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Tour info: Furthur.net | RhythmDevils.net | Dead.net | GDTSTOO | MusicToday | PollStar | TicketMaster
Official websites: Furthur.net | Furthur on Facebook | Furthur on Twitter | Bob Weir on Twitter | RatDog | Phil Lesh | Rhythm Devils | Bill Kreutzmann | Mickey Hart | Robert Hunter
Fan websites: Philzone.com | OtherOnes.net | RatDog.org | DaveClarkLive.net photos | Rabhan.com photos | GD Resources Galore
Audio/Video: Furthur.net flash 1 | 2 | 3 | RhythmDevils.net | YouTube.com | bt.eTree.org | LMA: Furthur | Rhythm Devils | SugarMegs: Furthur | Rhythm Devils

Updates and Articles

12/24/10 - Jambands.com: Sirius XM to Broadcast Furthur, The Avett Brothers, Little Feat, the Disco Biscuits and More on New Year’s Eve

12/22/10 - Jambands.com: Steve Kimock to Join 7 Walkers on New Year’s Eve

12/13/10 - Jambands.com: The Philharmonia Band: Phil Lesh, Jackie Greene and Bob Weir

12/13/10 - Jambands.com: Bob Weir and Mickey Hart Sit in with Sammy Hagar

12/11/10 - Furthur Spring Tour dates are up.

12/07/10 - Jambands.com: Bill Kreutzmann, Steve Kimock, George Porter Jr. and Nigel Hall to Celebrate NYC Venue

12/04/10 - According to Phil Lesh in this PhilZone.org discussion, "Furthur will be inaugurating our new community message board soon. . . Some of Furthur's team will be available online to answer questions and discuss any issues that may arise in the community."

12/03/10 - Furthur.net: Furthur @ Broomfield, CO Feb. 11, 12 and 13, 2011!

12/02/10 - Philharmonia 2010 will be "An Acoustic Holiday Concert with …. PHIL LESH, BOB WEIR, Jackie Greene, Grahame Lesh, Sunshine Becker, and Jeff Pehrson."

11/29/10 - Jambands.com: Phil Lesh, John Molo, Mark Karan, Jeff Chimenti and Others Join Jackie Greene’s 30th Birthday Party

11/28/10 - State of Mind Music: Paddling Out: A Conversation with Bill Kreutzmann

11/25/10 - From PhilLesh.net:

The Unbroken Chain Foundation will present Philharmonia 2010 on
Sunday, December 12th. Please save this date and check back with
www.unbrokenchainfoundation.org and www.furthur.net
in the coming days for more details.

10/08/10 - Furthur.net: Furthur NYE Run @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

09/09/10 - BurlingtonFreePress.com: Former Grateful Dead percussionists bring the rhythm to Higher Ground

09/08/10 - RocNow: Rhythm Devils take Dead further

09/03/10 - The Patriot Ledger: Rhythm Devils beat a path to Foxboro, echoes of the Dead never far behind

09/02/10 - Troy Record: Mickey Hart calls himself a noise-ition

09/02/10 - The Daily Collegian Online: Rhythm Devils to perform at State Theatre

09/01/10 - Huffington Post: From The Grateful Dead to Rhythm Devils: A Conversation with Mickey Hart

08/27/10 - Pocono Record: Rhythm Devils at Sherman tonight

08/26/10 - From the Washington Observer Reporter:

Kreutzmann and Hart first stepped out from the Grateful Dead in 1978, when director Francis Ford Coppola tapped the duo for the clanging, clattering soundtrack to the movie "Apocalypse Now." Coppola checked out a Grateful Dead show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and remarked backstage, "You're my rhythm devils."

08/24/10 - From The Weekender:

Currently, Lesh and Weir are touring in the band Furthur. When asked why he and Hart are not involved or why there wasn’t another tour by The Dead, Kreutzmann’s answer was simple.

“We just went our separate ways, I wanted to play different music than those guys,” he said frankly. “They’re still playing the music they like, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I just wanted a change and play a different sort of music.

“The only way you can do that is play with different players, those guys are doing really good, I’m happy for them.”

08/23/10 - From Jambands.com:

John Patrick Gatta: You mentioned Phil and Bobby, and it makes me want to cover this before we get to Rhythm Devils, the fun stuff. Did you expect to by touring this summer as part of the Dead and…?

