Home

At The Festival
2006 Archive

Links

Tour info: Dead.net Home Page | GDTSTOO | PollStar | TicketMaster | Rhythm Devils setlists
Official websites: The Dead | Rhythm Devils | Phil Lesh | RatDog | Mickey Hart | Bill Kreutzmann | Robert Hunter | Bruce Hornsby | Furthur
Fan websites: RatDog.org | Philzone.com | Bruuuce.com | Furthurmore | OtherOnes.net | Rabhan.com photos | GD Resources Galore

Updates and Articles

12/06/06 - Mickey Hart Interview from Relix.com

12/05/06 - Rex benefit photos from JamBase.com

12/03/06 - From www.ibabuzz.com:

[The] Rhythm Devils show no sign of slowing down. Dead lyricist Robert Hunter has written a bunch of new tunes for the band and there are rumors swirling that there is a 2007 tour in the works.

11/16/06 - According to the Mickey Hart Tour Dates page the Denver 11/26/06 Mickey Hart & Friends show has been cancelled.

10/31/06 - metromix.chicagotribune.com lists a 12/20/06 Rhythm Devils show at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, IN.

10/30/06 - Watch blueroom.att.com for archived Vegoose performances.

10/28/06 - The Chicago 10/24/06 Rhythm Devils show is now available at www.munckmusic.com.

10/27/06 - From the Marin Independent-Journal:

"It removes the business part that came between us," Lesh says of the Rhino contract. "That's the area of common endeavor that we always disagreed the most about. So in one stroke that's gone. Now we can be friends again.

"And our fans should appreciate that it's going to speed up the release of this vast archive of Grateful Dead material," he added. "So more of this stuff is going to be coming out to the public faster, as downloads as well as CDs."

It will do nothing to speed up a Grateful Dead reunion, however, which seems like a distant possibility at this point.

"No one has even brought that up to me," Lesh says. "I'm open to all kinds of different things, but we certainly haven't talked about that.

"I do know that Bob (Weir), for instance, is very happy doing what he's doing with his band, RatDog, and I'm really enjoying what I'm doing, and Billy (Kreutzmann) and Mickey (Hart) now have the Rhythm Devils, so they're out there making some music. Everyone's pretty much enjoying their lives and everyone's got a pretty full plate."

10/26/06 - Go to www.vegoose.com to check out The Rhythm Devils set from Vegoose which will be webcast at 3pm on Sunday, 10/29/06.

10/24/06 - Mickey Hart Interview (and Sayreville 10/18/06 MP3s) from Philzone.com

10/24/06 - From OnMilwaukee.com:

Hart, who was half of the two-drummer tandem for the Grateful Dead, says it was an honor to be part of the Dead. But with his new band [The Rhythm Devils], he feels the same way on stage as he did when the Dead were at their prime.

------------------------------------

Hart said in a phone interview from the House of Blues in Chicago, "Each night builds on the night before. I don't know what the top end of this band is. It keeps getting better every night. It's like seeing a band being born."

------------------------------------

Hart said a DVD of this tour is currently being shot, and the band will make a CD next year.

10/24/06 - According to www.coloradosymphony.org the 11/26/06 Mickey Hart and Friends show will feature the "Grateful Dead drummer and his percussion ensemble in a dazzling World Beat workout."

10/23/06 - From Glide Magazine:

Eric Ward: So following the October tour, what’s next for you and the Rhythm Devils? Is it open-ended?

Mickey Hart: Yeah, Bill and I wanted to keep it kind of loose. We’ll take it step by step. We’re gonna probably do a CD and a DVD of it, we wouldn’t want to waste this opportunity, 'cause the band’s hot. And once we burn this new material, then we’re thinking about going into the studio by the end of the year and knocking something out.

Eric Ward: With this same ensemble?

Mickey Hart: Yeah, pretty much I would think. If it’s working, it’s working, and so far we’ve been getting really great response.

10/19/06 - Rhythm Devils article from Toledo Blade

10/18/06 - Patriot-News review of the Rhythm Devils' Harrisburg show

10/12/06 - Rhythm Devils article from Lancaster Newspapers, PA

10/11/06 - Rhythm Devils article from Patriot-News, PA

09/21/06 - From The Argus, CA:

For some tie-dyed twirlers, however, it's still odd to think of Hart and Kreutzmann sharing a rhythm section with a guy from Phish.

