Weir Freaking: 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Oh, it's on!

Finally, it's the 30th and there's some Bobby Weir happening tonight!
Can't wait!
Leaving soon!
Last night of my 40's !
OH BOY!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Caroline Kennedy has the Grateful Dead in her ipod.
I don't make this stuff up- I just grab these items up off the internet
See for yourselves-http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2008/12/29/abc-s-david-muir-caroline-kennedy-opening-about-her-ipod

Sunday, December 28, 2008

{{RIP Delaney Bramlett! For a nice photo and memorial, visit Alan's blog at
http://alanhessphotography.com/blog/archives/474

WOOHOO!
The auction to benefit Michelle McFee continues thru 12/31 and also 1/14
New band items have been added!
Check it out again at
http://www.kinkaidfoundation.org/michelleauction.htm

Friday, December 26, 2008

Didja have a Merry Day?

We had a nice mellow day. Today -another nice mellow day!
Enjoyed a trip to the past at Zooma's blog

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

You must watch this!
The Dead- Get Weirder

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Got a moment to read a sweet Grateful Dead related article?
Yes?
Here ya go!-http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/california/articles/2008/12/21/years_later_their_trail_of_notes_still_enthralls_fans/

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Gecko, Cavemen and now Deadhead Insuranceman!

Thanks to Ratdog.org's Steelinfaces for digging this gem up!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Click here for some lovely Ratdog in FLA pix!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

It's definitely that time of year when you want to revisit 12/17/87!
I'm not going to dig it out of Youtube because Musical Stew Daily already has!
Just cleek the link!
http://musicalstewdaily.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/jerry-garcia-band-christmas-concert-12171987/

Saturday, December 13, 2008

At LONG last-

http://www.ratdogstore.com/

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Time to get your David Gans on!

David Gans -

Time for another update!

My new studio CD, The Ones That Look the Weirdest Taste the Best, is being played on radio stations all over the country. Our promotional campaign is just getting started - you can help with this effort by calling your local station and asking for it!

The web page, designed by my friend and sometime musical partner Eric Rawlins, is up and humming at dgans.com/weirdest - cover art, lyrics, reviews, ordering information, all that good stuff.

Before I get to the performance listings, there are a couple of other items I'd like to let you know about.

Tonight on Dead to the World: a wonderful band from Philly, Boris Garcia, will perform live for the full two hours, 8-10pm Pacific. Mark Karan of Ratdog will be joining the band for part of the show, and we may have another surprise guest as well. KPFA is heard at 94.1 FM in northern California, and tonight's program is also available on the web via kpfa.org, kfcf.org, and nugs.net

Rubber Souldiers - the "Beatles jam band" with Chris Rowan, Lorin Rowan, and me - will sing one song at the Rex Foundation benefit in San Francisco this Saturday. Big brother Peter Rowan is the headliner, and Chris and Lorin have graciously invited me to share their guest spot to show off our fun new band. The event takes place in the Grand Ballroom of the Regency Center in San Francisco. Lots more info at rexfoundation.org - see you there!

We've got a rudimentary web site up for the band - rubbersouldiers.com - and we're making plans to play lots of gigs in the new year.

And now, the GIG SPAM! More information, links to the venues, etc. always up to date at dgans.com/gigs.html

Thursday, December 11, 7:00 pm: Moon News Bookstore, 315 Main Street, Half Moon Bay CA. Free!

Friday, December 12: The Poster Room at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Ozomatli on the main stage; DG plays before the show and during the break.

Saturday, December 13, 1-3pm: Rubber Souldiers play live on the Saturday Ham Jam with Tim Lynch, heard only on 1510 AM in the San Francisco area. Also appearing: Stu Allen & Sandy Rothman, and Tim Bluhm and Jackie Greene (aka The Skinny Singers).

Friday, December 19 in Santa Rosa CA: Words and Music: The Benefit for Michelle McFee. David Nelson, Pete Sears, Bill Cutler, Dave Getz, Robin Sylvester, Rubber Souldiers (Chris Rowan, Lorin Rowan, David Gans), Mark Karan, Pat Campbell, Peter Albin, Jimmy Sanchez, David Perper, and others. kinkaidfoundation.org

Saturday, December 20, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm: Grand Lake Farmers' Market, at Splash Pad Park (Lake Park and Grand Avenues, across from the Grand Lake Theatre), Oakland CA. Free! Great produce, preared foods, and crafts, too.

Saturday, December 27, 7:30-9:30pm: Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. (at 65th), Oakland CA. Admission is free, but you have to buy some food and/or drink.

Sunday, January 4, 8:30pm: Rubber Souldiers (aka Paul Knight and Friends) at the Station House Cafe, downtown Pt Reyes Station CA. No cover! 415-663-1515

Tuesday, February 10, 7-9pm: Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, 4045 NW Cornelius Passage Road, Hillsboro OR. Free! All ages. 503-640-6174

Wednesday, February 11, 8-11pm: Boon’s Treasury, 888 Liberty Street Northeast, Salem OR 97301. Free! 21+. 503-399-9062

Thursday, February 12, 7-10pm: Grand Lodge, 3505 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove OR. Free! All ages. 503-992-9533

Friday, February 13, 9pm: Eagles Ballroom, 805 4th Avenue East, Olympia WA. 360-239-9907

Saturday, February 14, 9:30pm-12:30am: White Eagle, 836 N Russell Street, Portland OR. $7. 21+. 503-282-6810

Sunday, February 15: Sam Bond's Garage, 407 Blair Blvd, Eugene OR.

Sunday, March 1: "House" concert at KZMU in Moab, Utah. Details to come.

Monday, March 2: House concert in Salt Lake City. Details to come.

Thursday, March 5, 9pm: Rubber Souldiers Review at the Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley CA.

Time to get your David Gans on!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Sometimes, I just get lost on youtube..

not such bad thing, is it?

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Online shopping trips

Tis the season and while doing research on holiday shopping, I ran across a site that sells patterns for stained glass
OMG- The patterns are wonderful and this one

Can be found at http://chantal-stainedglasspatterns.com/2gratefuldead.html
It makes me really want to take up learning how to make stained glass!

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Readers,
I have posted info regarding the benefit and online auction to benefit Michelle McFee...but have not yet mentioned that Michelle is also known as MizShely - "anyone who has read her long running blog knows that "She was there!" She has many interesting memories of the Bay Area music scene from when the Grateful Dead, NRPS and others were making history in the 70's. Her blog is http://www.mizshelysspace.blogspot.com/.
Since her illness, she has begun another blog to bring you into http://adayinthelifeofacancerpatient.blogspot.com/.

Mark Karan is going to sit in with Boris Garcia on KPFA next Wednesday, December 10, 8-10pm PST.
Broadcast on 94.1 fm in northern California and online at
http://www.kpfa.org, http://www.nugs.net, and http://www.kfcf.org

Boris Garcia: http://www.borisgarcia.com

Friday, December 05, 2008

A little flashback for Friday, anyone??

Here ya go!
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2008/12/echoes_and_reverberations_the_3.php

Happy Birthday Jay!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Change of Venue for Rex Benefit!

An Email from the Rex Foundation:

"Dear Friends,

We hope you agree the Rex Foundation's upcoming event and other activities are a way to boost your spirits while helping others.

Saturday, December 13th
Rex Foundation 25th Anniversary Celebration!
"Sweet Music Everywhere"
The Grand Ballroom of the Regency Center
1300 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA

We've changed the location to make sure we can all come together in a more intimate setting. Let's celebrate the power of music and kindred connections to raise spirits and boost much-needed support for grassroots non-profit programs. Peter Rowan is bringing along friends and family, including Ramblin' Jack Elliot, the Rowan Brothers and Crucial Reggae legendary musicians Fully Fullwood and Tony Chin, plus Michael Kang (of String Cheese Incident) with Panjea, and Jackie Greene, rising star of Phil & Friends."

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

I did not go to Weir High but I like the shirts- which may be obtained at
http://www.alumniclass.com/weir

Dave Clark's pictures from 11/30

Monday, December 01, 2008

Rock & Roll Singers: Conspicuous Only In Their Absence

notes from Mill Valley-

Setlist from Katrinka ala Deadnet central-

Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, Jay Lane
142 Throckmorton Theatre
November 30, 2008

Maggie's Farm
Me & My Uncle
Victim
Masterpiece *
San Francisco Bay Blues **
Friend of the Devil **
Easy Answers
Josephine ***
Bird Song ***
Not Fade Away ***

* with James Nash
** with Rambling Jack Elliott, James Nash
*** with the guitarist (lead guitar) from Maria Muldaur's band.

He (Maria Muldaur's lead guitarist) joined Weir, Wasserman and Lane midway through Josephine.

Notes:

KUDOS to Ratdog crew - Charux, AJ, Hippie Bill for working the benefit!
McGinn also in the house!