Mickey Hart: No, we didn’t have any expectations at all.

JPG: I guess after Spring Tour went so well, fans may have been thinking that something next would happen.

MH: Yeah. We just said we were going to do it when we did it. That’s all. Bill and I really want to do this. We have things to say and places to go that we wanted to do alone.

JPG: So, it wasn’t some phone call where you said, ‘What?!? You’re doing what?!?!?!’

MH: No, no, I wish them well and I feel that they wish us well. I just saw Bob, and we had a great time the other night.

JPG: I recently read some comments that Bob made in regards to Furthur moving forward musically and that such a thing couldn’t happen with the Dead due in part to expectations that come up when the four of you play together.

MH: I didn’t read anything. I don’t know anything about any of that. Expectations, I don’t understand.

“We’re building this band the way we want to,” Mr. Hart said. “And we sound better than we did last time we went out on tour, in 2008 or whenever that was. We have this raw energy, this unbridled energy, that’s really cracking.”

08/12/10 - From the Marin Independent-Journal:

The symphony offered this [Oct. 22] gig to Weir and his Dead-Furthur bandmate, bassist Phil Lesh, who wasn't up for a daunting project. Whether Lesh will play on the night of the show is up in the air.

"I'm thinking of using two bass players, both of whom play for Ratdog," Weir said, mentioning stand-up bassist Rob Wasserman and electric bassist Robin Sylvester. "Lesh passed on the project early on, so what I'm trying to do is plump it up so that he can't refuse, but I've got some work to do."

08/06/10 - San Francisco Chronicle: Bob Weir of Furthur

07/23/10 - From the Marin Independent-Journal:

Members of Furthur and Weir's other band, Ratdog, might also perform during the improvisational portion of the [Oct. 22 Marin Symphony event "First Fusion"].

"Keller is a one-man band, and we'll put him in with some tight rhythm situations and see what he can do," said Hart, calling from his Northern California home base. "Davy (Knowles) is an amazing guitarist with a mean blues swing. And both Davy and Keller sing like birds.

"And Andy Hess on bass, he is world-class; and our Nigerian brother Sikiru Adepoju with his juju trance music from West Africa. ... I bring out the electronic element, and Kreutzmann is the groove-meister. It is an almost-odd and fertile mix, with room to come up with genre-defining sounds."

07/21/10 - San Diego Reader: Rhythm Devils

07/20/10 - Jambands.com: Yonder Shares The Stage with moe. and the Rhythm Devils at String Summit

07/19/10 - JamBase: Lesh & Weir Perform For Sen. Boxer

07/18/10 - Jerry Garcia Tribute Night (8/9/10) at the Giants game in San Francisco will feature a National Anthem performance by Weir, Lesh, and Jeff Pehrson and a 7th Inning Stretch Rendition by Kreutzmann and Hart.

07/16/10 - Mail Tribune: The Rhythm Devils at Britt Festivals

07/15/10 - North Coast Journal: Embedded in a Rhythmic Universe

07/15/10 - Boulder Weekly: That Devil Music

07/08/10 - From the Vancouver Sun:

[When Bob Weir and Phil Lesh] started playing together again, "Phil and I rediscovered our ancient conversation," Weir says. "We found we had some interesting stuff to discuss, but we felt a little confined by the expectations that came with the uniting of the Dead members."

Those expectations are often musical in nature. One, for example, is the extended drum and percussion segment of every Dead concert, complete with a psychedelic light show spiralling around drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Deadheads, as the band's devoted, tie dye-wearing fans were dubbed decades ago, called it "space."

"It wasn't all that richly rewarding for us," Weir admits. "We wanted to take the material in a new direction. I don't know, the Dead may happen again, but Phil and I wanted to be free of those constraints, particularly of people who come to a Dead show. There is a set of expectations that we didn't want to be encumbered with."

07/06/10 - Rolling Stone: Furthur, Flaming Lips Bring Big Jams to Tiny Nateva Fest

07/04/10 - Jambands.com: Robert Hunter Contributes to New Furthur Songs

06/30/10 - From Hidden Track:

HIDDEN TRACK: I know Rhythm Devils is front and center but just to close the book on last year, do you think you and Mickey will regroup with the other guys to do The Dead again? Any plans?

