Archive for April, 2008

GD archive goes to UC Santa Cruz

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

News from UC Santa Cruz
Office of Public Affairs

Grateful Dead to announce special partnership with UC Santa Cruz at
Thursday press conference set for San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium

PRESS CONFERENCE—APRIL 24, 2008 11 a.m. PST

Who: Grateful Dead band members:
-Bob Weir
-Mickey Hart

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal
plus assorted guests

Where: Fillmore Auditorium (Poster Room)
(1805 Geary Boulevard, SF
Parking available in the Kabuki Cinema lot at the intersection of Geary and Fillmore)

–Can’t attend? Watch the press conference streamed live at Dead.net–courtesy of iclips.net.

More ruminations on the music bidness

Monday, April 21st, 2008

This was a post to the independent radio producers’ mailing list:

….He mentions musicians giving away their music so that they get more people at their concerts…

That has been a successful model for a great number of musicians in the “jamband” (ugh) scene that I’m part of.

It’s also true that the vast majority of CDs sold by most of the musicians I know are not sold in stores, but in person at gigs. That’s certainly true for me. You play a set at a festival and then you go over to the merch table and sell and sign and schmooze.

That’s not news in the country/bluegrass world – that’s the way it’s always been done at bluegrass festivals, etc.

I post excerpts from my live shows and I have an online storefront on several of my web pages.

My producer and I recently decided we aren’t even going to bother trying to find a record label to release the album we just completed. There has NEVER been any money in record deals; in recent years, an artist has made money from his record on the retail side w/ direct sales. The value of a record deal has been whatever you could get the label to spend on promotion and publicity, and to a lesser extent the visibility of being in stores. I’m funding the release myself (largely by selling off some collectibles!) and putting my energy into exploring the new online marketing channels.

The CD is dying. The quality of master recordings is vastly superior at the studio end of the path – I recorded and mixed this project at 88.2/24 bit – and to a large extent inferior at the consumer end (MP3 etc.). I am giving serious consideration to the idea of putting my record out in two formats: a CD, with a nice booklet and all that, and a data DVD with a CD image, MP3s, and high-res audio for those who have the equipment to play it back that way.

I had an amusing conversation with a friend in New York a couple of months ago. Considering that the way to develop a following these days includes a lot of “meet and greet” schmoozes with fans, the whole notion of the artist’s persona has been stood on its head. It used to be that an artist cultivated some mystery – “he knows something you don’t,” as someone put it somewhere – and was to a great extent inaccessible and unknowable. So when that band came to pay in Oklahoma City, all you know about ’em was the promo shot, the album art/text, and the sound in the grooves.

MTV blew the first big hole in the state of that art, as another associate of mine pointed out. From the early ’80s, recording artists also had to learn how to behave in front of a camera, and their songs were forever married to someone’s idea of a visual narrative. And MTV refused from Day One to allow live performance video, so it wasn’t possible for an artist to just shut up and play.

And now it’s even harder to let the music speak for itself.

Imagine, say, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker promoting the music of Steely Dan in today’s music scene.

Bill Kreutzmann’s new trio

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

I haven’t talked to Bill to confirm this yet, but I am told they’re calling it THREE. It’s Bill Kreutzmann on drums, Oteil Burbridge on bass, and Scott Murawski on guitar. More news when I get it.

This just in from my favorite festival:

“We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves! As longtime Grateful Dead fans, bringing the newly-formed Bill Kreutzmann Trio to you at MagnoliaFest 2008 is beyond exciting! And when we discovered one of his partners in the trio is none other then our very own festival favorite Oteil Burbridge, that made it even more perfect for Magfest! Check out the the website of 3rd trio member, Scott Murawski (Max Creek) for some incredible live BKT music. The music is from one of their first shows, and you just know that come October it will be peaking underneath the live oaks at the Suwannee.”

MagnoliaFest is October 23-26, 2008 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, just a few miles south of the Georgia line. Other cool stuff is in the works for this year’s fall favorite, too.

Sless’ Stimulating Stout wins a Gold Medal at the WORLD beer cup!!!!!

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Congratulations to Mike Altman and the Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax CA. On Saturday, April 19, Sless’ Stimulating Stout won a Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup Gala Awards Dinner in San Diego.

Sless’ Stimulating Stout: A symphony of grains creating a deep rich stout infused with a tincture of passionate herbs. Named after a good friend of the pub, and a hot pedal steel player, Barry Sless.

I’m not much of a beer drinker myself, but I’m a big fan of Barry Sless, and also happy to be performing at Iron Springs on May 7.

