Gans gig update

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Happy Holy Daze, friends and fans and family!

The first bit of big news is that Blair Jackson and I met our deadline! Our manuscript, This Is All A Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, was turned in on time and we are now in the process of editing. It will be published next fall. More details when we know ’em!

This means I am now able to get back to music.

2014 has been an eventful and musically satisfying year, despite my having scaled back on the gigs for the last few months while I worked on the book.

A free-form jamming ensemble sprang up after a couple of holiday-party jams and acquired a name as well as considerable creative momentum. The Known Unknown is Phil Savell and me on guitar; Zach Partain on bass; and Neil Hampton on percussion. We played with a great variety of guests over the course of the year, and we’re on track to play more gigs in 2015.

Sweet Blossom is a new ensemble whose motto is “Grateful Dead Done Differently”: Jacob Groopman on mandolin on vocals; Jeff Hobbs on fiddle and sax and vocals; Roger Sideman on bass and vocals; Neil Hampton on drums; and me on guitar an vocals. We’re playing December 27 in San Francisco (with Russell Ives covering for Jacob, who will be out of town), January 7 at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, and January 10 at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley.

My long-time friendship and musical collaboration with Eric Rawlins, which mostly manifests at private events and performances for shut-ins organized by Bread and Roses, breaks out into public view twice in the next few weeks: This Saturday at a house concert in El Cerrito, and Thursday 1/8 at Duende in Oakland. Eric and I have released two duo recordings: Home By Morning (1997) and Desert Wind, Rollin’ River, (2011). The latter was recorded in my living room by Stephen Barncard, who is best known for recording the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty and David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name. Both CDs are available from dgans.com.discography (and we’ll have ‘em for sale at the gigs, of course).

My collaboration with Cincinnati’s Rumpke Mountain Boys continues. I’ll be with them in Newport KY on New Year’s Eve, and we’re planning more collaborations for 2015.

And of course, I continue to perform my “solo electric” show all over the place: festivals, clubs, farmers’ markets, and house concerts. I’ve got a southwest tour scheduled for February 5-15, and lots more in the works for later in the year.

As just in case you thought I wasn’t going in enough directions all at once, I’m doing other pure-improvisation gig here and there with other partners. TOMORROW NIGHT, December 18, I’ll be at the Monkey House in Berkeley with J Raoul Brody on keyboards, Robin Sylvester on bass, and Neil Hampton on percussion. No plans: we’re just gonna start playing and see what happens.

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Here is the current schedule. More info at dgans.com/gigs.html, and more gigs will be posted there as they are confirmed.

  • Saturday, December 20, 2pm: house concert in El Cerrito CA. Solo and with special guest Eric Rawlins (performing songs from our album Desert Wind, Rollin’ River). $10-20 sliding scale. Email for info/reservations.
  • Saturday, December 27: Sweet Blossom (DG, Russell Ives, Jeff Hobbs, Roger Sideman, Neil Hampton) opens for Lonesome Locomotive at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall, San Francisco
  • Tuesday, December 30: Stanley’s Pub, Cincinnati w/ members of Rumpke Mountain Boys
  • Wednesday, December 31, 7pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys’ Grateful NYE Ball featuring David Gans, Born Cross Eyed, and Restless Leg String Band. Thompson House, Newport KY. Link to Facebook event
  • Friday, January 2: Plain Folk Cafe, 10177 State Route 132, Pleasant Plain, OH. Free show!
  • Wednesday, January 7, 8pm: Sweet Blossom at Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley CA. Free show!
  • Thursday, January 8, 9pm: Duende, Oakland CA. Solo and with special guest Eric Rawlins (performing songs from our album Desert Wind, Rollin’ River). Advance tickets are available here.
  • Saturday, January 10: Sweet Blossom (DG, Jacob Groopman, Jeff Hobbs, Roger Sideman, Neil Hampton) with Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman at the Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. All-ages show!
  • Friday, January 16: The Known Unknown at Second Act, San Francisco
  • Saturday, January 17: The Known Unknown at the Art House Gallery, Berkeley CA
  • Thursday, February 5: House concert in Van Nuys CA. Potluck at 7, music at 8. $10-20 sliding scale. Email for info/reservations
  • Friday, February 6: House concert in Tempe AZ. Potluck at 6, music at 7. $10-20 sliding scale.Email for info/reservation
  • Saturday, February 7: House concert in Cornville AZ. Potluck at 6, music at 7. $10-20 sliding scale. Email for info/reservation
  • Sunday, February 8, 8pm: DG and Top Dead Center at the Boondocks, 3306 N 1st Ave, Tucson AZ. $8 at the door.
  • Saturday, February 14: House concert i Albuquerque NM. Potluck at 6, music at 7. $10-20 sliding scale. Email for info/reservations
  • Sunday, February 15: Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff AZ. Free show! Doors at 6, music at 7.

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