Michael Pritchard emceed.
Actor Peter Coyote & wife in the audience.
John Perry Barlow too.

There was a well done film presentation about the orphanage. Ihope the receive all the funding they can use. A very worthy cause.

Bobby in blue jeans.

Some sort of altercation in the street in front of the theater caused the police to stop the show before some of the scheduled
musicians could go on ((Band of Brothers)) and ((Sarah Wasserman)).

Sunday, November 30, 2008

You might need a hankerchief when you read this-

Rowe: Mom’s 'B natural’ solace is seeing Dead jammin’

GREENSBORO — Like many ink-stained refugees, I get my share of calls from readers. One of them came from Betty Ruffin. She had a doozie of a request.

She wanted me to help her better understand her son.

Her request came a few months back. She saw my column on the Marcus C. Rizzo Center for Musician Enrichment, a proposed music incubator on South Elm, and she wanted to make a donation in honor of Tommy, her oldest son.

When I asked her why, she told me about Tommy.

He had a big heart. He was a Greensboro native, a tax attorney in Florida who thought nothing of helping disabled children, hurricane victims, single mothers he knew and uninsured musicians he didn’t know.

In one particular case, after hearing a minister on the radio, he helped poor black families, victims of Hurricane Andrew, get money from insurance companies to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Tommy, a single father of two, was named Dade County Citizen of the Year for his work. But he never told anyone in his hometown, including his mom.

Betty heard about it from Tommy’s law partners.

Tommy was like that. He was an unpretentious, intensely private man who never wanted attention. He wanted to right the wrongs of the world.

But at the same time, he was troubled, burdened with depression beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend. Last year, Tommy killed himself. He was 49.

But one thing that gave him peace, away from his world he saw restrictive and suffocating, was music. Or “real music,’’ as he called it. And music from The Grateful Dead made his soul sing.

He discovered The Dead as an undergrad at UNC-Chapel Hill. Tommy visited every national park and saw every Dead show he could when he covered the country in an old Oldsmobile and a pop-up camper.

His musical adventures with The Dead never waned. He saw them constantly. And somewhere along the way, he gave The Dead’s guitarist Jerry Garcia some kind of advice. Maybe tax advice.

But like he did with much of his life, he didn’t tell people. They found out about his work with Garcia only after his death, when they found a signed photo in his office.

There was a short thank-you from Garcia, written in gold pen, that included this tidbit: “Life’s short. Don’t B flat. B natural.’’ Garcia signed it in the universal language of music notes.

After Garcia’s death in 1995, Tommy criss-crossed the country to see the remaining band members of The Dead play and see its community.

And every time after every show, he told his mom about it.

Even when Betty visited him in Florida, Tommy would put on something from The Dead and say, “Listen to this, Mom, listen to this!’’

But she never saw the band live. And she never fully understood her son’s connection to The Grateful Dead and its legion of deeply loyal fans who searched for what some called “The Happy Sound.’’

Deadheads. Tommy was one. So was I.

I had followed The Dead since 1985. Just like Tommy. So, I knew the draw. And with Tommy gone, she asked me for help. She wanted to better understand the why of what Tommy loved.

At first, I thought we’d talk over coffee. But when the Greensboro Coliseum Complex booked RatDog, the group fronted by Bob Weir, the former rhythm guitarist of The Grateful Dead, I had a better idea.

We’d go. And we did Sunday night.

I walked Betty — a 75-year-old woman called BeBe by her grandkids — into War Memorial Auditorium, and there, she saw a mass of 1,500 Deadheads turn one big room into one big dance hall.

She got it. At least she told me she did. But she didn’t need to.

I saw it for myself Sunday night, when she clapped, swayed and patted the seat in front of her with every tune she recognized.

She had heard it all before. Somewhere in her son’s life. But Sunday night, she heard it — and saw it — for herself. And she just grinned.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com

Friday, November 28, 2008

My daughter applies to UCSC tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Which reminds me to tell YOU to check this link out!!!

http://deadcentral.blogspot.com/!!!!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul Liberatore: Young musician gathers A-list rockers for benefit concert, CD

http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_11084598
Posted: 11/27/2008 07:59:49 PM PST

Singer/songwriter Sara Wasserman grew up in Mill Valley and is currently living in New York.
This summer, 28-year-old Sara Wasserman will have her first album out after working on it for six years. It won't be your typical earnest indie debut by an unknown singer/songwriter hoping someone important will hear it.
More than a few A-List rock stars have not only heard it, they're on it - namely Aaron Neville, Lou Reed, Traffic's Jim Capaldi, Vernon Reid from Living Colour, the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, Stephen Perkins from Jane's Addiction and the virtuoso young bassist Christian McBride.

Sara's father is Grammy-winning bassist Rob Wasserman and her mother is music producer Clare Wasserman, who's now married to Dan Hicks.

For Sara, who grew up in Mill Valley and now lives in New York, hanging with famous musicians is like visiting her relatives.

So, when she asked some of the musicians who'd known her as a child to guest on her record, she didn't have to plead. They were more than happy to do it.

"These are very personal songs and she wanted to make sure that the people she chose for each song were right," her mother says. "Everyone she asked said yes."

Including Lou Reed. When she was a little girl, she would accompany her dad on the road when he toured with Reed, who's like an uncle to her.

It's hard to think of louche Lou as an avuncular figure, but the one-time Velvet Underground frontman is more family to her than famous rocker.

"Lou has been part of Sara's life since she's been a tiny girl," her mom says. "He adores her."

He adores her

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enough to put down his "Walk on the Wild Side," hard-rock image long enough to play acoustic guitar - for the first time - on Sara's upcoming album, a collection of original songs she describes as "acoustic soul."
"He's known me for so many years," Sara says. "To me, he's a sweetheart. He's been incredibly supportive."

Sara's mom, Clare, tells a story about the lengths to which Uncle Lou was willing to go for her.

"When they went into the studio in New York, Sara said, 'I really hear acoustic guitar on this,'" Clare recalls. "Lou said, 'I don't play acoustic guitar.' And Sara said, 'Well, Lou, I hear it on this.' He looked at her, rolled his eyes, grabbed an acoustic guitar and said, 'Oh, all right.' And she was right. It's fantastic."

That same willingness to help came through when Sara and her mom asked prominent members of the Marin music community to perform with her at a benefit concert for Casa de Milagros (House of Miracles), an orphanage in Peru she heard about through her friends, actor Woody Harrelson and his wife, Laura Louie, who helped get the home started.

Casa de Milagros, near Machu Picchu in Peru's Sacred Valley, takes in orphaned and abandoned children living in poverty on the streets of Cusco and surrounding towns.

The Marin benefit, at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, is set for 7 p.m. Sunday with Weir, Wasserman, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Maria Muldaur and poet Michael McClure, among others.

"I took it on faith that people would help," Sara says. "The whole Marin music community has been incredible."

Sara, who will contribute some of the proceeds from her album to the orphanage, visited Casa de Milagros in August and was deeply moved by its arts-oriented program for the 31 boys and girls in its care.

"It's an amazing new model for orphanages based on healing through art and music and dance," she explains. "The kids are taught about organic farming and nutrition and medicinal plants and ways of life they would otherwise never have the opportunity to experience."

The orphanage is run by a youthful American mother and grandmother known as Mama Kia, who raised six children of her own before traveling to Peru in 1994, witnessing the appalling conditions for children there, and started Casa de Milagros.

She named the orphanage's founding organization, the Chandler Sky Foundation, after a grandson who died a week after he was born and came to her in a vision, telling her to help ease the suffering of these children.

Mama Kia, who says "music is our No. 1 healing activity," has traveled from Peru to speak at the benefit on Sunday and to show a film about the orphans she thinks of as her own sons and daughters.

"I've never met anyone like her," Sara says. "She's just this incredible healer. She's dedicated her life to raising these kids."

Since the orphanage is dependent on contributions from abroad for its support, Sara saw the benefit concert as something she could do for Casa de Milagros through her music and her friends in the music business.

"Sara came home and said, 'Oh, god, Mom, we've got to help,'" her mother recalls. "She said, 'We've got to raise some money for their expenses next year.'"

Sara joins celebrities like Ben Taylor, son of James Taylor; the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Curtis Martin of the New York Jets as a supporter of Mama Kia's work.

"Sara wants to do something more with her music than put it out there in the normal commercial way," her mom says. "She wants to participate on a higher level with it. That's always been her goal. She's always been socially conscious, and she's always loved kids, so this is a natural evolution. And, as always, the Marin music community came together. It's the very least we can do."

IF YOU GO

- What: Benefit concert for Casa de Milagros, featuring Sara Wasserman, Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman and Jay Lane join the Band of Brotherz, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Ray Manzarek from the Doors, Maria Muldaur and poet Michael McClure

- Where: 142 Throckmorton Theatre, downtown Mill Valley

- When: 7 p.m. Nov. 30

- Tickets: $50

- Information: 383-9600, www.142throckmortontheatre.com

Paul Liberatore can be reached at liberatore@marinij.com

My dear friend across the sea- Wishing you well today!!

