Monthly Archives: August 2015

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The Amex presale was fun! Somebody, somewhere got something. It wasn’t me. We’re off again on the incredible journey that has been the resurrection of All Things Dead! The strategies employed by those in charge of strategies are always brilliant. First create and build a frenzy, then release some food a little at a time. In the case of Dead & Co, what better place to unleash the marketing machine than NYC? One show announced in the most visible city in the world to kick off the hysteria of this new adventure. We’re all sucked back into the vortex we escaped from 20 years ago.

I had some interesting conversations that came from unlikely sources located in unlikely places over the weekend. “Once in a while…” You know how it goes. I was told that Dead & Co have scheduled 21 shows across the country that wouldn’t be announced until after the on sales for MSG shows are completed. Maybe get ready for Hampton once again! Don’t hate on anybody for their strategies, just learn how to read them and don’t get too sucked into the madness that ensues. I was even told that Trey would be part of the Company for some of it. Not too hard to believe since his schedule is pretty open this Fall and he spent 6 months learning a ton of material recently. Trey obviously won’t be at Halloween since he’s playing at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas but we might see him again real soon. Phish is KILLIN IT on their Summer Tour! Trey is obviously having the Summer of his life. Only time will tell if the info is legit.

The interviews released regarding the upcoming shows have been great and it’s hard not to get excited about the renewal of the bonds between our favorite musicians minus Phil. I don’t blame our favorite bassist for having no desire to live on the road at this time in his life. He’s got his own thing happening and that’s just fine by me. While you’re coming to NYC anyway, you can catch Phil and Friends at the Cap on the 30th or the 1st of November. While some shows are sold out, I’ve never had a big problem securing tix and with the announcement of Dead & Co I’d imagine tickets will loosen up a bunch. He’s there the following weekend as well and the Cap is a great place to visit if you’ve never been.

Billboard’s interviews with the guys that make up Dead & Company were great. It’s great to think of how little things in life make such a huge difference. John Mayer is swimming in his pool and catches Garcia’s lick on Althea. That’s all it took… One lick from the Master was powerful enough to cause the brother to get out of the pool and investigate what he was hearing. Not only investigate, but go full blown obsession. A hundred other things could’ve distracted him from that moment but nothing did. That’s the kind of shit that may have passed right by someone else that simply wasn’t called by the universe for the duty. He heard the call and answered it in a BIG way. We can all learn from that. It made me wonder how many times in life I may have received a similar call and did nothing about it. It’s probably happened for you as well. Not that our calls involved being part of The Dead but the calls that are made throughout our lives in an attempt to guide our actions if we only could get quiet enough internally and listen then have the presence of mind to act accordingly. Interesting thought… Some folks seemed upset by Mayer because he’s said some dumbass things through the media in the past. I have a question. At this point in our lives, who hasn’t said some dumbass things? Some of y’all do that every damn day on Facebook or Twitter. We all know how guilty I am… Regardless, JM answered questions in his interview with statements that came from a much deeper place. Be sure to read that if you haven’t already.

Mickey’s comments amused me the most by far. While legions of fans call for Garcia clones to step into the role of guitarist, Mickey said he’d rather drink 5 gallons of Clorox than play with them. That was some funny shit! Our favorite musicians are well acquainted with selecting talent and judging the type of characters they’ll choose to associate with. They’ve been through enough the past 50 years to make wise choices in the present as well as the future. We should all know that by now. I absolutely trust the judgement of this community’s leadership at this point. Weir’s comments about it being a little late but they’ll “try to put something together” were just as funny. What a Poker face! This stuff has been booked for a long time. I couldn’t be more excited to have a home town show with all of our favorite Music Makers throughout the NYC area this Fall as well as revisiting many of our old stomping grounds!

Don’t sweat the tickets my friends! They’ll be plenty out there and even more once the complete Tour is announced. Next stop will be Jazz Is Dead in NJ followed by Lockn that’s only a month away! This will probably be the greatest Lockn in history and will most likely be talked about for decades. I know I’m making the trip, Hope to see ya there!!! < That's for you Michael Dead To The Core, Dean

FILE--Grateful Dead's singer Jerry Garcia is shown performing in this June 30, 1995, file photo in Pittsburgh. A lawsuit over five of Garcia's prized guitars, bequeathed to Doug Irwin who built the instruments for Garcia, will be allowed to proceed, a Marin County Superior Court judge said in a tentative ruling Wednesday, June 20, 2001 in San Rafael, Calif. (AP Photo/The Register-Herald, Chris Hancock, file)

Dear Jerry,

I feel like an asshole writing you this letter, especially since Robert Hunter wrote you one 19 years ago and he was your partner in creating the entire soundscape of our past, present and future lives. Nobody comes close to Mr. Hunter when it comes to writing and besides that, the two of you were really tight. Me, I’m just another nobody out there that was having my life transformed by a movement that didn’t know I existed. I guess you knew we existed… Shit, we followed you everywhere. When you played, you looked at us like we mattered and an instant like that with you lasts a lifetime for people like us…

Time goes pretty fast down here on earth except for when it goes kinda slow. My kids seem to grow up pretty fast except it only feels that way when we’re blowing out candles. Every birthday makes ya think, “Time sure flies.” Strange how the days and weeks that make up those years seem to go really slow most of the time. I’ve felt that way when I reflect on your life. The days we had with you felt like they would last forever until we abruptly realized they wouldn’t. We all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news… It’s impossible to forget… I know my Dad passed away in April but I still have a hard time with the date… August 9th I could never forget… I imagine if folks are allowed to have human emotions like being pissed off up there, My dad is still probably a little pissed off about that. Hope you two have had a chance to play together by now, he’s an amazing Sax Player. Grandpa was a professional piano player but, Lord knows you don’t have any shortage of them up there… I’ve often thought of what God’s singing voice might be like. I’m sure it’s fantastic but I still bet you can carry a tune much better. It takes surviving some sin to sing a song like you can sing em.