"I never even really heard Phish," Hart remarks of the band most often compared to the Dead. "We all just kind of connected."

The part of that connection that will have Deadheads trying to score "miracle tickets" outside of Rhythm Devils' gigs — which, indeed, could take place in the Bay Area as early as December — is Hart's reunion with Kreutzmann. Although rumors are still swirling about squabbles in the Dead camp, Hart has nothing but nice things to say about the drummer with whom he shared a stage for so many decades.

"We've been through a lot together — and now we are back in the saddle again," he says. "We are playing together better than ever. Sometimes it just takes 40 years."

A few months [after The Jammys], Hart and Kreutzmann decided to make their partnership more permanent. Shedding a few pounds (and percussionists) since the spring, the Rhythm Devils has quickly aged into a carefully toned, traveling super group, with Gordon and Kimock serving as Hart and Kreutzmann’s chief minstrels.

The multimillion-dollar question, of course, is whether Hart, Lesh, Kreutzmann and Weir - the Grateful Dead survivors - will tour and record together again?

This is what Hart had to say about that:

"The healing has begun. Once we got rid of the business, we don't have anything to argue about anymore really. Hopefully, we'll renew our friendships. We're starting to get together again socially. Because in order to make Grateful Dead music, you've got to really love each other.

"To do it really successfully and right, it's not about the music, it's about the interpersonal relationships between the players. It's about trust and love and all those crazy things. And that's coming back.

"So I look forward to some day when we can all be on the same stage and laugh and smile and feel good about each other and play our music. It's not over till it's over, and it ain't over yet. In the meantime, there's Planet Drum and the Rhythm Devils."

09/09/06 - The Rhythm Devils will play the Whitaker Center at the Forum in Harrisburg, PA on 10/17/06.

08/21/06 - Gathering of the Vibes review from Albany Times Union

08/20/06 - According to RatDog.org, Bob Weir sat in with The Rhythm Devils last night at the Gathering of the Vibes for "The Other One" > "Fire On The Mountain" and "Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad" (the last song also included vocals by Donna Jean McKay).

08/17/06 - Gathering of the Vibes article from Albany Times Union

08/17/06 - JamBands.com: The Rhythm Devils’ “Fountains of Wood”

08/14/06 - JamBands.com: Robert Hunter Pens Lyrics for the Rhythm Devils

08/14/06 - Article from JamBase: RHYTHM DEVILS TOUR!

08/09/06 - The Rhythm Devils feat. Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Mike Gordon & Steve Kimock will play Vegoose this Halloween weekend in Las Vegas.

08/04/06 - From the Marin Independent-Journal:

Now, with the day-to-day stress of running a company no longer a bone of contention, the door is open to a mature period of equanimity for a legendary group founded on the hippie ethos of peace and love in the '60s.

"I think it was a common thought that if we got rid of the business, we might become friends again," Hart said. "We might actually play again. We really love each other, and, deep down, we're tied at the heart. Our friendship needs to be renewed, but we could never do it around a boardroom table. Now we have nothing to fight over."

And the band members, who last toured together in 2004 using the name the Dead (they retired the Grateful Dead name when Jerry Garcia died, in 1995), are considering some new shows this year, according to Kreutzmann. "We need to get back to playing again," he says. "I need to focus on that, and not being a businessman."

07/10/06 - From the New York Times:

Mr. Hart said that his hope was that the [licensing agreement with Rhino Entertainment] would free the band to make music together. "To us, the Grateful Dead was always about the music, not just going to board meetings. The business got so big, and that's not what we signed up for.

"When we don't have to do business together, maybe we can become friends again. Maybe we can even play together again."

06/22/06 - From the Asheville Citizen-Times:

Jedd Ferris: Is there a chance for the remaining members of the Grateful Dead to reunite in a more permanent band setting?

Phil Lesh: Bob (Weir) really enjoys what he’s doing with Ratdog, because he gets to call the shots, and I really enjoy what I’m doing for many of the same reasons. When we get together, it’s not that harmonious. We all have different ways of looking at the music. I would love to do it as an event or occasion where we meet up and play our hearts out for three days at a time.

06/09/06 - From the Marin Independent-Journal:

If the Grateful Dead survivors do reunite, Weir would like to see them reform with just the four of them, no one else, as a stripped down rock quartet.