..................

Reminder-
Take another look at this auction-
http://www.kinkaidfoundation.org/michelleauction.htm
Some new items that might be of interest to music fans have been added to the items list!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Bobby at the inaugural ball?

Another tour review-

GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD
By Ryan Snyder
http://www.yesweekly.com/article-5259-goin-down-the-road.html

Bob Weir and RatDog covers plenty of grateful ground
The music never stopped, at least not for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. Along with Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s ongoing project, Phil Lesh & Friends, Weir’s touring band RatDog (www.rat-dog.com) has sought to perpetuate the music of the band that has shaped American music like few others. Though the Dead built up an immense musical catalog during their 30 years of prolific touring, a RatDog performance is in reality much more than a tribute to Weir’s old band. The Dead weren’t afraid to fill out a three-hour set with covers by everyone from contemporary Bob Dylan to legends like Howlin’ Wolf, and that approach certainly hasn’t changed one bit for Weir. As Weir has aged, he’s settled into simply celebrating the music that influenced his former band, among countless others. His show at the War Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 16 was very indicative of that, mixing a few Grateful Dead favorites and some traditional tunes popularized by the Dead with a cornucopia of musical miscellany.

In fact, the vast majority of the two 75minute sets were filled with an outstanding collection of jammed-up cover tunes.

The night opened with an improvised instrumental jam that featured heavy references to Miles Davis’ classic composition “Milestones.” Though drummer Jay Lane has shown in the past that jazz stylings are certainly within his rhythmic vocabulary (most notably with the Charlie Hunter Trio), he still chose to lay down a rather rudimentary rock beat. It didn’t exactly detract from what was otherwise an interesting treatment, but it did stick out in a way that wasn’t wholly complementary to the piece. Still, such experimentation is in grand Weir fashion and he’s never really been a by-the-book kind of guy. After a somewhat unremarkable “Here Comes Sunshine,” (a song I’m never really thrilled to see on his setlists to begin with) the show really took off with a sing-along to Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried.” The audience of gray-bearded Deadheads, twenty-something tour junkies and buttoned-up college Greeks all belted out the chorus of “And I turned 21 in prison/Doin’ life without parole” in perfect unison,” showing that music makes strange bedfellows indeed.

The band followed that up with a sweet and somber “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue,” the first of three Bob Dylan tunes that would find their way out. “Silvio” would come later in the set with a “Tequila” shooter, while another jovial call-andresponse would come in the second during “Quinn the Eskimo.”

Speaking of the audience in attendance, it’s amazing how remnants of the original scene that Weir helped make so infamous has persisted even today. I witnessed a hilarious encounter between a drugaddled counter-culture refugee and the will-call ticket attendant on my way in. The gentleman, who may or may not have been aware that the ’60s ended long ago, gave a workman-like effort to convince the ticket handlers that “Bobby put him on the list.” As he implored the visibly frustrated woman to “call the producers,” he confidently turned to his wife and said, “Heh, Bobby said he was gonna do ‘Spoonful’ tonight.” I’ll admit that I got a little excited at the notion of hearing the Willie Dixon classic that Weir hasn’t played in over 10 years. But, it seldom turns out the way it does in the song and I reminded myself what decades of psychedelic ingestibles will do to a person’s perception of reality.
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The second I stepped into the auditorium, I was taken aback by the nearly breathtaking combined scent of powerful, earthen funk and wicked homegrown. The War Memorial would later rectify that mater by pumping air freshener though the ventilation system toward the end of the second set. Despite it being a seated affair, controlled chaos reigned with revelers dancing in aisles, in their seats (I see they took my suggestion from last week’s forecast) and more specifically, in other people’s seats.

It was laughable to see ushers checking tickets and ordering people back to the place they were assigned, though it was equally absurd to see many of the faithful respond with obscene gestures and epithets to such requests. You know that calling an authoritarian figure a “pig” has jumped the shark as an insult when it’s being used against venue ushers.
The parking lot outside was filled with ragged RVs and Volkswagen buses, most heavily concentrated down one row of parking that composed quite possibly the sorriest excuse for a Shakedown Street I’ve seen in 15 years of concert-going. For the uninformed, Shakedown Street is the unofficially official area for vendors to peddle their wares found at most of the shows on the jam circuit. There really was nothing shaking on this one, with only a couple of vans selling that fabulous hippie cuisine and a makeshift DJ set-up spinning some electronica after the show. However, it might have had something to do with venue personnel driving up and down the pathway with horns blowing. So much for being an accommodating host. The second set closed out with the Beatles’ “Come Together,” right at the time that Febreeze started to permeate the air, followed by the ubiquitous “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad.” Weir, in his usual cut-off jeans and T-shirt attire, returned to the stage and announced how great it was “to be back in the blue state of North Carolina” to wild applause. Moments later the opening licks of Weir’s favorite showcloser “Ripple” sounded out to take the crowd home with many, oddly enough, smelling fresher than when they arrived.
To comment on this story e-mail Ryan Snyder at Ryan@yesweekly.com.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Mickey's Tao of Wood

From today's Leah Garchik--

" A little bit later, Mickey Hart stood next to his works - paintings, bonsai, prints and most important, wood sculptures - at the opening of "The Tao of Wood," at Dennis Rae Fine Art. Drums were played in the window; further into the gallery, a band of musicians and pals - Bill Walton, Zakir Hussain, Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, Barry "The Fish" Melton, Sammy Hagar - greeted each other with expressions of awe at Hart's output.

Hart stroked and tapped Ramrod, a 250-pound piece of wood found on land previously owned by the Mendocino Redwood Co. It is 8 feet by 4 feet, in a sort of standing shape determined by nature: growth and ants and wood rot. "You don't want your imprint on the thing," said Hart. "These insects are the great architects of this. This is really their creation."

He "can't tell the sound," said Hart, "until I clean it up and explore the journey, to hear its song." You beat it to make music? I asked. Wrong question. "I don't beat it," said Hart, "more coax the sound, caress it ... find its capabilities."

Working with the wood was "a way of mourning Ramrod," said Hart, referring to Lawrence "Ramrod" Shurtliff, the late crew member ("roadie") of the Grateful Dead. "He was the soul of the Grateful Dead."

Monday, November 24, 2008

Alan Hess has a new photography blog that you cannot miss!
http://alanhessphotography.com/blog/

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Woof!

Heard Bobby and Ratdog did their first Box of Rain at last night's show!!!!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

http://www.news-press.com/article/20081122/ENT/81122002/1075

RatDog review: Classic rock a refreshing change for local audience

MARK S. KRZOS • MKRZOS@NEWS-PRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 22, 2008

In my 15 years in Southwest Florida, I don't think I've ever used the word "face-melter" to describe a concert -- mostly because concerts here are never as musically adventurous and fierce as what the sold-out crowd at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall experienced last night.  Long before Bob Weir - the rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead and now frontman of RatDog - plucked his first guitar string, any local resident could tell that this show was going to be unlike any other in the long  history of Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.

Hours before the 8 p.m. start time, the west-side parking lots began filling up with fans from all over the southeast who, like Deadheads, have followed RatDog from show to show. Vendors selling glass pipes, T-shirts emblazoned with the famous Grateful Dead skull and Jerry Garcia lined rows and rows of cars while the music of the Grateful Dead blarred from car speakers.  Some fans were still stuck in their work suits while others in dreadlocks and carrying the aroma of patchouli, pot and body odor scrambled for tickets and other concert "necessities" like beer, weed and nitrous oxide. In fact, you couldn't weave your way through the parking lot crowds without seeing someone carrying a balloon.  Yes ... The circus was in town last night and it only got better as the night wore on.  Inside the refined Mann auditorium, concert tapers with microphones and recording equipment set up while the Deadheads in their tie-dyes waited patiently for the band to take the stage and when they did, not a soul was sitting for entire three hour performance that spanned each era of the Grateful Dead's history.

  The concert kicked off with a groovy jam that found its way into the Grateful Dead's "The Music Never Stopped." When Weir launched into the lyrics "There's a band out on the highway, They're high steppin' into town It's a rainbow full of sound, It's fireworks, calliopes and clowns," I couldn't help but this event was a welcome departure from the ho-hum acts that usually play Southwest Florida.  With fans wiggle-dancing and using their hands to follow the music, Weir and RatDog spent the next 15 minutes covering Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" and "She Belongs to Me" before delving into the first Jerry Garcia song of the night, a bopping version of "Loose Lucy."