RIP Chris Gaffney, Danny Federici

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Thursday, April 17, was a tough day for middle-aged rock fans. We lost Danny Federici, keyboardist of the E Street Band for 40 years, and Chris Gaffney of the Hacienda Brothers, who was diagnosed with liver cancer just a few weeks ago.

From the HelpGaff web site:

His departure was quick and painless with the support of Our loving family by his side.

Celebrations of his life are in the works. Please check back for updates. Your continuous support and donations are greatly appreciated and still needed to offset the financial burden of his medical care. From our family to yours, much love.

From the Hacienda Brothers web site:

Chris Gaffney, a beloved husband, revered entertainer, precious father, dear uncle, trusted friend, cherished brother has succumbed to liver cancer.

Chris Gaffney passed away yesterday morning, April 17, 2008 in the Orange County hospital in California with his wife Julie at his side. Further details are unavailable at this time. Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

“Chris Gaffney grew up in Arizona, where he learned to play the accordion as a young child. The instrument would later influence the performer’s mix of norteño with country and rock & roll. Gaffney eventually mastered guitar as well and spent his teen years gigging in cover and house bands. In 1977, he formed a partnership with keyboardist Wyman Reese, who also produced Gaffney’s initial solo efforts. Road to Indio appeared in 1986; it featured 1950s rock, soul, and dusty Bakersfield honky tonk. Chris Gaffney & the Cold Hard Facts followed in 1990, and delved into Gaffney’s Hispanic heritage. His third solo effort, Mi Vida Loca, was issued in 1992. Loser’s Paradise appeared in 2003. The album was produced by blue-collar stalwart Dave Alvin and featured contributions from Lucinda Williams and Jim Lauderdale.” – Johnny Loftus, AMG. Gaffney also recorded and toured extensively as a member of Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men. Gaffney & Alvin formed a bond of brotherhood that has been a cornerstone in each of their lives.

Gaff’s most current project, The Hacienda Brothers is a collaboration between singer and songwriter Gaffney and Dave Gonzalez, best known as the guitarist, singer, and songwriter with the veteran blues-rockabilly combo the Paladins. “Longtime friends Gaffney and Gonzalez first performed together when they played an informal set for a mutual friend’s birthday party in 2002; Gonzalez was impressed with the results, and as he was looking for an outlet for the country-style songs he was unable to perform with the Paladins, he proposed a more formal collaboration. Teaming up with David Berzansky on pedal steel, Hank Maninger on bass, and Dale Daniel on drums, the duo adopted the name the Hacienda Brothers, and set up a base of operations in Tucson, Ariz. Gonzalez, who has a passionate interest in vintage cars, struck up a friendship with fellow gearhead Dan Penn, the legendary producer and songwriter who was a key figure in the Muscle Shoals sound, and he persuaded Penn to produce the debut Hacienda Brothers album, the eponymous Hacienda Brothers. Penn also contributed two songs to the sessions, which appeared on the group’s self-titled 2005 release. What’s Wrong with Right was released the following year.” –Mark Deming, AMG. A live CD, Music For Ranch & Town, was released unofficially in August of 2007. Their sound, dubbed “Western Soul,” culminated in the 2007 nomination for the Americana Music Association Duo/Group of the Year. In January of 2008 The Hacienda Brothers recorded their 4th CD, Arizona Motel, that will be released nationally on June 24th.

Plans are in the works for the band to tour in support of the CD in tribute to Chris Gaffney.

Chris Gaffney lived his life as a dedicated musician with little fanfare or ego. The industry recognition that had so long eluded him finally came with sincere praise & genuine respect for the quality of his work in The Hacienda Brothers. His fans worldwide have overwhelmingly shown their loved & appreciation. The HelpGaff.com website has raised tens of thousands of dollars before a single benefit show has even been played. Gaff was universally loved for his quick smile, even temperament, keen observations and dry wit. He will be missed as much for those qualities as for his incomparable talent as a singer, songwriter and musician. And we will surely miss hearing the girls scream, “Gaffney! Gaffney! Gaffney!”

Gaff’s favorite month of the year? “April, because it always brings hope.”

–Dianne Scott

Orange County Register’s Gaffney obit

From BruceSpringsteen.net:

DANNY FEDERICI

“Danny and I worked together for 40 years – he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much…we grew up together.”
—Bruce Springsteen

Danny Federici, for 40 years the E Street Band’s organist and keyboard player, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three year battle with melanoma.

The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.

There’s video on that page of Federici playing “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Indianapolis on March 20, his last appearance with the band.

