Chris Berry and Bill Kreutzmann will be jammin’ into the New Year in the state they call home- Hawaii

On December 31st they will play a very intimate show with Michael Kang and Patrice Blanchard on the island of Kaua’i. Only a lucky 200 people get to have a Champagne toast with the band to welcome in 2010.

Show details are as follows:

Thursday, December 31st @ 10:00pm (Doors @ 8:00pm)
TAPAZ LOUNGE in Kapaa on the island of Kaua’i
Tickets are presale $50 / $60 at the door (Champagne toast and Pupus included)
Ages 21+ Limited tickets available at www.dovepresents.com
For more information call (808) 635-5556

For New Year’s Day, the party moves to Maui at the Pauwela Cannery.

Show details are as follows:

Friday, January 1st @ 8:00 pm Maui (doors at 7:30 PM)
Voyage East 375 West Kuiaha- Haiku Maui
Tickets are presale $35 / $40 at the door
Ages 21+ Limited tickets available
Online tickets at www.dovepresents.com
For more information please call (808) 635-5556

On the 2nd, catch up with the celebration at the Big Island town of Pahoa – at the historic Akebono Theater. Chris Berry really wanted to play for his new neighborhood in Hawaii and it will be a exciting finish to his first Hawaiian island tour.

Show details are as follows:

Saturday, January 2nd @ 7:30 PM (Doors at 7:00 PM)
Akebono Theater Located on Highway 130 in Pahoa Big Island, HI 96778
Tickets are presale $25 / $30 at the door
Ages 21+ limited tickets available
Online tickets at www.dovepresents.com
More info at 808-635-5556

ALL SHOWS produced by DOVE PRESENTS and freshjamradio.com

Dear DSO Fan –

Thank you for joining us and being a part of this continuing, long strange trip these past 12 years. Your support and excitement for the music has kept us going strong for over 1700 shows. Throughout the years, we’ve had transitions both difficult and uplifting, yet the positive energy of our fan base has continued to propel our mission onward for performing this important music and for keeping this vibrant scene alive.

That said, we, as a band are entering another chapter in this story.

Dark Star Orchestra’s lead guitarist and one of its founding members, John Kadlecik, has decided to resign from DSO. John’s last show with us will be on December 5 in Buffalo. DSO is supportive of John’s choice and we wish him the very best.

Dark Star Orchestra will continue to bring you this music at its highest level. In our 12-year history we have gone through three drummers, three keyboard players, three bass players and numerous rhythm guitarists and we have always managed to keep improving the sound and the experience. We will be taking on a new player with his own talents and energy and turn yet another chapter in DSO history.

Veteran guitarist Jeff Mattson of the Zen Tricksters and Donna Jean Godchaux Band, will be joining us this week, on the New Year’s run, Jam Cruise, and for our upcoming Winter Tour that begins in February. We assure you all the things you love about the Dark Star Orchestra experience will continue, and we ask for your patience, friendship and positive energy as we keep truckin’ on…

Dark Star Orchestra

In support of the new exhibition The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society (opening March 2010) and the Grateful Dead Archive, the Historical Society will hold a fundraising reception on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, co-hosted by business leaders Brian Harris, Robert Lapidus, Tom Marano, Billy Procida, Brad Settleman, Emanuel Stern and Marc Warren. Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead will be guests of honor at the reception, where they and other attendees will have the opportunity to preview select highlights from the Archive.

The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society traces the career and achievements of a band that became one of the significant cultural forces in 20th century America. Through a wealth of original artwork and documents including concert and recording posters, album art, large-scale marionettes and other stage props, banners and decorated fan mail, the exhibition will explore the musical creativity and influence of the Grateful Dead from 1965 to 1995, the sociological phenomenon of the Deadheads (the band’s network of devoted fans) and the enduring impact of the Dead’s pioneering approach to the music business. Materials in the exhibition will be drawn almost exclusively from the extraordinary holdings of the Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California Santa Cruz, established in 2008.

When: Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Where: The New-York Historical Society, Two West 77th Street, at Central Park West

Who: Brian Harris, Robert Lapidus, Tom Marano, Billy Procida, Brad Settleman, Emanuel Stern and Marc Warren, Benefit Co-Chairs; Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Guests of Honor

Tickets $300 each; 100% tax deductible

For more information or to purchase tickets https://www.nyhistory.org/web/dead_tickets

Reading:
Assembling California, by John McPhee. I want to be him when I grow up.

Listening:
Snake Oil & Hummingbirds – Joanne Rand
Some Days the Song Writes You – Guy Clark
All In Your Mind – The Kind Buds
Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Sheiks
Maria Muldaur and Her Garden of Joy
Mono Remasters boxed set – Beatles

Writing:
I just turned in the liner notes for Let It Rock, a 2-CD live release of the Jerry Garcia Band w/ Nicky Hopkins on piano, recorded at the Keystone Berkeley November 17-18, 1975. This was a short-lived and troubled edition of the JGB, but when Hopkins had it together they made amazing music. Jeffrey Norman did a spectacular job mixing Betty Cantor’s multitracks. Release date is November 10.

Browsing:
A visit to Wasabimon sent me to Summertomato. Both are excellent food-related blogs. Start with 10 Reasons to Never Eat Free Food and then just start following links. Rita and I have learned a lot in just a couple of hours of poking around.

A comprehensive exhibition spanning 50 years of this legendary Bay Area artist. From hot-rod posters, through the 60′s music phenomena and into fine art, Stanley Mouse is coming full circle with his newest Monster Art.

September 26 – November, 2009
Reception: Saturday September 26, 5-7pm
Poster and book signing event: Saturday October 17, 5-7pm

At the Novato Arts Center at Hamilton Field
500 Palm Drive, Novato, CA
415-506-0137

Museum Hours: Tues-Sun. 11am-4pm

Free Admission to the public

P.S. I am running for the KPFA Local Station Board as a staff candidate, by the way. My agenda

When I got home from the club, wired and tired as I have been after every rock gig I ever played, my blood pressure was right where it oughta be, maybe a little high for my new usual, and my pulse was in the high 60s (four samples). No one who hadn’t gotten the memo would ever imagine that I was in the cath lab eight days ago.

I will (obviously) continue following instructions and easing back into physical activity, but jeez, I am feeling kinda sheepish about calling myself a heart attack survivor, victim, whatever. At the moment it feels as if it had never happened.

I have no intention of forgetting, of course. Last night I was greeted warmly and cautiously by various people who delivered the cliché “you’re going to turn over a new leaf” bit, and I said, “Thanks, but I have been living a healthy lifestyle and I intend to live a healthier one from here on out.” It’s not like I have to give up buffalo wings and beer and start taking 100-yard walks to satisfy my exercise requirement.

Better, though, were the people who told me they intended to sharpen their vigilance on their own health.

They could make a commercial for angioplasty with the footage of me from last night.

Photo by Stuart Steinhardt

–Nina Feldman