The 1 1/2-hour first set ended with a rockin version of "Hell In a Bucket" with Weir, now fully gray, screaming into the mic, "At least I'm enjoying the ride ... ride ...ride" while saxophonist Kenny Brooks wailed.  The second set -- always the special set for the Grateful Dead -- also held true with RatDog. Weir started things off acoustically with one of the Dead's earliest numbers "Stealin'" before bringing the tempo down a bit with a pretty version of "Friend of the Devil." Psychedelia took over with Weir's "Victim of the Crime" and didn't skip a beat before taking on the reggae-ish "Estimated Prophet."  With everyone still standing, the slow beginning notes of "Terrapin Station" wafted through the theater culminating in a massive sing-along with the crowd screaming the lyrics, "inspiration, move me brightly ... Light the song with sense and color, hold away despair ...  Continuing the epic song Weir delivered the lines, "In the shadow of the moon" while crowd screamed back "terrapin station."  "And I know well get there soon," Weir cried out.  "Terrapin station," the dancing crowd shot back before the band once again delved into a Garcia favorite, "Sugaree."  The second set ended with Weir's barnstormer, "Sugar Magnolia" -- a song that had people dancing from the front row to the very back.

  And if that wasn't enough RatDog concluded with night with a song the Dead only played on an album -- never live, the complex "At A Siding" which featured sax man Brooks blazing, and lead guitarist MarK Karan with his down making sure every not was hit just exactly perfect.  For those locals who were there last night, this will be one local show they won't soon forget. The band was tight and those from outside the area praised the theater and its staff. Here's to hoping we get more of this kind of adventurous music and less Englebert Humperdicnk in the future.

Ever consider what goes into creating a logo?
Check out Jamie's blog about recreating the Head Count logo for 2008 at her blog
http://www.bittersweetcreations.com/blog/2008/11/headcount-needed-new-logo.html

Friday, November 21, 2008

Check out The visions of Cody blog they are listing their top 10 Grateful Dead songs...

and over at http://gerrygp.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/grateful-dead-and-ratdog/ the blogger reviews his experience at a Ratdog show.

To find out which Bobby song made blogger Bob Kjelgaard cry, you will need to go read his post at his blog- http://bobkjelgaard.spaces.live.com/Music/cns!2031C5A639292311!283/

Updated info on-
Bob Weir to Help Casa de Milagros

Casa de Milagros (a home for orphaned children in Peru’s Sacred Valley) will be the beneficiary of a night of musical and spoken word performances featuring Bob Weir, Ray Manzarek (from The Doors), esteemed poet Michael McClure, Rob Wasserman, Maria Muldar, and Jay Lane will be on hand.
The benefit is to take place Sunday evening, November 30th, at 7 p.m. at 142 Throckmorton.
Tickets are $50. Call 383-9600, visit the box office at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, or click on 142throckmortontheatre.com for tickets and/or additional information.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20081121/ENT12/311270008/1013/LIFESTYLES

RatDog to bring Deadheads to Mann Hall with former Primus drummer in tow
BY MARK S. KRZOS • MKRZOS@NEWS-PRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 21, 2008
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Jay Lane, a founding member of the experimental metal band Primus, just completed drumming work on jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter's debut album when he first met Bob Weir.

"It was back in 1993 when we met," said Lane, who'll join RatDog - the band Bob Weir started following the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia - at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall tonight. "Back then my musical interests were very narrow. For example, I couldn't tell you the difference between bluegrass and zydeco.

"I was playing hyped up funk, jazz and R&B," Lane said during a RatDog tour stop in Boston. "I think that's why Bob took a chance on me."

THE BUS CAME AND I GOT ON ...

Like the lyrics of Weir's psychedelic face-melter, "The Other One," Lane knew becoming part of Weir's band meant an introduction to a whole new world of sight and sound.

In the early post-Grateful Dead years, audiences wanted more of the same, Lane said.

But Garcia was gone and Weir wanted to pay tribute to his past work without trying to clone it.

"It was a challenge for me," Lane said. "I didn't know how to play slow. It took me a number of years to learn how to slow down. I had to really break myself down and had to learn all this Americana music that was out there.

"What I really liked about RatDog and this music is that it's so inclusive," Lane said. "I had to learn to love the music to get it and get Bob's style."

LET THE WORDS BE YOURS

Unlike most rhythm guitarists, Weir has his own distinct style of complex voiceleading, which adds more depth - and a new dimension to rhythm guitar-playing.

"He's like a puzzle piece," Lane said. "You look at him and he's someone who crafted his style by playing with the same guys for 30 years. There is no one who plays like Bob. Guys like Les (Claypool) and Charlie (Hunter, a seven and eight-string jazz guitarist) were taught by themselves in their own room. Bob was playing in the Grateful Dead at 17.

"It took me a long time to figure out what he was doing," Lane said. "Even today, every few gigs, I'll feel like I've had another breakthrough."

THEY'RE BEYOND DESCRIPTION

Legendary concert promoter and Grateful Dead fan Bill Graham once said this about the Dead: "They're not only the best at what they do, they're the only ones who do what they do."

Today, some 13 years after the band called it quits, the groundwork the Grateful Dead laid for future generations of experimental rock bands keeps expanding through rock festivals such as Bonnaroo, live music downloading Web sites such as archive.org and bands who search for more than three chords and three-minute songs.

"The Dead fans that come see us want to hear the Dead," Lane said. "But we're not the Grateful Dead. When we play some of those old songs, we're paying homage while at the same time giving them something new."

SHALL WE CALL IT BY A NAME?

While a RatDog show is often comprised of plenty of Grateful Dead songs RatDog is no Dead cover band.

Recent performances illustrate the wide variety of songs ranging from rarely played Dead tunes to Bob Dylan to the Beatles and Rev. Gary Davis.

"I think what we're doing is turning a lot of younger people whose parents were Deadheads on to this music," Lane said. "If people can come to this music through that rap album 'Jay-Z is Dead,' great. People are finding music in other ways than listening to the radio."

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Review: Weir does former band mate proud

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 (updated 8:17 am)
By JERI ROWE
Staff Writer
RELATED STORIES
Rowe: Mom’s 'B natural’ solace is seeing Dead jammin’ (3:00 am)
GREENSBORO - Two hours into Bob Weir's show, when he started singing about ripples on still water, a handful of fans turned their Bic lighters into beacons Sunday night inside Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium.

It's an old-school concert move. But it seemed appropriate. Weir, the former rhythm guitarist for The Grateful Dead, helped write and play some of the most memorable American music over the past 40 years.

And he played some of that Sunday night with his band RatDog.

Weir opened with "Here Comes Sunshine," and two sets and an encore later, he ended with "Ripple."

Fans got the classic: "Samson and Delilah," "Good Lovin'," "The Other One" and "Peggy-O." But Weir also dipped into the obscure, bringing out "Cream Puff War" from The Dead's first album in 1967.

At least three generations of fans turned the 2,400-seat room into one big dance hall, where everywhere you looked - the aisles, the rows, the orchestra pit - were often a mass of arms, hips and hands.

And up front was Weir, looking like a stoic grandfather with his bushy, salt-and-pepper beard. He wore his signature concert uniform - T-shirt and shorts - and he played on a stage flanked by an American flag, a North Carolina flag and two oddities on an amp: a bowling pin and a Barack Obama bobble-head.

The sound was impeccable, and the show went on without a hitch - other than a last-minute scramble by auditorium staff to find Weir a hair dryer before the show.

Weir - and The Dead - have always loved making a stop in Greensboro. The Dead played five times at the coliseum, including a memorable two-night stand in 1991 that drew 29,000 fans.

Twenty months ago, Weir ended his spring tour with RatDog at War Memorial. That show drew 2,022 fans.

This time, on a Sunday night, a tough time for drawing any kind of crowd, RatDog drew about 1,500 fans.

Weir, who turned 61 last month, hasn't lost any of the vigor in his voice.

He did the Jazzy Bob, the Rock-Star Bob, the Outlaw Bob, as he sang his own songs as well as tunes from his former band mate and friend, Jerry Garcia.

Weir was a long-haired 16-year-old, wandering the streets of Palo Alto, Calif., when he heard banjo music, wandered into a music store and met Garcia. They jammed together and decided to form a band.

That was New Year's Eve, 1963. In August 1995, after three decades of playing music with The Grateful Dead, Garcia died of a heart attack. He was 53.

In an interview this summer in Acoustic Guitar magazine, Weir says he still feels Garcia's presence onstage. Weir says he'll play something and feel Garcia saying, "Nah, nah, don't go there" or "Yeah, there. Go there."

Well, Garcia would have been happy Sunday night. Weir did him proud.

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com

Sunday, November 16, 2008

11/15 /09 SHOW PHOTOS from Cousin Bud
http://picasaweb.google.com/cousinbud/081115upperdarby#

Another reason to look forward to 2009-
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0985052/fullcredits#cast

Friday, November 14, 2008

Happy Weekend!
Wish I were going to a show! Oh well, soon enough RD3 will be playing at the adorable (It's really small and very cute) 142 Throckmorton Theatre!
....