BILL KREUTZMANN: Not that I know of. I’m so busy doing what I’m doing and I have a feeling that’s run its course.

[Lesh said,] "The new material doesn't come out so rapidly. We've got two songs I've written with Hunter. There's one Bobby wrote with him, and I've got one I've written [myself]." He sighed. "There's more on the way, but it's just getting started. The band has only been together for about a year."

With a surrogate Jerry and two key Grateful Dead members in place, it might seem odd not to have rhythmic devils Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart behind the drum kits. But Weir and Lesh purposefully wanted to keep Furthur from becoming a reunion project.

Last year’s Dead outings with Warren Haynes had some high points, but they also suffered a little from too much hype and the occasional dashed hopes of purists. Nobody wanted to repeat that.

“After the Dead tour, we wanted to lose some baggage, and there was baggage with the Dead,” Weir said. “There was a huge hassle of expectations that was kind of confining. We wanted to do something without expectations.

“Furthur isn’t just a walk down memory lane,” he added. “A lot of people came to the Dead shows with those hopes and then, if we didn’t supply them with that walk down memory lane, they were disappointed. Rather than disappoint, we’d thought that a clean break from that would bring a little freedom to what we do.”

Lesh and Weir have four new songs the band will feature on its summer leg. “Bob and I are bringing in new music,” Lesh says. Both have been writing with long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. “We haven’t even scratched the surface with this unit.”

Last year, original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart recruited guitarist Warren Haynes and keyboard player Jeff Chimenti to tour as the Dead. The results, however, were erratic, leaving guitarist Weir, 62, feeling like the road trip was more work than fun and bassist Lesh, 70, saying the music didn’t seem to be moving forward.

“The main thing about that Dead tour, though, was realizing how much I loved playing with Bobby,’’ Lesh said. “And it turned out he felt the same way about playing with me. So we went out for dinner after that tour and said, ‘What are we waiting for? Let’s make a band.’ ’’

06/04/10 - Furthur September Tour dates are up.

05/28/10 - According to Rolling Stone, "On the [Furthur] summer tour, which includes a handful of festival gigs, the band will premiere new songs written with longtime Dead lyricist Robert Hunter," and also, the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco Aug. 14th-15th will include headliners Furthur, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, and Al Green.

05/28/10 - antiMUSIC.com: Grateful Dead Duo Hitting The Road As The Rhythm Devils This Summer

05/28/10 - Furthur.net has announced more Furthur "Live Rehearsal Sessions" to take place 06/01/10 and 06/02/10 in San Rafael, CA.

05/25/10 - Jambands.com: Furthur Tests New Lineup in San Rafael

05/21/10 - Furthur.net has announced intimate Furthur "Live Rehearsal Sessions" to take place 05/24/10 and 05/25/10 in San Rafael, CA.

05/03/10 - Bob Weir, The Rhythm Devils, and other artists will perform on Jam Cruise 9 in January.

05/03/10 - From KFOG.com:

Phil Lesh and Bob Weir stopped by KFOG to play some music and talk about the Furthur Festival coming up on Memorial Day weekend. They also played a classic Grateful Dead song, "Cassidy." You can [download the Podcast here].

Lesh says he's certain the entire Grateful Dead collection of 1,500 shows “will eventually become available online, with random access.” And he's finally starting to create some new music with Bob Weir in their current incarnation as Furthur.

“We're going to dribble the music out a little at a time on the Internet,” Lesh hints. “I have no interest in making a record. In this day and age, why bother?”

[At The Furthur Festival] Phil Lesh & Bob Weir will take the musical journey Furthur performing some of the Grateful Dead’s most beloved albums in their entirety, including a very special 40th Anniversary celebration of their classic recordings; Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty.

04/06/10 - From Rolling Stone Issue 1102:

Weir says another Dead tour isn't out of the question, but for now he's content to be playing with Furthur. . . "When I weigh it out, I ask myself, 'Who do I think Jerry would rather see me sidekicking with?'" Weir says. "And I just get the feeling that it's John [Kadlecik]. It's that simple. I'm just looking for fun. At my age, that's gotta count. Either that, or I take up golf."

03/19/10 - Furthur Festival @ Mountain Aire details are up.