Grateful Dead Hour #1022

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Week of April 21, 2008

Part 1 22:31
Grateful Dead, Infrared Roses
APOLLO AT THE RITZ
CROWD SCULPTURE

Mickey Hart’s Mystery Box
ONLY THE STRANGE REMAIN
Mickey Hart, Supralingua
INDOSCRUB

Part 2 34:24
Grateful Dead 8/5/89 Cal Expo, Sacramento CA
STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN
ROW JIMMY
LET IT GROW

More information abut the Mickey Hart reissues in this post.

Mickey is hitting the festival circuit this summer!

The Mickey Hart Band will feature Steve Kimock on guitar, George Porter Jr on bass, Jen Durkin on vocals, and talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju. After headlining appearances at Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa on June 6 and Wakarusa on June 8, the group will head out on an 18 city trek beginning July 3 at the Rothbury Festival and continuing through July 24 at 10K Lakes Festival.

Mickey Hart Band tour info and more on his site, mickeyhart.net

Infrared Roses is the wonderful work of Bob Bralove. From the bio on his web site:

Bob Bralove was the MIDI wizard, producer (Infrared Roses, Built to Last), and co-writer of Gold and Platinum selling songs, including: “Picasso Moon,” “Way to Go Home,” “Easy Answers,” “Parallelogram,” “Little Nemo in Nightland,” “Sparrow Hawk Row,” with the Grateful Dead for the last eight years of the long, strange trip…. Bralove is especially well known for his undeniable creative sound, performing and designing with the Grateful Dead, the mind-bending, avant-garde Drums and Space segments of their live shows.

Infrared Roses is out of print, but maybe it’ll come back when GDP/Rhino get the download program going. Stay tuned.

Bob recently released a CD of solo piano improvisations called Stories in Black and White.

Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:

Grateful Dead Productions, announcing the release of Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, a 9-disc set containing every note recorded at the legendary San Francisco venue on November 9, 10, and 11, 1973. Mastered in HDCD from the original 2-track reels using a state-of-the-art restoration technique, Winterland 1973 captures the post-Pigpen Dead at a creative peak on their home turf. Audio samples, historical documents, message board, and details of a limited-edition bonus disc are available now at dead.net.

The 10,000 Lakes Festival, July 23 through 26 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 10KLF features Phil Lesh & Friends, Mickey Hart Band, Dark Star Orchestra, The Flaming Lips, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and over fifty additional acts. More information and tickets for the 10,000 Lakes Festival are available at 10klf.com

Woodstock Trading Company, a brick-and-mortar as well as an online store offering clothing, posters, incense, tye dyes, and gifts from the Grateful Dead and numerous other bands. The store is located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and online at woodstocktradeco.com.

DG performances in northern California this weekend

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Old Western Saloon 4/18/08

Friday, April 18, 9pm til ?? – David Gans performs “solo electric” at the Old Western Saloon in the heart of Point Reyes Station, California. Admission is $5. The ride out there is breathtaking – come early!

Saturday, April 19, 8pm: DG plays the Poster Room at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Hot Buttered Rum is the headliner and Poor Man’s Whiskey opens the show on the main stage. DG plays before the show and during the breaks.

“Peyote to LSD” on the History Channel 4/19

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Odyssey

From the History Channel web site:

Plant Explorer Richard Evans Schulte’s discoveries of hallucinogenic plants revolutionized science and laid the foundation for the psychedelic sixties. Now his protégé, Wade Davis, follows in his footsteps to experience for himself the discoveries that Schultes brought to the western world. Watch native ceremonies and visit laboratories in Switzerland to explore the evolution of psychedelic substances from sacred plants to LSD. Join legendary authors, musicians and Beat Poets on an epic journey that spans decades.

(all times Eastern)

Saturday, April 19 10:00 PM
Sunday, April 20 02:00 AM
Saturday, April 26 05:00 PM

According to this post on DeadNet, Bob Weir appears in the documentary, and some Grateful Dead music is included.

View the trailer here.

Dead to the World 4/16/08

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

Hey Pocky Way->
Playing in the Band->
I Know You Rider->
Terrapin Station->
Drums->
Space->
Standing on the Moon->
Throwing Stones->
Not Fade Away
~
US Blues
Grateful Dead 8/5/89 Cal Expo, Sacramento CA

Easy WindGrateful Dead 12/31/70 Winterland, San Francisco
Sittin’ on Top of the WorldThe Missing Moonlighters – Live/Studio Closet Tapes
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, from the I’m Not There soundtrack
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
The Essential Waylon Jennings
DaughterLoudon Wainwrght III, Strange Weirdos

GDH returns to the air in Santa Fe

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

The Grateful Dead Hour will air on Project 101.5 FM in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Fridays at 7pm starting this Friday, April 18.