An interesting and sparkling NEW article on Mickey Hart-

Bob Weir and RatDog keep the Grateful Dead spirit alive
by Ben Horowitz/The Star-Ledger
Friday November 14, 2008, 4:31 PM

ASOCIATED PRESS
Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead performs at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa. during a benefit concert.
Bob Weir and his band, RatDog, are doing an effective job of keeping the Grateful Dead's legacy alive, or at least, one side of his old band's legacy.
The Dead had two main sides: There was the psychedelic, spacey, experimental Dead, the king of the jam bands; and there was the tight yet imaginative group that produced and performed a number of timeless, well-crafted roots-rock songs.
Weir, the Dead's rhythm guitarist whose rich baritone made him the band's most natural singer, thrived in the latter setting. So it was no accident that Wednesday night's concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark achieved its most powerful moments when Weir and RatDog focused on the songs, and didn't go overboard with the jamming.
With the Dead, Weir sang lead on about half the songs. Today, at 61, he sings lead on every song. His booming voice was fully intact Wednesday not only on his own songs, but on strikingly credible versions of such chestnuts as "Brown-Eyed Women" and "Cold Rain and Snow" that were sung by the Dead's legendary lead guitarist, the late Jerry Garcia.
RatDog's lead guitarist, Mark Karan, is a solid player, but he's no Garcia. Karan does a respectable job of exploring Garcia's high, darting flights of fancy on guitar, but RatDog, for the most part, couldn't reach the sonic instrumental heights of the Dead. So that side of the Dead didn't fully come across.
The opening song, an 18-minute "Truckin,'" was a good example. The number began as a casual yet engaging jam that evolved into this Dead favorite. The band hit a danceable groove for the song itself, and the crowd, which didn't need much encouragement, was pumped for the evening. But when the verses ended, Karan and the band went into a purposeless jam that was at least five minutes too long.
Fortunately, that didn't become a pattern. During two sets of music that clocked in at a generous 2 hours and 45 minutes, the only other needless jam came when RatDog attempted to parallel a Dead concert with "Stuff," an instrumental break centered on a drum solo that came midway through the second set.
But the highlights outweighed the low points. A lively, fun-loving rendition of Bob Dylan's "Silvio" seamlessly integrated Kenny Brooks' saxophone solo on "Tequila," delighting the crowd.
Three songs that originated with RatDog showed the six-man band has something to offer of its own. Particularly noteworthy was "Bury Me Standing," a slow, funky, mysterious number abetted by tension-building flourishes from the sax.
RatDog finished the first set in style with a snappy, rousing "Greatest Story Ever Told" that segued into a euphoric "Scarlet Begonias" on which Karan's guitar solo was just right.
An attention-grabbing, acoustic "Me and Bobby McGee" kicked off the second set with authority. And the band pulled itself out of the "Stuff" jam to end the concert on a high note. A stripped-down, atmospheric "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" led to an exhilarating set-closer, a no-holds-barred rendition of the Dead/Weir show-stopper, "Sugar Magnolia."
For its encore and final song, RatDog chose a moving ballad, "Brokedown Palace," a song Garcia co-wrote and sang for his mother after she died. Weir sang the song back to Garcia, showing his respect and affection for his mentor ("Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell").
The song sent the Deadheads, young and old, exiting the elegant building in a mellow, reflective, satisfied mood.
Ben Horowitz can be reached at bhorowitz@starledger.com.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Is John Perry Barlow, the Thomas Jefferson of the internet?
http://www.reason.com/news/show/29236.html

Alrighty! Garcia film on the way!

http://www.relix.com/Features/Daily_News/Garcia_Biopic_Gets_Rolling__200811133374.html

Article on Kirby show seems okay but t I've never heard some of the songs listed as classic Bob Weir songs!
http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2008/11/13/lifestyles/entertainment/wb_voice.20081113.t.pg24.cv13cdratdog_s1.2083551_ent.txt!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:29 pm

Weir and RatDog provide jamming good time
By BRAD PATTON | For The Times Leader

http://www.timesleader.com/entertainment/Weir_and_RatDog_provide_jamming_good_time.html

Bob Weir performs with RatDog at the Kirby Center Tuesday.(Don Carey/Times Leader Photo)
Don Carey

Bob Weir performs with RatDog at the Kirby Center Tuesday.(Don Carey/Times Leader Photo)
Don Carey

Evoking the music and spirit of the Grateful Dead while applying their own unique talents, Bob Weir and RatDog tore through two sets and nearly three hours of music at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday.

Weir, a founding member of that legendary band from San Francisco, has been fronting RatDog since just before the death of Jerry Garcia ended the Dead in 1995. Tuesday’s show included seven songs made famous by his original band, plus a handful of others that were played by the Dead many times over their 30 years together.

Taking the stage with an extended jam that first led into “The Music Never Stopped” then into “Casey Jones” (a Dead song originally sung by Garcia), Weir and his musical compatriots set the tone for the evening by making that first segment last for over 20 minutes.

Next up was a version of “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion),” a song from the Grateful Dead’s 1967 debut album. The audience heartily joined in as the group persuaded them to “Come and join the party, it’s everyday.”

The current version of RatDog has been playing together since March 2003, and it showed on Tuesday night. Now more than ever, they seem more like a band and not just backing musicians for Weir.

Each member was showcased at various points during the concert. Guitarist Mark Karan, saxophone player Kenny Brooks and keyboard player Jeff Chimenti provided the flourishes, as bass player Robin Sylvester and longtime drummer Jay Lane built a sturdy foundation.

Lane, the only other member besides Weir who has played at every RatDog show, was featured prominently on an extended drum solo towards the end of the second set. He also provided the patented Bo Diddley beat on the band’s version of “Iko Iko.”

Two Bob Dylan songs were featured; a nice rendition of “Slow Train” graced the first set, while an acoustic version of “Desolation Row” was a highpoint of the second. Unfortunately the latter tune was marred by sub-par sound, including very noticeable feedback. In fact, throughout the evening the sound seemed muddy and distorted, with Weir’s vocals buried in the mix.

Seemingly unaware of the technical problems, the band played a blistering 11-minute version of Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster,” which featured Chimenti on the piano, during the first set. That was followed by an equally impressive take on “Stagger Lee.”

Following a 30-minute intermission, the group came back out with two acoustic numbers, “Stealin’” and Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”

Then came the longest epic of the evening: Weir’s solo tune “Wrong Way Feelin’” which morphed into the Dead favorite “Playin’ In The Band,” which then turned into “Iko Iko,” which was followed by the drum solo/jam section, then “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” and finally “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad.”

The band then capped off the concert with Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

Just like the Grateful Dead before them, no two RatDog shows are ever the same. Although flawed by the technical shortcomings, Tuesday’s performance by Weir and company was a fine addition to their portfolio.

11/11 isnt just a special day for my family, seems Ratdog always has a good show when they play that day!
Here's s

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A nice interview with Dennis McNally!
Check it out!
click this!

Hippy 17th Berthaday to our Sasha!

Monday, November 10, 2008

If you can't make it to this event- you might like to bid on some very special items at the online auction- including some items donated by Ratdog! http://www.kinkaidfoundation.org/michelleauction.htm

Words & Music
The Michelle McFee Benefit Concert

A very special night for a very special friend, featuring:

David Nelson & Special Guests

Pete Sears – Mark Karan – Peter Albin
Mookie Siegel – Jimmy Sanchez – Dave Getz

Rubber Souldiers

Chris Rowan – Lorin Rowan
Jimmy Sanchez – David Gans – Robin Sylvester

Bill Cutler & Friends

Pat Campbell – David Perper – Steve Shufton – Peter Harris

7:30pm – December 19th, 2008

The Glaser Center

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

547 Mendocino Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA

(map & directions)

Tickets $20 in advance; $25 at the door

Only 300 tickets are available for this event!

Words & Music Benefit Tickets (via PayPal)

To purchase tickets using any non-PayPal method,
please click this email link to send your request to

tickets@kinkaidfoundation.org
This email will reserve your tickets; we’ll make payment arrangements later.

Ratdog LIVE from 11/09/2008 Concert Rebroadcast: TONIGHT

11/10/2008 9:00 pm ET
On November 9, The Grateful Dead Channel broadcast a live concert by Bob Weir and Ratdog from Bridgeport, Connecticut. If you missed it, be sure to catch the rebroadcast.

