Tag Archives: Dead50

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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

Garciainshades

The Days Between during Jerry Week have been full of incredibly mixed emotions that reside on completely opposite ends of the psychological spectrum for 20 years now. We all get out as much as we can and listen to other musicians honor the one that we collectively honor most. While there are many out there that have made a great life for themselves paying tribute to Garcia, and I enjoy hearing them, they all fall flat for me emotionally. Every single one of them… No exceptions… While plenty of people have learned to play the notes, Garcia was so much more than his notes. Many have had Luthiers craft equipment at great expense to duplicate his sound, yet his sound remains unduplicated. People have created guitars made of the same wood, same hardware, same shape, same everything… Ultimately the body that matters most doesn’t belong to the guitar but the individual that it’s strapped against. The sound that’s created really begins in the Soul of the one who plays it, somewhere well below, or above, the surface. A place that doesn’t succumb to the influence of the intellect but, when used properly, utilizes the intellect as a servant to the sound within them instead of the other way around. Nobody can practice that and it can’t be copied. Those that have learned to play like Garcia utilized the intellect attempting to learn or decipher what came from the Soul of Garcia. While entertaining, it will always be missing the most vital component of the entire process… The heart through which it originally came… Those of us that were fortunate enough to exist and experience Garcia experienced a gift that was given out only once in history. The gift that was Garcia has enabled generations of artists to feed their families by providing people with a small glimpse into what the experience was like. I appreciate their efforts…

Unfortunately, there’s too many things that just can’t be copied… You know who can walk into a room in sweat pants and some orthopedic shoes and be the baddest brother in the room? Only Garcia… You know who could completely alter the vibrational character and temperature of a place just by stepping into it and do so powerfully enough that you could sense it even if your back was turned? Only Garcia… You know who can sing a line about getting across a River with the depth of emotion and expression of someone that seems to know that everything that’s great and true in life is on the other side of that lazy river? You know who can pull that off with the sincerity of Mother Teresa talking about the poor? Only Garcia… You know who can wear a Members Only jacket to Disney World on a 95 degree day and still be the coolest cat in the whole damn park??? Only Garcia… You know who can get deep into a solo, hitting tons of notes and keep coming across a familiar one while passing through all of them again and again, like somebody looking through a bag of keys, until he finally pulls that familiar note out of the mix and grabs onto it like a Magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat as he takes the note that seemed to be hiding and blasts it on full display and glory for the world to hear? Only Garcia… You know who could stand totally unmoved while a hurricane of sound spun around him furiously and be completely uninfluenced or pressured by it in any way, like an anchor that holds a mighty ship in place during the most ferocious of storms? Only Garcia… You know who had an innately gifted internal metronome that kept a time that only he could keep, just a fragment behind conventional expectation, and could elaborately decorate with his strings a musical platform from which his impending lyric would be presented upon? Only Garcia… You know who could reach me, personally, with all of it causing intense introspection and development, breaking down walls that could no longer stand if I was to become who and what I was called to become in this life, opening doors for the gifts to come shining through and be expressed and doing it all without even trying? Only Garcia…

I understand the challenges in different ways of different art forms much the same way. I understand, through writing, that I hope to help many of US say what we would say if we only knew how to say it. Robert Hunter has done that for all of US for a long time… While I’m well aware that I’m not worthy of sharpening pencils for people like Robert Hunter or the late great, Hunter S. Thompson, I still have to give it my sincerest efforts. I usually don’t like anything I write while I’m writing it because the bar that’s set before us is much too high to think of getting close to, let alone over. Often times, the things I think of throwing out altogether end up being the most popular things. The things I like most usually fall flat… That being said, in The Days Between I share with you one of my favorite pieces(uh Oh), Looking For The Silver Lining…

Been looking for The Silver Lining but this one seems all gray
Nothing’s been the same since the night you went away
The Story Teller makes no choice, that’s what you always said
It’s funny that we all found Life amongst The Grateful Dead
The wrinkled eyes of Heaven know this day as if by heart
The tears through years of mourning that have torn our world apart
You’re the one that brought The Treasure and Grabbed Magic from the air
Everyone craved The Golden Eggs but The Goose that left them there
The blistered hands of time still turn the Crank that runs The Wheel
The cards all come back empty every time we get The Deal
Mercy wrote a letter, sent to Death by Standard Mail
The message came back, “Sorry but No Mercy is for Sale”
My face is callused from the salted water my Eyes have shed
I can’t get back to Tennessee and can’t find my friend Jed
I can’t believe twenty have passed since your Graduation Day
Still broken vans with broken plans like dogs that went astray
Another Summer passes by another Winter Near
And there remains the lullaby our ears still long to hear
Your tone preserved in ones and zeros, we turn another page
Where softly grows the silent fire that turns to full grown rage
Days are still found Dazing in The Days that Lie Between
And thoughts churn in our minds yet we can’t figure what they mean
To hear a few more notes from you would cure this inward drought
In the spaces in between each one We figured the whole thing out
My thoughts and days are like the style of playing you were usin’
Moments of intense clarity seem to arise from complete confusion
In my head, I see your frame, your chin pinned to your chest
Like you’re looking into your own heart and pulling out what’s best
I vividly hear the music build like champagne when you shake it
You took your time getting to the Mic we all wondered if you’d make it
But just as Springtime turns to Heat and Heat then turns to Cold
The only place we find Silver now is where there once was gold
With thoughts of you that never die and No replacement near
We celebrate the life you gave to all of US every year
Your Soulful Sound to China Cats to Mission in The Rain
We’ll cherish what you gave to US until we meet again…

Love y’all! See ya out there somewhere soon… I’m writing from a somewhat broken place today… I imagine that might show…

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)