"That would be the most meaningful way for us to go back into the heart of our music, to rediscover what it is that we have," he says.

"I would love to take the Dead out as a quartet. I'm totally up for that."

04/21/06 - Jambands.com: More Hart at Green Apple

04/21/06 - Relix.com: Frank Zappa Receives Lifetime Achivement Award at 2006 Jammys

04/20/06 - Jambands.com: The Rhythm Devils Take Green Apple to the Streets

03/24/06 - From the Times Herald-Record:

[L]ook for a possible reincarnation of "The Dead," the entity that has toured off and on over the past three years. But more interestingly, Weir has found himself fronting trios and thinking about one day hitting the road in a quartet setting with some familiar colleagues.

"Phil and I each have our own hot hands these days, but I really think the most interesting idea is to forget other members and just go out as the four core members. . ."

The Rhythm Devils, Marley Brothers and Charlie Musselwhite Join Jammys Line-Up

The roster of performers for the Sixth Annual Jammys continues to expand. The latest additions are Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Stephen Marley, Ky-Mani Marley and Charlie Musselwhite. While details on the collaborations will remain undercover until the night of the show, it is fair to say that the Rhythm Devils, Hart and Kreutzmann, will team up in one musical segment (with additional musicians participating as well). . . The Jammys will return to The Theater at Madison Square Garden on April 20, with tickets currently on-sale.

03/17/06 - From the Myrtle Beach Sun News:

"We'll be playing again," Weir said of the remaining members of The Dead.

"There was some talk about this summer but it didn't pull together so maybe next summer," he said.

02/19/06 - According to the PhilZone.com rumors page, "On Feb. 10th, Phil said on Sirius Satellite Radio the Dead is talking about doing a few reunion Terrapin style shows this summer! Then on Feb. 14, Warren was on & mentioned he was invited this Summer!" Also, on Feb. 17, Bill Kreutzmann reportedly told Sirius regarding The Dead, "some nice stuff coming up, but im not at liberty to talk about it, but it would help carve out our legacy.."

02/16/06 - From the Patriot Ledger:

Lesh confirms that another reunion by the surviving members of the Dead is in the talking stages for summer.

‘‘There are all kinds of irons in the fire,’’ he said, ‘‘and the fire is heating slowly.’’

The Grateful Dead came into being at a unique time in human history, when consciousness was expanding, walls were crumbling, and young people all over the world were searching for a new way of life. The community that evolved out of the Haight-Ashbury scene has spread out around the world, and now is in a position of being able to mentor and assist newer artists and thinkers in their efforts. Sometimes, however, people can find themselves in a kind of comfort zone, where the concepts and experiences that were once so fresh and new have themselves become conventions- walls, if you will, that tend to box in one’s thinking. Everything new is judged against whether or not it conforms to dogma; that is, the way it used to be “back in the day”. The GD as an entity has gone through the whole cycle of evolution, and both Bobby and myself have, in the last ten years, developed our own individual approaches to GD music. I understand the importance for older deadheads of “family reunion” type events - they can connect with family and old friends, and enjoy the music much the way it was for them originally. It feels good to get in that box for a while, but I can only stay there for a short time. When I play with the other GD guys, the biggest presence onstage is an absence- of Jerry. There’s a huge hole there that goes all the way down to the core of the collective being. It’s hard to find your footing (or your bearings) in the void. Even when the Dead try to fill the hole with fine musicians like Trey, or Warren, there comes a time when it all starts to ring hollow: Jerry’s gone, and it will never again be like it was. Nothin’s gonna bring him back. And let’s face it- the core four are all well over fifty, right? What’s needed is a younger artist who can connect with the rising generation’s hunger for music that is rooted in the sixties spirit, but that speaks to them in their language. What’s needed is a real creative spirit that will blow some doors and windows open- but when the four of us come together, we become too rigid and set in our ways to allow that to happen. The music we made together, which was once so free, has become, like all artistic styles, a net of conventions which bind us as tightly as ever. Even with all the great bands out there, the “jam-band” scene seems to have reached a plateau and stayed there. The GD reached that same plateau, and I haven’t yet heard any bands that have taken it further, to the next level.

Phil: JC tells me that everyone wants to know about the Dead and Archive.org.

The Dead - The Dead is a big rusty machine that takes awhile to crank up. I am completely open to doing a Terrapin Station weekend and hopefully we will get it together for this summer.

Home