Rebroadcast: Weds., Nov. 12th @ 3 am ET; Fri., Nov. 14th @ 9 pm ET; Sat., Nov. 15th @ 12 pm ET; Sun., Nov. 16th @ 9 pm ET.

http://www.sirius.com/gratefuldead

Sunday, November 09, 2008

www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/11/10/keeping_up_with_kim
Grateful fans
Wyc Grousbeck indulged his inner Deadhead the other night. The Celts CEO invited Bob Weir and the rest of RatDog to Friday's Celtics game at the Garden. (RatDog played at the Orpheum Saturday.) Weir, the former guitarist of the Grateful Dead and good friend of onetime Celtic Bill Walton, happily accepted. Said RatDog's tour manager Matt Busch afterward: "The seats were spectacular, Wyc was a terrific host, and it was as great a night off as we've had in quite some time." Weir demonstrated his Celtic pride by donning a Kendrick Perkins jersey for his show's encore.

FOTD from last night!
cleeky here!

Check out Yusuf's blog.
There's a link to watch "Go Furthur" online over there. Nice appearance by the Bobby in that film.

Friday, November 07, 2008

And suddenly, he's everyweir!

including basketball games!

"And if it’s excitement you were seeking, you can thank the Celts for continually tossing the Brew City crew a life preserver in the form of some uninspired play. With Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead sitting courtside, they were, at times, only technically alive.
AND
http://www.telegram.com/article/20081108/NEWS/811080470/1009/SPORTS
"Former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir sat courtside next to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck with a Celtics jersey in his lap. Weir and his RatDog band play at the Orpheum tonight."

Happy Belated Birthday Kenny Brooks!

Better late than never!

Topher's ashes will be spread at the park across from the Orpheum tomorrow, most likely around 5:30 or 6. Please contact Liz at lizzy@ratdog.org if you can make it there before the show to say goodbye.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Note from the Washigton Post-

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?
· Bob Weir in the midst of the jubilant crowd rallying at the White House very late on election night. The gray-bearded Grateful Dead guitarist had attended the more polite party hosted by Democratic leadership the Hyatt Regency earlier that evening with former band mate Phil Lesh, had dinner at Old Ebbitt, then got drawn into the crowd as he walked back to his hotel. Agreed to pose for a lot of photos with fans.

Also in the Post is Soccer news displayed in a Ratdog setlist!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/11/morning_kickaround_99.html

(((((Topher))))

.................
Rex Foundation's 25th Anniversary
"Sweet Music Everywhere"
Featuring: Peter Rowan with Friends and Family
Including The Rowan Brothers, Ramblin' Jack Elliott,
Crucial Reggae with legendaries Fully Fullwood
& Tony Chin, and the Peter Rowan Blue Grass Band
Michael Kang with Panjea
Jackie Greene
The Brass Mafia
And more…

Balcony and lower loge tickets are available
through mail order.
Balcony tickets are $44.00 per ticket
Lower Loge tickets are $104.00 per ticket.
Lower loge tickets are limited so please send
two money orders if you will accept balcony seats.

Premium floor seats are available by faxing
(415 868-9819) or emailing (GDTSTOO@gdtstoo.com)
the form found on our website, www.gdtstoo.com
Premium floor seats include a pre-concert reception
party with dinner and drinks, plus goodie bag.
Groupings of 2-10 people can be arranged.

Rock & Roll - $1,010.00 per ticket – Front floor seats
Blue Grass - $510.00 per ticket
Reggae - $210.00 per ticket

The first mail in dates for this performance are
Friday through Monday, November 7 through
November 10, 2008.

_____________________________________________

Bob Weir & Ratdog 2008 Fall Tour

All tickets have been mailed for the remainder of the
Fall tour. Last call for Greensboro and the Florida shows.
Email us for credit card purchase information.

____________________________________________

New Year's Eve 2008 – 2009

All orders through the 24th postmark will be filled,
however, duplications will be disqualified.
Tickets for these shows will go out around Thanksgiving.

New Year's Eve tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster.

____________________________________________

Our customer service number is: 415 868-9819
Our semi-regular telephone hours are Monday
through Friday, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific time.

The Crew of GDTS TOO
November 6, 2008

"The plowman is broad as the back of the land
he is sowing
As he dances the circular track of the plow ever
knowing
The the work of his day measures more than the
planting and growing
Let it grow, let it grow, greatly yield"

John Barlow

__._,_.___

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Brrrrrng!
Brrrrng!
Bobby has a message for you!

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/11/04/grateful-dead-roadie-i-took-my-job-as-a-sacred-task/
Grateful Dead Roadie: “I Took My Job as a Sacred Task”
11/4/08, 2:32 pm EST
The Grateful Dead biopic adapted from Home Before Daylight, already has a shortlist of hot directors including Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, Jonathan Demme and Larry Charles. “Those are the guys that would really knock out of the park,” producer Stephen Emery tells Rock Daily.

But like any business these days, the film industry is taking a kick in the groin. “Hollywood is in a freeze like the rest of us in this country,” says the book’s author and longtime Dead roadie Steve Parish. “It ebbs and it flows. But the wheels are in motion. It could happen any day.”

Several musicians, including Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, have already signed on for the soundtrack, with guitarist Bob Weir as the music director. “I’m very proud to have Bob on board,” says Emery. “He wants to write new stuff for the film, too.”

Out of all the books on the Grateful Dead, few cut close to the bone like Parish’s book — it goes deep and gets personal. He not only knows where the skeletons are, but where the bodies are buried. That happens after 35 years hauling gear for Jerry Garcia and the band. He’s seen a lot — maybe too much. So, it’s a miracle that he remembers enough to get it down in ink, let alone bring it to the screen. “Jerry was just such an amazing guy,” Parish says. “We hung out together, played together and partied together.”

“I thought it was a great story crewing for the grateful Dead,” Parish says. “I realize now we broke all all the rules. There were no PAs. We went all around around the country dealing with the unions. All they knew was Broadway. We were long hairs and different from them. But Jerry had a huge respect for the working man.” But Parish held his own. “Fuck, I’m a pretty big fella.”

As pitched, the film concentrates one the band’s early years and arcs over a decade.”It was a great time for the band and the country,” Emery says. “It goes from 1967, when Steve signed on with the band, and runs through the next ten years. It has all the pain, love, and the brotherhood. I don’t want to get into the heroin problems and darker responsibilities that happened later.”

As Parish puts it, life with the Dead was tender and heart-felt. “Garcia was a brother to me,” he says. “And I took my job a a sacred task.” One evening, Parish got word his wife and daughter died in a car wreck. “I was out of control, It was just an incredible world. We always had a connection with death, and it made you tougher. The band literally moved in with me. They took care of me. But it was dangerous.”

Humor, no doubt, will play a part. “I can tell you without reading it that it might make a funny movie,” says Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow.

Garcia, Parish says, would likely approve of the flick. “Jerry always talked about movie making,” he says. “We always talked about doing projects. Jerry was really into movies. He loved films, old ones, strange ones.”

“Bob and I are waiting,” Parish says about studio negotiations. “It’s like standing on ice blocks.”
.........................................................

"Tale of the Dog
Mark Karan talks about joining the Grateful Dead brotherhood, music as a form of therapy and hearing himself on TV"
Tale of the Dog

Thursday, November 06, 2008
By Dave Bonan

Mark Karan grew up in San Francisco and played in countless rock outfits. He was heavily influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and, of course, the Grateful Dead.

He first joined Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir as The Other Ones and shared the "Jerry" duties with former Zero guitarist Steve Kimock on the Furthur Festival Summer Tour in 1998 and again in 2000. After the tour ended, he joined Ratdog, the band Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir formed in 1995 with bassist Rob Wasserman. Ratdog performs a large chunk of the Dead's catalogue as well as originals and covers, and mirrors the Dead's Americana hybrid roots. They released an album, Evening Moods, in 2002, but like the Dead, live shows are their focal point. (Like Garcia said, "Making an album is like building a ship in a bottle, playing a live show is like sailing on the ocean.")

In June 2007, Karan was diagnosed with throat cancer and didn't join that summer's tour. Miraculously, he was given a clean bill of health the next summer.

The Weekly caught up with Mark Karan at his home on the West Coast.

Weekly: Okay, let's go cliché. What is your favorite GD song? What is your favorite Bobby song?
Mark Karan: Ah, the question I can't answer, see? There's just too many, and I like different songs for different reasons, like songwriting, storytelling or chord progressions. But I tend to favor songs from the early '70s.

I was at the last two Shoreline shows on the 1998 tour. During the show, many of us saw the band members possibly experiencing an apparition during "Space," as they looked back and forth in confusion. Do you remember that?
I don't specifically remember that happening, but things like that tend to happen. My wife and friends (who were not under the influence) were at the Ratdog New Year's show nine years ago and we were playing "Two Jinn," and they don't know if Candace Brightman [the GD's light lady] did something, but they all saw this blue purple genie back in the corner of the auditorium where there weren't any lighting effects going on at all. So there's room for that kind of stuff to go on.

Who would you like to play with that you haven't?
Oh gosh [long pause]. I'm a complete Beatle idiot. At the very least, I'd like to meet and hang with McCartney and/or Ringo.

