Category Archives: News

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Following a wet and treacherous beginning, the cast and crew, lead by Peter Shapiro, pulled of an enormous task by reconstructing the damage left behind following some super cells of storms that passed through Arrington and put a beating on the property much like the thousands of folks in Virginia are putting on their rented RVs. Unfortunately, after making a Rainbow in California and stopping all wind in Chicago for 4 days, Shapiro ran out of money and was blackmailed by Mother Nature. When he failed to come up with the rumored 7 figure ransom, Mother Nature busted out a wooden spoon and took it to the ass of Arrington like a child that stole something. Father Time wasn’t on our side either and watched from a rocking chair as the whooping took place.

After being forced to postpone entry into the grounds and cancel Thursday’s performances, every demon in Hell laughed as the leader and descendant from the Tribe of The Chosen People appeared to be tied up like a groupie in Steven Tyler’s hotel room. One thing’s for sure, adversity and resistance are the things that either cause people to crumble or become much more than they could’ve been prior. The staff here at Lockn’ were given that choice and proved they could accomplish much more than they were previously aware. With all the cards and forces of nature that were stacked against them, the crews worked around the clock to make it possible for a safe albeit sluggish entry Friday morning.

After transferring funds from various accounts, Shapiro came up with a respectable ransom and Mother Nature accepted the offer providing abundant sunshine and ideal conditions for the start of the postponed event. As the sun baked the moisture out of the ground, the lines moving into Lockn’ moved like old folks screw… Slowly, if at all. Congratulations to the fans and crew are in order as both did everything possible to maintain an atmosphere of Love and understanding as the procession moved along. From my vantage point, cool heads and warm hearts made the best of the challenges we were faced with.

For those that aren’t familiar with Lockn’, this is my first, the staging is absolutely incredible. There’s two enormous and complete stages on the main field, right next to each other, that allow the music to basically run continuously throughout the entire day. The timing was remarkable as bands would play their last note and the following band’s first notes would begin only moments later. This continued throughout the entire day, without a single noticeable technical glitch for 12 hours straight. Anybody that knows how many people and moving parts, as well as all of the artists that have to be on the same page for that to take place realizes the magnitude of that accomplishment alone. From the opening notes of John Popper’s National Anthem followed by The Doobie Incident all the way to the closing notes of Mad Dogs and Englishmen, nearly 12 hours later, the music truly NEVER stopped.

I don’t have time to review everybody at the moment but the sets were all inspired and full of the energy and vibe we all live for. The staff and people in charge of operations worked overtime trying to insure the comfort and satisfaction of everyone in attendance. With all the challenges that were faced, I’d like to personally thank Chris Kovach and Brad Tucker who did a lot to help me personally with the various challenges associated with getting in and settled. I appreciate it guys, Thank You!

If you’ve never been, I can tell you that Lockn’ is like Disney World for Music Lovers. If you have been before or are here now, you already know. There are things happening constantly and nearly 24 hours a day. While there may have been some there, I personally didn’t see a single police officer or a single fan hassled. If there’s a place for fans of all ages to gather peacefully and enjoy almost more music than they can handle, Lockn’ is certainly that place. Once I crawl out of the psychedelic soup here in Virginia, I’ll write a more detailed and complete review. For now, it’s off to a day of nonstop jams with our musical family and friends. See y’all out there!

I understand there’s some extremely special surprises coming tonight! Maybe Mickey joining Billy and The Kids and who knows what else…
Get your popcorn ready! It’s about to get turned up to 11 again!!!

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)

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Just a little over a month since his declaration to Terrapin Nation to “Be Kind”, Mickey was quoted in an interview with Billboard, when asked about guitarists, as saying “having Jerry clones in there? I’d rather drink 5 gallons of Clorox.” You can find that interview here. Apparently our favorite Vulcan gave an enormous wedgie to many who read the article. The breakout of Butthurt was rampant on Mickey’s FB Page as fans of cloning were totally outraged. Those who thought the behavior was unkind returned the favor by saying shitty things back to Mickey all in the name of Kindness. Apparently, when you don’t think something someone said was Kind, The appropriate thing for a self proclaimed kind person to do is respond with statements that are much more unkind than the initial unkind statement. Where the hell does that leave us?

