(((Topher))) rocks! He just sent me the MSN interview with Bobby:

DishDiva says: Welcome to MSN Live! This afternoon we are pleased to welcome Bob Weir to MSN Live!
DishDiva says: Pick up Bob Weir's new CD "Weir Here: The Best of Bob Weir."
DishDiva says: Bob, welcome to MSN Live!
DishDiva says: Now is a great time to enter your questions!
DishDiva says: If you have entered your question in the last 15 minutes please re-enter them! Thanks!
Bob_Weir_Live says: Hi, everybody.
DishDiva says: Bob, welcome to MSN Live! It's great to have you here!
DishDiva says: Bob, what is the difference between The Grateful Dead and The Dead?
Bob_Weir_Live says: Personnel basically. The Grateful Dead had a numnber of guys who aren't around anymore. The songs are for the time being the same, the modus operandi is the same, we'll probably be writing a bunch more songs and the repertoir will be different. There are
Bob_Weir_Live says: some great new guys with us.
Buddy58771 in Onstage_1 asks: Bob, first let me say I can't take Weir Here out of the player. Do you realize that there is a growing number of folks who would rather have you play with Ratdog all year than w/the Dead. What do you think it is about Ratdog?
Bob_Weir_Live says: Ratdog has been together for, what is it?, a functioning outfit for 10 years now. We've changed a couple of guys but we've been working together that long and know each other very very well and know what exploration we want to do at the drop of a hat. The
Bob_Weir_Live says: Dead is not at that point yet, but when it does get to that point, it will get real good too.
scotter270 in Onstage_1 asks: Will you be video taping any shows this tour for future DVD release, specifally Red Rocks?
Bob_Weir_Live says: I think there's a plan to do that, yeah.
weiryone in Onstage_1 asks: Bob I know that you love the outdoors. I saw a video once of you sea kayaking in the SF Bay. What else to like to do in the great outdoors?
DishDiva says: You are an environmentalist, yes?
Bob_Weir_Live says: I love to be outdoors, I run, I bicycle, I hike, things you do in the outdoors. I don't do a lot of camping. I like to surf and skin dive as apposed to scuba diving, I'm scuba certified. I did more scuba diving when Jerry was around but I now prefer to
Bob_Weir_Live says: skin dive. I also play football, we have a league out here.
bshafran in Onstage_1 asks: Are there any old Grateful Dead or Garcia tunes that you plan to bring back, either with The Dead or RD?
Bob_Weir_Live says: A bunch of them. I won't even start naming names because they haven't agreed to me yet but it's all fair game and we'll be doing as much as we can get going and on stage.
ForeverGratefulDead65 in Onstage_1 asks: What is it like being on stage and seeing everyone?
Bob_Weir_Live says: That's my life's work. It means more to me than about anything else. I love playing songs, I love engaging people in the audience because what they do and what they are feeling really does have something to do with what's going on and it is a large part
Bob_Weir_Live says: of what we're doing. The band and the audience are both part of the same thing.
Thestricklandzoo1 in Onstage_1 asks: hi bob this is your friends vanessa ANd valerie . you brung us to your soundcheck and we wanted to know if you liked the candy we gave you .we get to come with my mom and dad to your concerts this sumer and i hope we get to see you again .you are nice
Bob_Weir_Live says: Thanks, I don't remember the candy, but I do remember you.
Sugaree11 in Onstage_1 asks: Will Ratdog return to Europe this year? How was that experience the past 2 years?
Bob_Weir_Live says: We don't know if we're going back to Europe this year. I would kind of like to but we don't make much money over there and we have to maximise our schedule with both bands to make a living. With that said, everyone wants to go to Europe so we want to try.
WoW770 in Onstage_1 asks: Do you think you will write an autobiography?
Bob_Weir_Live says: Yeah, I think what I'm going to do is find a hypnotist to bring me back to remember detail. I will write it myself. All things considered, I probably do have a tale to tell.
DishDiva says: Is there a period with the Grateful Dead that stands out the most for you?
Bob_Weir_Live says: No. There are three or four periods that sound out and all of them are way cool.
Bob_Weir_Live says: Or maybe four or five. The first period was the Jug Band, that was a thing of it's own. I can't say I as all that developed. I was 16 and my chops weren't developed and we had a lot of fun. The next period was a year or so later, when the Warlocks, what
Bob_Weir_Live says: had become of the Jug Band had started to gel, in 1965. We were playing the acid tests and I can only say we had an amazing time. We discovered things about ourself, music, and sense of being. It was one hell of an adventure. Then around the time of the
Bob_Weir_Live says: issue of Working Man's Dead in 1970-1972 the band was hot and we made a name for ourselves and I can kind of see why. Then the late 70's when we had disbanded for a year and gelled again. That was an era I remember fondly. I think my time was in the
Bob_Weir_Live says: late 80's early 90's. Jerry had a few brushes with The Reaper but came back very strong. The era ended when Brent checked out, we were always bringing in new guys. It was never quite as strong after that.
VTchron in Onstage_1 asks: What was the reason for adding Warren Haynes to the Dead?