But he won't give you his autograph!
I don't care about that. It would mean so much more to me to spend some time with him, although I'm a sucker for a good photograph (laughing). I'd love to play some guitar with Bill Frisell and Amos Garrett. I've been really lucky. I've played with a lot of people I've wanted to play with—Little Feat, Dave Mason, Delaney [Bramlett] and [Bonnie] Bramlett—a lot of people who were important to me when I was growing up.

How would you describe your style?
I would say melodic and passionate as the primary characteristics. I don't think I'm going to blow away anyone's mind with my skill. It's not what I do. I'm really a songs person. I appreciate simplicity and appreciate passion and connection in music.

Back to Bobby [Weir] again. Do you and the other bandmates wonder why Bobby wears those short shorts?
[Laughing] Bobby's stock response is "It's always July under the lights." He makes fun of me on summer tours when I'm in my long-sleeve cowboy shirts and jeans.

Well, you also wear a lot of flowery shirts, evocative of the county you live in, right?
Depending on my mood, it's generally the Hawaiian shirt or the cowboy shirt. I came through the '80s with mile-high hair and there's funny pictures of me floating on the internet, but when I got invited to play with The Other Ones in '98, it was kind of a hip reset in a lot of ways, musically, social focus-wise, and even fashion-wise. I feel like I got sidetracked trying to make it commercially in the music world through the '80s. I'm glad I'm more back on track.

When you were diagnosed with throat cancer, did you utilize music as part of your healing?
Absolutely. Aside from having my guitar by my side at all times everyday for seven weeks, when I had radiation, they strapped me down and locked my head with radiation guns pointing at you for 25 minutes. Every day before going in, I'd select a CD from my collection and wait for a favorite to jump out that was full of life and comfort and I would bring it and listen.

I definitely don't have the energy I did previously and my voice is compromised, and I want that to get back in shape to finish my record.

On July 21, 2007, Phil and Friends' encore was "Box of Rain," and it was dedicated to you. Deadheads know he wrote that song while watching his father on his deathbed.
I actually didn't know that. That's very nice. I knew about the song's history but not that Phil dedicated it to me.

Do you feel a special kinship with Phil because you both survived your health problems? [Phil received a liver donation and preaches organ donation before every encore.]
Absolutely. We were never close previously except for the '98 tour. We did his son's benefit show and some Ratdog stuff but never crossed paths. When they reached out when I was sick, it was really cool because we could reconnect in other ways as well as the spiritual and emotional stuff that comes up as a result of health issues. I definitely feel a strong connection to those people now.

For folks not familiar with the jam band genre, they may have heard your compositions on NBC's "Scrubs" and on programs for A&E, Discovery Channel, Oxygen and the Travel Network.
[Laughing] My god! How did you know that?

I look up my stuff!
You certainly do! Oh, that's amazing, man. Right on.

How did you make that transition to television?
I've always done music for a living that's taken a lot of forms, whether I played covers in bars for $50 a night to more creative and refined bands with hopes of record deals to teaching and sessions. I've been involved in music library projects where you write, play and record. It's not necessarily a song, but a snippet. Television and films then license the music through the libraries.

Do you find yourself watching TV and listen and say, "Hey, that's me!"
Occasionally. My wife and I were in Los Angeles one time and this Norm Reeves [a local dealer] Honda commercial came on and it was me singing, and I had done that like ten years previously, and here they were still using the exact same commercial.

I see you also composed music for the Playboy Channel. Have you introduced a new hybrid of jam band/porno-funk?
[Laughing] No, it was the music library as I mentioned before. No porno-funk from this kid.

In Rolling Stone, Bobby was in the top 25 list of San Francisco guitarists, along with Garcia. I think he's really underrated and his styling is constructive, frenetic and enigmatic. How does it sound on stage?
Like part of what we're doing. I can't afford to listen. I have to stay focused on what we're all doing.

.......................

http://www.theweekender.com/music/RatDog__lsquo_at_our_best_rsquo__11-04-2008.html

by Ryan O’Malley
Weekender correspondent.

Going on more than a decade as the keyboardist for Bob Weir and RatDog, it’s about time Jeff Chimenti got around to listening to some Grateful Dead music. Although having Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead, in the band might seem like an open door to the enormous catalogue of Dead material, according to Chimenti, the band has always been about its own unique sound.
“When I first went up there, I would say ‘I don’t know that or I never heard it,’ and [Weir] was like, ‘Don’t listen to it. Let’s see what you’ve come up with,’” Chimenti explained. “I think things were working fine, but I think it’s best to go back and understand where it came from. It’s kind of hard to go somewhere if you don’t know the root source. Over the years, a bunch of us have been listening and listening. It’s all been fun for me, because it’s all kind of new. I think overall, everybody just has a better understanding of the music, which is important.”
When RatDog brings its jazz/funk/rock improvisation to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre Tuesday, Nov. 11, it’s safe to assume there will be a large amount of Dead material in the set, but don’t go to a RatDog show expecting to see someone trying to be Jerry Garcia. With RatDog, the band is more focused on adding its own twist to the music — whether it be lead guitarist Mark Karan throwing in some minor Garcia riffs or something that has become more prominent in recent years, having Chimenti or saxophonist Kenny Brooks take over some of the late guitarists fills.
“I just think there were certain signature lines that felt like they were in there, and we just took it upon ourselves, if we didn’t hear it, to go ahead and play it,” he said. “Maybe I can understand from Mark’s aspect, maybe there’s certain things he doesn’t want to play verbatim like Jerry, because he’s Mark. But there are certain tunes that have signature things, and they might gravitate or let themselves go that way, but nothing totally intentional. We’re just trying to fill out the music and pay homage as well. There was never a part with Mark where it was like ‘You need to play these parts.’ It was never like that. We want to be as individual as possible. We want to sound like us, but yet there’s certain things that we need to pay homage to.”
Developing its own sound is something RatDog prides itself on, with each show allowing the band to explore its own musical limitations. For Chimenti, that has meant going from just a backing player when he first joined in 1997 to a more dominant role today where he finds himself taking over a nice amount of soloing during any show.
“As the band knows each other more, you’re able to stretch out more,” Chimenti said. “I think it depends on the way shows are going. Sometimes there’s a little more room to step out. You never know how it’s going to go, especially during the ‘Stuff’ section — we’re all kind of going by the seat of our pants. Just finding spots. If it serves the music, why not? Let’s stretch it out. I don’t think it was anything that was talked about. I think it’s just the music and the comfort level with the music and each other. It’s like a natural progression.”
Other than the band’s live shows, many RatDog fans are still anticipating the follow-up to the band’s debut studio album, “Evening Moods,” which was released in 2000. Although RatDog has written almost enough material for a new studio album in the ensuing seven years, it looks like the band might be gearing up for some studio time, as it recently purchased a new recording studio near the Bay Area in California.
“It’s hard to say, because we’re basically just set up here in our home studio at TRI,” he said. “I think once that’s set, it’ll be a lot easier to do some tracking and to just lay some stuff down. I would assume that with the way things are going there should be some new studio aspects coming out of RatDog, in addition to live. I foresee something happening. The studio’s right there, so we might as well use it [laughs].”
For now, the band is concentrating on what it does best — delivering powerhouse live performances, like the stop at the Kirby on Tuesday.
“Like I always say, you’re going to get RatDog at our best,” he said. “We just go out there and try to do it, and every show is just as important as the next. We try to give our all every show no matter what. Hopefully, in a RatDog way, you get the honest and true RatDog — that’s what we try to do.”
w

Monday, November 03, 2008

http://www.relix.com/Features/Daily_News/Weir_and_Lesh_to_Appear_on_SIRIUS_200811033327.html

Both Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will appear on SIRIUS’ 24-hour Grateful Dead channel over the course of the few few days. While in town for his run of shows at the Nokia Theatre, Gary Lambert, Dead expert and co-host of Tales from the Golden Road, will talk politics with Lesh this Wednesday, the morning after the 2008 election. Following the interview, Lesh and his current guitarist Jackie Greene will play a short set in the SIRIUS studios. Weir will then stop by the studio the following Sunday, November 9 at 8:00 PM for an exciting performance with RatDog.