As an individual with an edgy sense of humor, I thought Mickey’s comments were funny. I imagined the manner in which he presented that statement and the content in his heart when he said it. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Was he looking to throw a dart at any one individual or an entire handful of darts at all of the guys that spend their lives playing Jerry’s stuff? Maybe… Maybe the statement just flew out his mouth while he was being asked about guitarists and the joke fell a little flat with some of you. Here’s what I find interesting about it. Many of the same people that have done nothing but talk vitriolic shit about the musicians that have been chosen to play were the first to jump on the bandwagon bashing Mickey. If you’re really as kind as YOU claim to be, why wouldn’t you just find it within yourself to immediately forgive him for the statement that you found to be offensive and move on? People that proclaimed to be kind themselves ranted on his page about his comments to “be Kind” in Chicago and proceeded to be as nasty as they possibly could during the same sentence. Mickey played with Garcia for decades, he’s not interested in playing with the guys that attempt to play that role and I don’t blame him. Maybe we’re all just fucked up human beings that have found The Dead Community and it’s Music make us much better people when we’re surrounded by it and sometimes just as vulnerable and volatile when we’re away from it. The kind thing to do when encountered by something as docile as a joke that you don’t find funny is to brush it off and instantaneously visualize unicorns hopping happily through a field of healthy and vibrant landscape, completely encapsulated in a warm and loving white light that brings forth abundant healing to your own heart and all of the magical spaces in between the cells that make up your body! That’s what I did anyway…

I got a message from a brother that felt a little slighted by the comment and he approached me in a really kind and humble way. His name is Michael Morrow and he’s the singer and guitarist for Pure Jerry. They’re a band out of Philly that plays mostly JGB stuff. He told me he considered himself more of a disciple than a clone and thought the statement was a little hurtful from his perspective. When he wrote me, I couldn’t help but go to YouTube and check out his band. I personally never heard them before. I have to say, I was incredibly surprised by what I found. The brother has incredible chops that truly honor the songs and his voice was his own. It wasn’t a poor attempt at sounding like the master but a soulful sound that was completely and totally his. So much so that I’m not sure I’d consider him a Jerry Clone. I like him as much or better than anybody that’s out there doing what he does at the moment. While he might not be the most popular of the bunch, he’s definitely among the best of ’em. If you don’t know Michael or his band, you should check him out. He’s a great human and an outstanding artist. He helped me see things from the perspective of someone that sits in that position. His love for the Band, the Man and The Music run deep. Thanks for getting in touch with me Michael!

In the end, I don’t think Mickey was attempting to be malicious. I think he was attempting to be funny. I took it that way but apparently a lot of others didn’t. Mickey said “Be Kind” and good advice is good advice regardless of where it comes from. While we’re busy being Kind, I hope we can loosen up and not always look for reasons to be offended. Kind People don’t deal unkindly with unkind people… Or do they? My friends are some of the most beautiful Souls on the planet. They don’t hand out daisies at airports or wear long robes. They don’t talk to me with their hands in prayer like positions in hushed and gentle tones. They’re a bunch of comedians. They jokingly talk shit about my mama, make fun of damn near everything on the planet and have absolutely no sense of what political correctness means. At the same time, they have charitable hearts, Love deeply and they’re helpful in any and all situations. They would drop whatever they were doing if their assistance was required and they are compassionate as people can be. Kindness is more about what exists internally than every statement that comes out of someone’s mouth. In the meantime, Let’s all hope that Mickey can just get rid of the fuckin oven mitts and quit playin with the damn spatulas and Barbecue brushes and get himself a drum set again. Mama Mia, if I have to see him beating endlessly on shit that nobody hears again I’m gonna throw a fit. Can somebody make sure the Spock looking Motherfucker gets a cymbal or two and a pair of damn drumsticks this time around? Mickey, don’t bother telling us to be kind and we won’t bother letting you know when you’re not. While I’m at it, why don’t all of you damn blog reading fuckers go jump in a lake full of piranhas!!!

See… All that… I was just kiddin’… Love y’all Long Time!

dean (Total Nobody)