Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
Splendid event in NW NJ August 12
Grateful Dead Hour #983
Week of July 23, 2007
Part 1 34:23
Grateful Dead 4/15/89 The Mecca, Milwaukee WI
SPACE->
I WILL TAKE YOU HOME->
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER->
MORNING DEW
Part 2 21:32
Grateful Dead 4/15/89 The Mecca, Milwaukee WI
ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT
Excerpt from Playboy After Dark Collection Two
Interview: Hugh M. Hefner and Jerry Garcia
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON
Bob Bralove, Stories in Black and White
COWBOY SUNSET
Donna Jean and the Tricksters, First Songs
ALL I GOTTA SAY
I’ve been on the summer festival circuit with Donna Jean and the Tricksters for the last several weeks, and I have to say I’m delighted with the music this band is making. Seven songwriters, seven lead singers, five first-rate instrumentalists – what’s not to love? First Songs is a sampler the band is giving out at shows and sending to radio and press; there are two studio tracks, including the one you hear in this week’s show, and a live recording from a recent show.
Bob Bralove came to work for the Dead in 1987, I think, bringing MIDI and computer-music skills to the band as they began to embrace new technologies that enabled them to play sampled and entirely artificial sounds with their instruments. When you hear Jerry playing a flute, a trumpet, a bassoon-like sound, or what Vince Welnick once described as “hitting a parking meter with a hammer,” that’s Bralove in the background making it happen for the guys on stage. Read his bio for more background on this fine musician. Bob is a formidable keyboardist in his own right – listen to the recordings he made with Tom Constanten as Dose Hermanos and you’ll see what I mean. Stories in Black and White is a new collection of solo piano improvisations, recorded in his living room with very small audiences listening in. After some of the decidedly weird music I’ve heard Bob play – including onstage with Phil Lesh and myself at some Broken Angels shows in late 1997 – I’m happy to hear the sweet, melodic, accessible music on this CD.
Notes on the Grateful Dead’s January 1969 appearance on Playboy After Dark here and here.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Festival August 2-5 in Northern Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan, with Dark Star Orchestra, Particle, Yonder Mountain, Keller Williams, David Grisman Quintet, Railroad Earth, Peter Rowan, and dozens more.
The Gathering of the Vibes August 9-12, with Bob Weir and Ratdog, Mickey Hart Band, Donna Jean & The Tricksters, Zero, Keller & The Keels, Dark Star Orchestra, Railroad Earth, Los Lobos, David Gans, and dozens of additional acts.
The Paradise Jam Music Festival August 17-19 near Pensacola, Florida, featuring Keller Williams, Galactic, Zero, The Radiators, Junior Marvin and The Allstar Reggae Band, JJ Grey & MOFRO, Dread Clampitt, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Lee Boys, and more, on alternating stages. Tickets include three days of on-site camping with VIP packages also available.
GDH 794 podcast now available on DeadNet
DeadNet today unveils a podcast of GD Hour #794, originally broadcast the week of 12/8/2003. We’re putting up a new download of an old GD Hour every Wednesday.
Download it, enjoy it, and comment on it right there on the download page.
Enjoy!
An optionated guide to southwest travel
A friend of mine mtioned that he’s coming out to Colorado to see the final (?) String Cheese Incident shows and said his party would then be taking a tour of the glorious southwest. I volunteered some specifics:
Take I-70 west from Denver, cross into Utah, take a left on US 191 and drive toward Moab. Near there you will find Arches, Monument Valley, and Canyonlands.
US 191 will take you past Church Rock:
Take a right on state route 95 and visit Natural Bridges:
Continue on 95, passing through Glen Canyon park, and take a left in Hanksville on state route 24 toward Capitol Reef. Just before the park, take a left on Notom Road; you’ll drive along the eastern edge of Capitol Reef National Park, with amazing sights all around you. Turn right on the Burr Trail, and pass through some astonishing earth forms. As you enter Long Canyon, you’ll look back and see this:
As you pass through Long Canyon, stop at any of the slot canyons you’ll see on your right, walk in a hundred yards or so, and enjoy the acoustics. The Gyuto Monks did!
Eventually you’ll arrive in Boulder, Utah, the last town in the US to get its mail by gasoline-powered vehicle. Take a left on state route 12 and be prepared for a great ride across the “Hog’s Back,” a frighteningly narrow stretch of road with steep drops on both sides. Shortly you will arrive at Calf Creek, a small BLM campground. There’s a half-day hike to Lower Calf Creek falls that I recommend highly:
Continue southwest on highway 12 through the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument to Bryce Canyon. Left on US 89 and then you can either take a right on SR 9 to Zion or continue on US 89 to the Grand Canyon – or do both!
Grand Canyon:
Also worth a visit: Mystic Hot Springs, near where I-70 ends at I-15, a little south of Richfield UT.
If you get to Flagstaff, the Orpheum Theater has great music.
The Waybacks w/ DG August 26 at Mt Shasta
Sunday, August 26, 3:30 pm: The Waybacks with special guest David Gans, Mt. Shasta Music Festival Summer Concert Series – Mt. Shasta Resort, 1000 Siskiyou Lake Blvd., Mt. Shasta, CA. All ages. $15 advance. $20 day of concert. $10 ages 5-17. Age 4 & under free with adult ticket. $50 VIP 4 concert season pass includes complimentary festival T-shirt. Positive Productions