Live on KWMR this evening

Monday, April 14th, 2008

I’m on my way out to beautiful West Marin with my wife for a couple of days. Point Reyes National Seashore! It’s a lovely spot. The picture at the top of this blog was taken out there.

This evening I’m going to visit KWMR in Point Reyes Station to play a little music and help with their fund drive. I’ll be on the air with host Jerry “The Hippie from Olema” Lunsford from 6:40 until 8:30 PDT. You can listen online by going to kwmr.org and clicking on the “ON AIR” button at the top of the page.

And of course, we’d love it if you would make a donation to this wonderful radio station – community broadcasting at its finest. You can phone in your pledge at 415-663-8273 or contribute online.

And on Friday evening, I perform at the Old Western Saloon in Point Reyes Station. It’s on the main drag – you can’t miss it! Showtime is 9:30pm.
Old Western 4/18/08

“Tales from Winterland” 12/31/72

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

Today’s broadcast of Tales from the Golden Road on Sirius was all about Winterland, the Dead’s home back in SF for most of the ’70s. I received this story online, and since I wasn’t able to get the author, Dwight Holmes, on the air in time, I got his permission to post it here.

Winterland 12/31/72
by Dwight Holmes

You may not believe this but by the time 12/31/72 rolled around i was getting pretty down on the boys… as far as i was concerned it had been downhill from when Mickey left, and the first time i’d heard Godchaux i about puked (Chicago 10/21/71)… they did Dark Star & St Stephen in that show (neither of which i had seen done before but it sucked absolutely & it just didn’t seem to me that they were enjoying it. (Context: my Deadhead friends — which was pretty redundant at that time — and i were pretty agreed that ‘Skullfuck’ album was a downer — good songs, but bad renditions & odd selections (Couldn’t they tell good nights from bad ones anymore?), e.g. compared w/ 7/2/71 which was on a widely-distributed bootleg LP and was hot and it was becoming increasingly clear that ’69 – ’70 would never happen again)…

Anyway, i had caught them at Berkeley 8/22/72 and enjoyed myself, it seemed like they were getting a new style together, working Keith in a bit and even jamming respectably despite having only 1 drummer … found myself on the west coast again at holiday time & got tickets for the New Year’s show. All in all, however, I was thinkin that I was not gonna be interested in following the Dead too much longer; it just wasn’t fun anymore…

Winterland was packed–we were about in the middle of the floor as I recall… as things were gettin close to starting time these two guys are workin their way thru the crowd and crouch down right in front of us… they open a velour-lined briefcase — more like a large jewelery box — full of little white pills (mind you its hard to distinguish colors in that day-glo environment); One of ’em says: “Acid, courtesy of the Grateful Dead.” It was 8 months since my last trip, and over a year since I had wanted to quit–it was tempting, but, no, not tonight, I said to myself… Someone next to us took one, and my companion Kirk put one in his pocket — “Why turn down a free hit?” he said to me…

Bill Graham comes out and gets everyone to count down 10, 9 … 1, and the band breaks into “Around & ’round”… I was turned off from the start, as this song epitomized for me the metamorphisis of Bob Weir into a (pseudo-) rock star egotist (Johnny B Goode usually made me cringe as well)… “Deal” got me dancin–one of my favorite Jerry tunes & he was startin’ to rock & roll on that one… when Phil got up and sang “box of rain” the crowd lost it — he really sang it pretty nice — and Donna chimed in w/some fine harmonies to boot. “Jack Straw” really rocked — I always thought it was one of the best post-Keith numbers & so I was gettin’ off on this one. Then they blew me away, bringin’ out “Don’t Ease Me In.” I knew this from the ’70 acoustic sets–but this was rock & roll! At the end of the solo — which really rocked — Jer’ danced from way back by the speakers all the way to the mike just in time to sing “the girl i love! she’s sweet & true.” I just cracked up laughin’ — if Jerry’s havin’ a good time who am I to sulk over times gone by & paradise lost?!?

“Playin’ in the Band” started out as, well just another song — but the jam developed into a really cerebral thing (“So this is what happened to the Dark Star energy,” I was thinkin’ to myself) and then at an up-tempo place they dropped this silver ball from the ceiling — I forget what they called those glinty things! — and start it spinning ’round while they shine the spotlight on it: a new twist on the light show idea; people went wild. I thought it a little cheap, but I was diggin’ the music so just closed my eyes and grooved on it…

The second set built up with some nice renditions of “Mississippi Half-step”, “Big River”, and “Sugaree.” but — despite the nice Playin’ jam — I found myself pining for “the ol’ days” of psychedelic cosmos-pointing Dark Star highs & Lovelight rhythms (Pig Pen didn’t make this show & this too indicated to me that things just couldn’t ever be the same — no Pig means no Alligator, no Lovelights, no Hard to Handle, no Good Lovin’ — no blues, no rappin’.)

