Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
DG live at Holleb Acres 7/2/15
Grateful Dead Hour no. 1397
Week of June 29, 2015
Part 1 25:47
Robert Hunter, Sentinel
AN AMERICAN ADVENTURE
Part 2 29:46
Grateful Dead, Live Dead
DARK STAR (Studio version)
Grateful Dead, Live Dead
DARK STAR
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Jerry Garcia Family and Round Records, announcing On Broadway: Act One, the first installment in a new archival series celebrating the Jerry’s magical 13-night run on Broadway. On Broadway: Act One – October 28th, 1987 presents three previously unreleased complete sets – matinee and evening acoustic sets from the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band plus the evening electric set from the Jerry Garcia Band. On Broadway: Act One is currently available on jerrygarcia.com.
The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady perform blues-rock as Electric Hot Tuna on July 18 with legendary country-rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage. On Saturday, July 25, music lovers can enjoy colorful classic rock with Deep Purple. Events, information, and ticketing at thecapitoltheatre.com
Gans gig update + new song, new book!
HAPPY SUMMER, everybody!!
I am about to leave for a tour that will make me to Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. All that and more below, but I have two other items to address first.
NEW SONG: The world lost an amazing human being when Earl Crabb passed away a few weeks ago. There was a tribute at the Freight and Salvage on May 31 that I had to miss because of a previously-scheduled vacation. Earl was very much on my mind on the morning of June 1; I was snorkeling when this song started coming, so I gout of the water and went to work. And when I got home, I went to Megasonic in Piedmont and recorded “Be Like Earl.” I hope you like it! (listen here)
NEW BOOK: Blair Jackson and I have finished our book and now we’re gearing up for the big publicity push when it’s published on November 10. It’s called This Is All a Dream We Dreamed An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, and it’s being published by Flatiron Books. You can see the cover and read three great blurbs here, and/or you can go direct to the Amazon pre-order link.
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Here is the current schedule. More info here; more gigs will be posted there as they are confirmed.
Friday and Saturday, June 26-27: Terrapin Hill Family Reunion, Harrodsburg KY
Saturday, June 27: Cincy Folk Festival, Newport KY. Benefit for WNKU (Grateful Dead Hour affiliate)
Sunday, June 28, 6pm: The Vault @ 1001 Food & Drink, 1001 Broad Ripple Ave., Indianapolis. All Good Things (members of Hyryder), DG, and Howard. Free show! Followed by a viewing of the Fare Thee Well show!
Tuesday, June 30, 6:30pm: Bunker Mill Bridge, 1298 Poplar Blvd, Kalona IA. Benefit for bridge restoration and preservation. $10 suggested donation. More info: https://bridgehunter.com/ia/washington/337570/
Wednesday, July 1, 8pm: George’s Tavern, 1201 N. Main Street, Racine WI. $5 advance, $7 at the door.
Thursday, July 2: Private event
Friday, July 3, noon-1pm: Stage 37, 108 N State St, Chicago
Friday, July 3, 11:30pm: Grateful Ball (Dead50 after party) at the Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 S Michigan Ave, Chicago IL. DG, Old Shoe, Way Down Wanderers
Saturday, July 4, 2pm: “Putting the Band Back Together – Dead Style” with Uncle John’s Band at the Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. DG will play between sets and sit in with UJB
Thursday, July 30: The Sticky Greens w/ DG at Strange Brew Pub, Norwich CT
August 1-3: Gathering of the Vibes, Bridgeport CT
August 6-10: A Bear’s Picnic, Roaring Branch PA
Saturday, October 10, 8:00pm: The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, MO (St Louis)
October 16-18: Phases of the Moon Festival, Ozark AR
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My performance schedule is posted at https://www.dgans.com/gigs.html – new gigs are being added all the time.
As always, I’m in the market for house concert opportunities. If you see an open spot on my schedule in your general vicinity, let’s try to make something happen! Read about house concerts here.
And remember: word of mouth is a gigantic part of musicians’ promotion and publicity these days, so if you like my music, please spread the word about my gigs and recordings.
My recordings are available here.
Great thanks to Jim Dunlop for providing me with first-rate strings for all my guitars!
Thanks also to Rick Turner for creating the amazing guitar I play on tour, the Renaissance RS-6.
“Be Like Earl”: new studio recording
NOTE: I updated and re-recorded the song in July. Please check out the new post HERE.
I wrote this song in Hawaii the first few days of June, after missing the memorial gathering for Earl Crabb at the Freight and Salvage. I went into Megasonic Studios as soon as I got home to make a recording. You can hear it here.
Be Like Earl
by David Gans
June 1-3, 2015
Recorded by Jeremy Goody at Megasonic, Piedmont CA
With thanks to Ziggy’s Coffee Pot
Earl Crabb was a brilliant man
A gentle man, and generous
His Rolodex was heavy
And his attic was voluminous
He had a million tales to tell
And every one was true
I’m a better man for knowing him
And a better friend to you
Let’s ignore the dominant paradigm
And practice random kindness all the time
Treat our customers like neighbors
Not the other way around
A little more “Share this planet”
And a little less “Stand your ground.”
This world will be a better place
For every boy and girl
If we all do our best to be like Earl
Earl Crabb was an easy man
A laughing man, and sociable
To stand before his camera
Was to be well viewed and notable
He had a million friends, you know
And every one was real
A friend of Earl’s is a friend of mine
And that’s an honest deal
Let’s ignore the dominant paradigm
And practice random kindness all the time
Treat our customers like neighbors
Not the other way around
A little more “Share this planet”
And a little less “Stand your ground.”
This world will be a better place
For every boy and girl
If we all do our best to be like Earl
Earl Crabb was a software man
When very few were doin’ it
He made the world a better place
Enhancing and improvin’ it
Call him esoft, call him Earl,
He was The Great Humbead
No one here was ready
On the day he took his leave
Earl Crabb was a helpful man,
Resourceful and encouraging
He helped me to improve my life
With optimistic urging
I know I’m not the only one
Who benefited thus
So I’m making it my mission
To pass on his gifts to us
Let’s ignore the dominant paradigm
And practice random kindness all the time
Treat our customers like neighbors
Not the other way around
A little more “Share this planet”
And a little less “Stand your ground.”
This world will be a better place
For every boy and girl
If we all do our best to be like Earl
I will do my very best to be as kind as Earl
©2015 Whispering Hallelujah (BMI)
This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead
Reminder that amazon is taking pre-orders for This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans. Publication date is November 10, 2015.
“Jerry, Kesey, Bobby, Billy, Bear — this amazing book speaks to me out loud, inside my head, in all the voices of the Grateful Dead! It’s an audio illumination of family, fans, and friends and the long, strange trip. It leaps straight out of the tree-flesh to dance in our dreams.” — Wavy Gravy
Despite its title, what makes this book different from all other books on the Grateful Dead is that it is anything but dreamlike. It is down-to-earth, plain-spoken, without special pleading or arguments for differing levels of awareness. You didn’t have to be there. On many pages, this could be the story of any band – the story as it emerges here carries no pretentions – and elsewhere it is the story of people doing their work. And it is so full of the intensity and repetitions of ordinary life that it throws the work that was done into a new light. – Greil Marcus
The Grateful Dead, when they were making music together, may have sometimes seemed “more than human,” but they were always to first to admit that they were less than perfect. Here they are, in all their cockeyed glory. Gans and Jackson have orchestrated a shrewd, essential account of the band members’ lives and times, a tale as polyphonic as the electronic Dixieland they unperfected through the years, to our (and their) enduring delight and awe. – Nick Paumgarten