Bob_Weir_Live says: We were just sort of fishing at this point. We all love Warren and what he does. His vocal range covers pretty much the same as Joan Osborne, high tenor. We were going for an all vocal band. We're going to see. This is something Phil, more or less, pushed
Bob_Weir_Live says: because he really enjoys playing with Warren and what I've played with Warren I've enjoyed as well. We'll see how it works, I think it will work well.
RockyMTFilly in Onstage_1 asks: I ride and run & am also a painter, I was wondering if you ever get creatively inspired when you're out recreating and such?
Bob_Weir_Live says: All the time. For a while I even took to carrying a dictaphone with me so if things occured to me I would make a note of it. Then I decided it was inpinging on my being out there so I stopped doing it. I'm an outdoorsy kind of guy and a jock as well.
Bob_Weir_Live says: When I'm doing working out and it's happy hour, I'm pretty productive at that point.
LizF8 in Onstage_1 asks: What songs inspire you to pick up and play the telecaster that you got from your birth father? Are there particular songs that you will use that guitar for?
Bob_Weir_Live says: I use it until I want to try another guitar. I don't have particular songs I like certain guitars. Unless it's acoustic. When I change guitars, I just want to do that, to have another voice for a little bit. It doesn't really matter when, just when I feel
Bob_Weir_Live says: like doing it.
Hexfest in Onstage_1 asks: Do you anticipate putting out a Weir ~ Here Vol II?
DOGFAN26 in Onstage_1 asks: IS THERE A NEW RATDOG ALBUM IN THE WORKS?
Bob_Weir_Live says: Yes to both.
HappyKauain in Onstage_1 asks: With so many great tunes to choose from how can you get to the short list for tour?
Bob_Weir_Live says: I have a system for that. Ratdog has a large repertoire, we're pushing 150 tunes. On my computer I bring up the last 5-7 gigs and those songs are automatically out. Then I bring out what songs I did last time I was in that town and those songs are out and
Bob_Weir_Live says: that helps me make the set list. What I'm going to be doing in the near future is putting a screen up in front of me, a teleprompter, we're developing a software that will color code that kind of stuff so I can do it on the fly. I'm looking forward to
Bob_Weir_Live says: doing it that way.
DishDiva says: How has touring changed for you personally in 30+ years?
Bob_Weir_Live says: Buses. (laughs) Buses are such a better way to travel. For years the Grateful Dead would travel by charter plane and if I could get all the money and time we wasted on that I would love that. On the bus you sleep from one town to the next, you don't get
Bob_Weir_Live says: to see the country, but you don't get that on a plane either. You have your dressing room and everything with you. Aside from that it's all the same deal. You come to the gig, do the soundcheck, I usually grab a quick bite and take a name, then do the gig
Bob_Weir_Live says: Then we'll go to the next gig and I'll maybe work out or work on some songs, and then start the cycle over again.
sibelius6th in Onstage_1 asks: How does Ratdog decide the mood and form or the jam that often opens a show? It doesn't always seem to be a variation of the song opener. I thought the one in Worcester was particularly dark for example.
DishDiva says: Your hosts today are MarkG, Trish, Fredia and MarkM. If you have any questions about MSN Live, these are the experts to ask.
Bob_Weir_Live says: It's kind of a 1-2-3 go kind of deal. We usually take the tempo that the opening song is going to be and we'll just count it off and whatever happens happens. Sometimes we will decide what key, but sometimes we don't.
AlohaCommander in Onstage_1 asks: Are you online while touring?
DishDiva says: What type of sites do you visit?
Bob_Weir_Live says: All the time. The two major criteria for me while selecting hotel is if they have high speed internet and what facilities it has.
Bob_Weir_Live says: I check my mail, I find checking the news online is faster than TV and you can also check different news outlets which is a better way of doing it rather than just sticking to one.
DishDiva says: What are your thoughts on digital downloading?
Bob_Weir_Live says: This has to do with, not so much me but the future, if you download something, if you download a tune and you're going to listen to it a bunch, you have to respect what you live. I really think you have to buy it, otherwise, for instance a young guy is
Bob_Weir_Live says: getting started in music and if he can't get paid for that he'll have to go back to school to become a lawyer, accountant, whatever. If he's not getting paid to do it, he's not going to have time to do it. That will create a dismal future for our musical
Bob_Weir_Live says: culture. Honor what you love. I have made a good living making music but it's a good thing that The Grateful Dead didn't have to scuffle over the file sharing at the time we needed every penny to get by. I'm not saying we would have given up, it would
Bob_Weir_Live says: have just made it a lot harder.
mechagod31 in Onstage_1 asks: Do you have a favorite song that has a special meaning to you?
Bob_Weir_Live says: No. My favorite song changes every night. There are songs that get hot and I look forward to doing them and them coming up in our rotation. Then they cool off and another one will come up.
DishDiva says: Is there a song you especially look forward to playing live?
Bob_Weir_Live says: All of it. I love to play. Really there is no one song. It changes from night to night, week to week, year to year, year in and year out.
DishDiva says: Bob, I know you are a busy man. Thanks for joining us today on MSN Live.
Bob_Weir_Live says: If every Deadhead in the state of Florida had voted in the last election, it would be a different world today. Register to vote.