They come out w/”Truckin'”, and people are dancing again… they move on into a jam, get lost in space, and suddenly the boys are all around Billy-the-Drummer and they’re gettin’ down!! Lesh is on the bottom, Jerry’s sailin’ high above, Bobby’s fillin’ in the void betwixt & between and Keith is just everywhere — first they paint wild, abstract textures and then, the unexpected, unanticipated, thought-it-couldn’t-happen-again hard drivin’ jammin’, following Kreutzman’s beat they recreate something out of nothing — Void becomes Chaos, and then becomes Order: my friend Kirk — reacting at the same time as me, as the whole Winterland crowd — utters out “Oh, shiiiiit.” It’s pure, visceral, timeless, awe & wonder. Like Bill Graham says, “the Grateful Dead are not the best at what they do — they are the *only* ones who do what they do.” In two or three minutes of that Truckin’ jam, all my hypotheses are proven false: They *can* still maintain intensity through a jam; Keith *can* support the momentum without pulling it down in the space-quagmire, and, yes, the boys *can* get it on with just one drummer. I’d gotten *more* than my ($4.50, as i remember) money’s worth.

P.S. Morning Dew was icing on that cake… after that i was ready to go home — i could do without the Johnny B Goode encore, and Uncle John’s Band (one of my favorite songs) seemed trite, forced & formulaic. So be it — that image of Jer’, Bobby & Phil gathered tight in a semicircle around Billy K. and just smokin’ from Truckin’ all the way into “That’s it for the Other One” will forever be etched in my mind as one lasting image of the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead.

Grateful Dead Hour #1021

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

Week of April 14, 2008

Part 1 30:51
The Waybacks with Bob Weir 12/15/07 Warfield Theater, San Francisco
ST. STEPHEN
The Waybacks, Loaded
SAVANNAH
CONJUGAL VISIT
BLACK CAT
THE RIVER

Part 2 25:29
Grateful Dead 8/5/89 Cal Expo, Sacramento CA
ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT
COLD RAIN AND SNOW
WE CAN RUN
STAGGER LEE

The Weirbacks, as the combination has been dubbed, have performed several times, including Merlefest and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. The Waybacks and Bobby’s band, Ratdog, were both on the bill for a Rex Foundation benefit in San Francisco on 12/15/07, and the “St Stephen” you hear here is the happy result of their collaboration that night.

Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:

Grateful Dead Productions, announcing the release of Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, a 9-disc set containing every note recorded at the legendary San Francisco venue on November 9, 10, and 11, 1973. Mastered in HDCD from the original 2-track reels using a state-of-the-art restoration technique, Winterland 1973 captures the post-Pigpen Dead at a creative peak on their home turf. Audio samples, historical documents, message board, and details of a limited-edition bonus disc are available now at dead.net.

The 10,000 Lakes Festival, July 23 through 26 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 10KLF features Phil Lesh & Friends, Mickey Hart Band, Dark Star Orchestra, The Flaming Lips, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and over fifty additional acts. More information and tickets for the 10,000 Lakes Festival are available at 10klf.com

Woodstock Trading Company, a brick-and-mortar as well as an online store offering clothing, posters, incense, tye dyes, and gifts from the Grateful Dead and numerous other bands. The store is located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and online at woodstocktradeco.com.

Audio restoration on Winterland 1973

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

Here’s an interview with Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes, who did some important work on both the new Winterland 1973 boxed set and Live at the Cow Palace: New Year’s Eve 1976. It’s a little under 19 minutes long, and a little under 13 megabytes.

DG is available for House Concerts

Friday, April 11th, 2008

House Concerts In Your Home

In many cases, it’s a much more pleasant situation for both performer and audience. House concerts provide an intimate setting in which the music is the main event and beer sales aren’t the main determinant of success. A performer like me who doesn’t draw big crowds too often (“That’s months away,” as Martin Mull once said) has a hard time making a tour happen when the venues are clubs that need a hundred or more people to make their nut.

House concerts often include potluck dinners and other pleasant social interactions. Everybody wins!

For more information on how it’s done, click the image above or this link: concertsinyourhome.com. To talk with me about having me play a concert in your home, send email to david [at] trufun.com – or just post a message here!

For musical samples, visit the tunes page and/or David Gans on CDBaby.