which scored Top 10 hits with "Still the One" and "Dance with Me," became a Democratic U.S. congressman representing New York in 2006.
In 2005, Martha Reeves, frontwoman of Motown's Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, whose smash hits include "Dancing in the Streets" and "Heat Wave," was elected to the Detroit City Council.
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