When I think of the things I’d like to say, it’s such a mixture of Thank You and I’m sorry. I don’t know which to start with and I’m sure the Thank You list is most of the same shit you heard a million times during your life. You always seemed to be the type to take a compliment as awkwardly as possible. I think we all like hearing nice things about ourselves but I also understand how awkward admiration can feel for some. It would feel strange to endlessly thank you for what came as natural to you as walking down the street does for me. I could only imagine taking a walk around the neighborhood and having all the folks that live around me come outside and say shit like, “Awesome Walking Dean!!!” or “Your walking changed my life!!!”, “I’ve been watching you walk since 78!”. I’m sure I’d attempt to be as cordial as possible but I’d feel a little strange about it all.

When I think of all the ways I could apologize, I imagine I was as tiny of a part of my apologies as any… I’m sorry that we never wanted to give you a fuckin break… I’m sorry that the sound of your song became as much of a drug to me as any of the drugs I had to kick in the past. I’m sorry that we made it really hard for you to have any peace or anonymity. I guess that comes with the gift though. I’ve said before that size of the bucket that holds your gifts usually comes with a bucket of the same size that holds your burdens. If not burdens, certainly temptations. It seems like the individual that holds those buckets in life is typically more acquainted with the burdens than they are the gifts and when they look at themselves, would be much quicker to dismiss the size of the gifts based on intimately knowing their own trials and tribulations. You came across that way and I think it caused everyone to love you more. There’s something charming about an individual that possesses such a unique gift that presents themselves as if it’s not that big of a deal at all. More shit you’ve probably heard a million times before…

There’s a bunch of guys down here that try to do what you did all those years. Most folks like them much better than I do. I’ve yet to hear anything close. They play your stuff and try to act the part but Mickey said he’d rather drink 5 gallons of Clorox than play with them and I tend to agree with him. My 3 year old sometimes acts like he’s Spiderman and while he’s really adorable and committed to the role, he’s not even close to being Spiderman. That reminds me of most of the guys that think they can play your role. Folks talk about taking the music further but I’m not sure how that’s possible when there hasn’t been a single tune that’s been played without you that has sounded better or gone further than a single one with you. I think it’s more appropriate to have a desire to be sure the songs live forever and I admire the musicians that are doing that but I’ve yet to hear a song be taken “further”. The music is being carried on to the next generation and that’s important.

We had some crazy parties down here for the 50th! It’s funny that I tell you that like you don’t know. Your daughters are beautiful and they have that same spark within them that you had. They don’t require anything flashy to stand out. There’s the same kind of vibration about them as you had. I can’t help but look at Trixie’s face and see the picture in my mind of her sitting on your lap at New Years when she was close to my daughter’s age. Carolyn was a wise choice as Matriarch. She’s strong and wise and obviously did a fantastic job raising and guiding them. She sent me a message once and told me I sounded like I was drinking Fool Aid. While she wasn’t paying me a compliment, I couldn’t help but to laugh at her choice of words. It reminded me of the night I met you in the bar at The Desmond in Albany and you refused my request for an autograph. At least when you did it, you looked me straight in the eyes and were as nice as someone could be when saying “No”. You didn’t ignore me or pretend like I wasn’t there. It meant nothing to you but everything to me… It means more to be denied by a Garcia for trying than to be accepted by a thousand others for nothing. You gave me a minute of your time and that was worth more than signing something that I probably would’ve lost.

I couldn’t help but to wonder what your face would’ve been like while Phil was singing Eyes. I imagined it may have been similar to mine when my son is being Spiderman. We all had a great time and the feeling of the best years of our lives came back to us so strongly that most of us have had trouble going back to the lives we created in the 20 years since you split. You were honored for sure and I know you enjoyed the experience. As much as folks talked about you being there in Spirit, we all wished you were there in molecules and matter instead. Looking at a stage without you on it is like looking at your hand. It’s so obvious to see that something is missing. Crazy how that accident ended up creating an image that would always be a symbol of your legacy.

We miss you every bit as much now as we did 20 years ago. That doesn’t happen for many folks. When folks pass, one of the things that brings me comfort is thinking they’re listening to you play again. Free from all the bullshit. Free from fanfare and everything else. Free from expectation. Free from folks endlessly calling your name… Free from everything… I’m glad you’re free… I hope one day I get to talk with you like 2 people that love music. I’ll be free from all the fanfare and everything else… I’ll be from all the bullshit and intimidation… I’ll be listening to you play once again… I’ll be glad I’m free… I hope that place exists and we’re both part of it…

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)