Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
“Shove in the Right Direction” 8/13/06
Grateful Dead Hour #934
Week of August 14, 2006
Part 1 25:55
Grateful Dead 9/18/90 Madison Square Garden, New York City
ROW JIMMY
DESOLATION ROW
Part 2 30:25
Grateful Dead 9/18/90 Madison Square Garden, New York City
TO LAY ME DOWN
PROMISED LAND
Grateful Dead 5/25/92 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View CA
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
Excerpt from Everything Was Right: The Beatles’ Revolver
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
Everything Was Right: The Beatles’ Revolver is a two-hour documentary produced by Paul Ingles, with commentary by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, musician Shawn Colvin, music writer Jim DeRogatis, and many others, including yours truly. It’s airing on various public radio stations around the country, and will be available on Ingles’ web site in December. My thanks to Paul for inviting me to participate in this excellent program, and to Paul and PRI for permission to broadcast this segment.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Fool’s Paradise Festival – September 8 and 9 at Camp Minglewood in Central Southern New York, featuring Les Claypool, Particle, Jazz Mandolin Project, Herring Rodgers and Sipe, The Machine, and many more.It’s an all-inclusive outdoor festival including RV, tent camping and meals, as well as a limited number of VIP packages.
MagnoliaFest, a festival of American roots music October 19th through 22nd at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, just across the Georgia line. Performers include Donna the Buffalo, the Sam Bush Band, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Duhks, The Waybacks, and many many more. Information is available at 904-249-7990 and www.magmusic.com
Friends of Nature and Knowledge Festival August 25 through 27 in Bean Blossom, Indiana, featuring Victor Wooten Band, Umphrey’s McGee, Honkytonk Homeslice, Assembly of Dust and more than a dozen more. Tickets include camping & two nights of music.
Tour diary 8/12/06
Last night I played a private party out in northwestern New Jersey – same place I played last summer, and again I was joined by John Skehan of Railroad Earth for most of the evening (last year I had John and also Andy Goessling of RRE). It was a truly peak experience from the first note – an excellent sound system set up in the living room of my host’s home, the keg and party chatter outside on the deck so the room I was in was for people who wanted to hear the music.
I started out solo, and the muse was as generous as could be. One gift after another. It had a lot to do with the fact that the monitor speaker was of sufficient quality that I could hear the full range of my guitar, which enabled me to take full advantage of the range of sounds I get with the Mama Bear preamp.
It also helped that tinydancer was there in her Stevie Nicks regalia, interpreting the music and adding her own desires to the creative flux. (I knew Ruth wanted to hear “Quarter to Five,” “Echolalia,” and “Lazy River Road”). My friend Paul I. was there, too, and he also reflected generous energy into the performance. So did the others in attendance – it was a well-wired human circuit, and I was able to take full advantage of all the available juice.
Skehan brought another measure of wonderfulness to the equation. He was ready for anything, and we spent a significant part of the performance playing entirely free-form music, building loops from almost arbitrary snatches of melody. There was one jam that I intended to start with one particular harmonic idea, but while I was doodling to get my guitar sound I grabbed a bar of a G chord thing and we were off and running.
The evening was recorded in two modes – soundboard and ambient. There is some distortion on the soundboard recording, which I may or may not be able to deal with, but the guy who made the other recording reported in this morning that he is very happy with the result. I’ll have that recording in a few days.
So. Two excellent gigs to start off a tour that promises nothing but even better times to come. Today I play the Fountain House with the Shockenaw Mountain Boys (John, Tim, Andy and Grubb from Railroad Earth); I’ll do some more one-on-one with John, and I’ll play with the quartet, too. These guys all have big ears and a deep understanding of the story we’re here to tell.
Grateful Dead Hour #933
Week of August 7, 2006
Part 1Â 31:48
Grateful Dead 9/18/90 Madison Square Garden, New York City
MISSISSSIPPI HALFSTEP
MINGLEWOOD
LOSER
PICASSO MOON
Part 2Â 24:32
For Rex: The Black Tie Dye Ball
NO BETTER WAY
ARISE
ALL NIGHT LONG BLUES
WHEN YOU SAY WHEN
The Black Tie Dye Ball was a benefit for the Rex Foundation, held in New York City in November 2005. The Zen Tricksters were joined by Donna Jean Godchaux, Rob Barraco, David Nelson, Tom Constanten, and other guests. The Donna Jean-ZT cnnection was so strong that they decided to form a new band, which they call Kettle Joe’s Psychedelic Swamp Review. Also in the new band are vocalist Wendy Lanter and keyboardist Mookie Siegel (of David Nelson Band fame). I got to hear Kettle Joe’s live in Ohio over the fourth of July weekend (and I sat in with them for a song, too) and I was just thrilled with the excellence of their show: great songs, fine singing, and some killer jamming. Mookie and the Tricksters are a great fit! You’ll be hearing some Kettle Joe’s music in an upcoming GD Hour.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from The Fool’s Paradise Festival, September 8 and 9 at Camp Minglewood in Central Southern New York – an all-inclusive outdoor festival including RV, tent camping and meals, as well as a limited number of VIP packages. Fool’s Paradise Festival includes Les Claypool, Particle, Jazz Mandolin Project, Herring Rodgers and Sipe, The Machine, and many more.
And from eDeadshop.com, an online store offering t-shirts, hats, stickers, tie-dyes, gifts, and other officially licensed merchandise form the Grateful Dead, Phish, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, and many others.
Honky Tonk Hippies off to a good start
Honky Tonk Hippies Just before our first gig, August 5 at the Larkspur Cafe Theatre. Left to right: David Phillips (pedal steel guitar & vocals), David Gans (guitar & vocals), Joshua Zucker (bass & vocals), Josh Kaye (piano), Mike Shaw (drums). Photo by Rita Hurault
Willin’
Jam->
Sultans of Swing
Return of the Grievous Angel
Headin’ Home Already
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Surely You Jest
I Wish It Would Rain*
Travelin’ Back to Georgia*
Jacqueline*
Crazy Crazy Crazy
Seeds and Stems
Jackaroe
The Lonesome Fugitive
Pancho and Lefty
That’s Real Love
River and Drown
Friend of the Devil
* with Eric Rawlins, guitar & vocal
(Eric is the guy I collaborated with on Home By Morning, released in 1997. We sing together all the time in non-professional situations.)