03/18/10 - According to some notable posts in this PhilZone.org discussion, Jay Lane has left Furthur to play drums with Primus, and now Weir and Lesh plan to go forward with Joe Russo as the sole drummer.

03/16/10 - Jambands.com: Phil Lesh’s Private 70th Birthday Party

03/12/10 - From Furthur.net:

Furthur Festival @ Mountain Aire
May 28th-30th, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend
Little Bit Furthur Than You've Gone Before
Details Coming Soon

02/23/10 - From the Hartford Advocate:

As Lesh approaches his 70th birthday later this month, he finds himself busier than ever and 100 percent committed to the new project. His main gig in recent years had been Phil Lesh and Friends, but that's on hold now so that the new band can take flight.

"I want to focus on this," he says. "It's so great to play with Bob again. You know, in a congenial kind of atmosphere. I'm really enjoying it and I just want to take this as far as it will go."

02/17/10 - From the Delaware News Journal (Interview with Phil Lesh):

Where did the idea for Furthur come from, and why so soon after the rebirth of The Dead?
The Dead tour was always planned as a one-off. Nothing more than that. But the result of that was that Bob and I rediscovered that we enjoy playing together so much that we wanted to continue doing it. So we just decided to put a band together, Bob and I, and this is the result.

Syracuse New Times: You’ve been singing “The Music Never Stopped” for quite some time now. Do you still see that being the case and what are maybe some of your plans beyond this Furthur tour?

Bob Weir: Right now, I’m tuned in on Furthur. We’re learning each other and how to play our new instrument, which is the new band, and let them play off of us.

How long do you expect Furthur to go on? And let me also ask what this means for Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends & The Dead? Are all those configurations gone? Will they re-appear?

“Well, Furthur’s going to be around for a while, I expect. It’s working well. And so all those other configurations are going to be fighting for time, ‘cause right now, this is our hot hand. Ratdog for me, I just got done doing a couple weeks in Jamaica with Ratdog. And that’s cooking, but I can bring that out whenever, and I will. But right now this is what I’m doing, so this is where my interests and intent are.”

Miami Herald: What inspired the name Furthur, and the odd spelling of it?

Bob Weir: I think it was a misspell. But it was the name of the [Merry Pranksters'] bus back in the mid '60s that I left home on. I was 17 when I hopped on that bus, and the Grateful Dead first hit the road on it. And it fits so prominently in our world, our mythology. When I go to Oregon, I often make a special trip to see the old girl. It's parked out in a field now.

"I saw the Grateful Dead play many times here in Eugene," [Bill] Walton said. "It was fantastic. Autzen Stadium, Mac Court, Ken Kesey, Mountain Girl ... the Pranksters. We've had a lot of fun."

The fun hasn't stopped.

"I know that Further is coming to the old Memorial Coliseum on March 8," Walton said of the band led by the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. "We're going to do everything we can to get there. It's going to be a special, special time. We're going to keep on dancing.

01/15/10 - "Furthur & Friends" will play Phil's 70th Birthday Celebration in San Francisco, CA on March 12, 2010.

01/08/10 - Since 12/27/09, Zoe Ellis and Sunshine Garcia Becker have been singing backup vocals with Furthur. Some 2010 setlists are up at PhilZone.com and OtherOnes.net.

01/03/10 - From the Dead Examiner (Interview with Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann - Part 3):

Anything over the horizon for more Rhythm Devils projects like this?

Mickey and I are probably going to get together and plan some Rhythm Devils for 2010. This is between you and me in a way because I haven’t talked to Mickey about it yet, but I’d like to use my trio as sort of the backbone. And I’d to love have Joan Osborne — this is my dream band — on vocals too.

I remember seeing her perform with you a few years ago.

I love Joan Osborne. I thought she did really well with the band. I’ve ran into her since and she’d love to play with my trio, so I think we should just combine them. We have a lot of material that we worked out from the first Rhythm Devils. Those songs are good; they just need to be redone.

Are there any plans for more Dead shows in the foreseeable future?

I don’t really know about that one. That one is always the mystery question (laughs). I don’t know, it just depends on how those guys are feeling after their Furthur tour. If they want go back with us, that’d be great. If not, you know, I’m into doing a lot of new stuff.

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