Lesh’s performance will be rebroadcast on November 6 at 9:00 AM, November 8 at 4:00 PM and November 9 at 10:00 AM. Weir’s performance will be rebroadcast on November 10 at 9:00 PM, November 12 at 3:00 AM, November 14 at 9:00 PM, November 15 at 12:00 PM and November 16 at 9:00 PM. For more information about SIRIUS XM Radio visit www.sirius.com/gratefuldead.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Hooray for Bud!
That would be Cousin Bud!!
Westbury Ratdog pix at his site->http://picasaweb.google.com/cousinbud/081031westbury#

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08307/924851-388.stm

Review: Deadheads get Halloween weekend treat from Bob Weir and Ratdog

Sunday, November 02, 2008
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It was only fitting on Halloween weekend that the Deadheads assembled at the Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead got to join in unison to sing, "steal your face right off your head."
The most skull-centric piece of Grateful Dead lyricism was delivered by Bob Weir and Ratdog deep in the second set of a show that spanned nearly four hours.
The Dead's co-frontman sports a bushy gray beard these days to go along with dropping as many beloved Jerry Garcia songs into the set as his own. In addition to the aforementioned "He's Gone," Weir even reached into the Garcia solo catalog for "Mission in the Rain," a song he doesn't sing with the tenderness Jerry did but was effective nonetheless.
Ratdog was a pretty slow-moving creature last night, exploring the psychedelic colors, textures and loose funk grooves Deadheads know and love, complete with a saxophonist adding an an almost "Saturday Night Live" band New York feel.
The sets seemed even more unpredictable than usual, what with a truncated "Dark Star" ending the first and an acoustic "Blackbird" opening the second. The show favored jazzy improvisation over midtempo grooves rather the Dead's punchier, more rockin' material, with the exceptions of an early "Big River" and a set-closing "One More Saturday Night."
Everyone is going to have their favorites -- "Cassidy" was a highlight for me, even if the build wasn't as climactic as usual -- but most of the people twirling in the aisles will probably agree that Ratdog caught the most fire on a euphoric "Eyes of the World" and a transcendent "Standing on the Moon."
Speaking of astral travel, during "Stuff," they replicated the sounds of aliens landing in Munhall and creating their own cosmic orchestra -- a treat for the folks who opted for something stronger than beer.

First published on November 2, 2008 at 1:54 am

Saturday, November 01, 2008

From Ratdog.com for the Jamaican Bound-

This week's "Voice of Dog" which you can get in your email (just go to Ratdog.com and sign up!) includes the following message-

A Chance to Serve in Jamaica (along with the beach and rum drinks]...

Before the next scheduled issue of Voice of Dog will come one of those uniquely American holidays - namely, the shopping orgy that comes the day after Thanksgiving.

If you're among those lucky folk who're planning on going to Jamaica, we'd like to pull your coat to an idea. It's great to be able to take a few days off from winter - hey, the band's looking forward to it, too - but it'd also be great to do something very, very sweet along with it.

And have we got an idea for you. The folks at Deep Blue Ripple International have been gathering school and other supplies for the kids of Jamaica for years - they've worked with people we know well, and they're solid.

So here's what you do. When you start your Christmas shopping, how about you buy an extra kid's backpack, - or two - or what you can afford - everything helps. Then stuff them with school and art supplies and books - and lots of other stuff. Then you bring them with you to Jamaica and we'll make sure they get to the right folks.

Good stuff: Pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, lined paper, solar calculators, non-toxic glue, spiral notebooks, folders, index cards, math flash cards - hey, all the stuff that almost all of us grew up with just isn't easily accessible in Jamaica. Let's help.

Art supplies: crayons, watercolor paints and brushes, sparkle glue, construction paper, beads and beading supplies. (non toxic, please!)

Music supplies: harmonicas, hand drums, shakers, recorders, band instruments if you can come up with them.

Books: We're thinking books like dictionaries, Caribbean or African or African-American fiction for young adults, music instruction books, art instruction books, computer science stuff, elementary spelling and math - check out the list.

Play equipment: soccer balls, jump ropes, hacky sacks, chalk for hopscotch. And personal stuff - reading glasses, slippers, canes, soap.

Celebration, which is what a RatDog show is about, is a basic human need. No need to feel guilty about that. But combining it with being conscious of how lucky we are to be able to do that - and carrying along some backpacks full of good vibes. that's an even better thing.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

DAVID GANS!!!!

Happy Birthday to a great guy!!!

this and that

Hurry- you have about 5 minutes , well maybe a day? Whatev, cast your setlist predictions NOW at
Ratdog Fantasy!

Come on without, come on within, you ain't seen nuthin like The Mighty Quinn!

Do you like astrology? If you do, you might enjoy checking out Planet waves.net's blog on Jerry Garcia.

Congratulations to Matt Beauchemin

Some cool items waiting for your bid at the Head count online auction!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

He changed live music forever

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!!!!!!!!!!

Grateful Dead lawyer Harold 'Hal' Kant, 77, dies
Saturday, October 25, 2008 | 9:10 p.m. CDT
BY DENNIS MCLELLAN, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Harold "Hal" Kant, the Grateful Dead's longtime principal lawyer and corporate general counsel who spent more than three decades helping protect the legendary rock band's lucrative musical legacy, died. He was 77.

Kant died of pancreatic cancer Oct. 19 at his home in Reno, Nev., said his son, Jonas.

Once described in The National Law Journal as a "conservative, Republican, poker-playing opera fan,'' the bearded, Bronx-born lawyer launched his more than 35-year association with the Northern California band in 1971.

Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir described Kant last week as a "dear friend,'' who was "most instructive to us.''

"The Grateful Dead was known for its revolutionary approach to the music industry, and Hal was part and parcel of that,'' Weir said in a statement. "We wanted a place for humanity in a business that more resembled a nightmare circus than much else, and he helped us find it.''

With tongue in cheek, Kant's Grateful Dead business cards described his title with the band, whose lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia, died in 1995, simply as "Czar.''

"He oversaw every aspect of their business, whether licensing, touring, trademarks, merchandise or Garcia getting busted for drugs,'' said Jonas Kant, a music lawyer and a senior vice president at Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

"They were known for being a free-loving, peace-loving band, but he helped them run everything like a structured business,'' he said.

Kant, who accompanied the band on various tours, "did all of their recording and music publishing agreements,'' his son said. "He was renowned for being very much ahead of his time in terms of protecting the artists' and songwriters' rights.''

Kant ensured the masters of the Grateful Dead's recordings and copyrights in the music would be owned by the band, his son said. He also enlisted an Oakland, Calif., law firm to handle enforcement of the band's trademarks.

Dennis McNally, author of the 2002 biography "A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead,'' said Kant "was a significant force in keeping them together by having the business function well so that they could do what they wanted to do, which is play music.''

When Ben & Jerry's ice cream produced a new flavor, Cherry Garcia, in the early '90s, McNally wrote in his book, the company did so without even discussing the idea with Garcia. Although Garcia was unconcerned when it was first brought to his attention — "At least they're not naming a motor oil after me, man,'' he said — Kant convinced him the issue should be addressed.

As recounted by McNally, Kant told Garcia: "They will name a motor oil after you if you don't confront this, Jerry. You'll have no control over your name at all.''

Garcia finally told Kant, "If it bothers you, go ahead.''

"In the next few years,'' McNally wrote, "Jerry would have no problems in spending the large sum of money he'd earn thanks to the letter Kant wrote (to Ben & Jerry's).''

Kant remained the band's general counsel until around 2000, but he continued to represent Ice-Nine, the band's music publishing company, until his death.

He also was a lifelong poker player, who cut classes at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx to play penny poker with other kids in a clubhouse in the cellar of a tenement house.

With a penchant for wearing a cowboy hat and boots and smoking Cuban cigars, Kant began playing casino poker in 1984 and won the World Series of Poker in 1987.

The rule he followed at both the gaming table and the conference table, he said, is "you have to be willing to go all-out. Bluffing is OK, but you have to be willing to take the downside if you lose.''

The son of eastern European immigrants who owned a dry-cleaning store in the Bronx, Kant was born July 29, 1931. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Washington and a master's degree in clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University.

After a stint in the Army working as a psychologist at an Army hospital, he went to Harvard, where he received his law degree with honors in 1958.

He was a clerk for Judge William Orr of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco before joining a Beverly Hills, Calif., law firm in 1959. In a few years, he launched his own general business law practice and eventually began representing movie industry clients.

During that time, he told The Boston Globe in 2000, he noticed, "The only attorneys in the music business were the attorneys for the record companies, and their job was to get as much money as they could for their company and leave as little as possible for the artists. I decided, maybe the other guys should have an attorney, too.''

He began by handling the Association and in time represented artists including Sonny & Cher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Hot Tuna, and Captain Beefheart.

The Grateful Dead made up only a small part of his work until 1987 when, according to The National Law Journal story, the band's revenues soared from $15 million per year to $100 million per year. Kant then withdrew from the rest of his practice and devoted the majority of his time to the band.

Kant, who was executive director of the Legal and Behavioral Institute in Los Angeles in the '70s, also was a co-author of the 1973 book "Pornography and Sexual Deviance.''

In addition to his son Jonas, Kant is survived by his wife, Jesse; two other sons, Garth and Tony; his sisters, Charlotte Silverman and Thelma Sameth; his step-children, Cameron Cassidy Sloane and Sean Cassidy; and five grandchildren.