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Official websites: Grateful Dead | Jerry Garcia | The Dead | Furthur | Bob Weir | Phil Lesh | Rhythm Devils | Bill Kreutzmann | Mickey Hart | Robert Hunter | Hornsby | Donna Jean | T.C.

Fan websites: Philzone.com | RatDog.org | OtherOnes.net | DaveClarkLive.net photos | Rabhan.com photos | Bruuuce.com

Updates and Articles

12/31/14 - From MickeyHart.net:

The bird gave me the word… 2015 will be even better. Our long strange trip continues

Onward,

Mickey

While some online sources have reported that legendary band The Grateful Dead will reunite for the 2015 Lockn’ Festival, [Lockn’ organizer Dave] Frey said he could not comment on the rumors.

He said the band, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary together this year, would be the first to announce its plans.

12/18/14 - From JamBase:

JAMBASE: Speaking of other projects, can you comment at all on speculation that you’ll be part of the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary?

WARREN HAYNES: No, but I look forward to anything that happens. I really hope those guys decide to do something, and if I’m part of it, that’s great. I love playing with them when the opportunity arises. But at this point there’s not anything to comment on.

12/05/14 - From Facebook.com/JerryGarciaOfficial:

We all know 2015 is going to be a big year with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Grateful Dead and 20 years since Jerry was with us. Better believe we will be honoring both of these events!

Lots of love and happy new year!
Trixie Garcia

2015 is the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead and Terrapin Crossroads will be celebrating throughout the year. Phil will host shows twice a month that reflect each year since the band was first formed in 1965, and also from time to time present art exhibits, conversations with Phil about the shows and their context, along with memorabilia displays tied to the shows themselves.

We begin on January 2nd and 3rd with Phil, Stu Allen, Scott Law, Jeff Chimenti, and Cody Dickinson. These shows will pay tribute to the Grateful Dead by having a full first set of music from the year 1965 on January 2nd, and a set of music from 1966 on January 3rd. Due to the scarcity (and brevity) of set lists from ’65 and ’66, these shows will have normal PLF 2nd sets. This will mark the beginning of a very special year for all of us who love the Grateful Dead.

Neil Ferguson: There’s been a lot of speculation about the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary and obviously if it happens people are wondering if you might step in. Do you think anything will happen and if so is there a chance you will be a part of this celebration?

Warren Haynes: I hope that something will happen. At this point there’s nothing that I can comment on.

11/26/14 - From Twitter.com/BKreutzmann:

Bill Kreutzmann
@BKreutzmann
Bay Area Deadheads: Tuesday, December 2nd. Get a babysitter. Save the Date.

11/19/14 - From JamBase:

The Grateful Dead/Little Feat supergroup Dead Feat will return once again for a pair of Jazz Fest evening shows at The Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans on April 25 and 26. Dead Feat features Anders Osborne, Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead, Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett of Little Feat, Billy Iuso, and special guests performing songs and covers from each of their respective bands.

11/12/14 - Live For Live Music: Watch Bob Weir Ask Mickey Hart For 20 Bucks During SF MusicTech Summit Q&A Session

11/11/14 - Ultimate Classic Rock: 10 Things You Need to Know About A Possible Grateful Dead Reunion

11/11/14 - Beth Peerless of the Monterey County Herald wrote, "Last week, I attended the symposium 'So Many Roads: The World of the Grateful Dead' at San Jose State University. . . My favorite part of the day was listening to Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann in his keynote address, in which he shared stories about life and making music. . . The most heartfelt part of the whole conversation was Kreutzmann saying he would really love to play with the band again."

11/06/14 - From the Marin Independent Journal:

Weir, one of Mill Valley's longtime resident rock stars, has been on a much-needed hiatus from performing, something he's done pretty much non-stop for half a century. Since cancelling all his tour dates in August through the end of the year, he's been looking after his health and rehabbing a shoulder injury that would only get worse if he continued to hang a guitar from it. . . Although the Dead have been notoriously unsentimental, and have seldom indulged in nostalgia, there are rumblings that Weir's getting in shape for a possible 50th anniversary reunion of all the surviving members of the band.

Furthur have officially parted ways. . . However, Weir and Lesh teamed up to sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at Game 3 of the World Series in San Francisco last month, and rumors have been circulating for some time that the pair will reunite with the rest of The Dead in 2015 to mark the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary.

To our loyal Furthur fans and members of the Furthur community at furthur.net, we'd like to thank you for a terrific ride. We'll be closing up shop at furthur.net, and heading onward. Thanks for making the Furthur community a great place to hang out, and for coming out to the shows. We'll all be keeping very busy over the foreseeable future, and it's time to let Furthur take a bow. We enjoyed the ride more than we can possibly express.

In planning festivities for the [commemorations of the 20th anniversary of Jerry’s passing and the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead], the Garcia family (with business partner Red Light Management) is in touch with the four surviving members of the Dead (Phil, Bob, Mickey and Bill) and has several surprises in the works.

Bill [Kreutzmann] expresses a strong hope that the remaining members of the Grateful Dead will convene to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

• • • •

And by the time we meet again in this virtual neighborhood, we will have observed the 50th Anniversary of the Grateful Dead. In fact, we are already well into the fiftieth year, since the band's beginning, which most Deadologists carbon-date as having occurred on June 18th, 1965 — Phil Lesh's first show with the Warlocks at a dive called Frenchy's in Hayward, CA, thus completing the core lineup. We do not yet know the exact form the commemoration of this auspicious anniversary will take, but this remarkable journey is something worth celebrating, and celebrate we will.

Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead joined San Francisco Giants third base coach and musician Tim Flannery to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 3 of the NL Championship Series on Tuesday at AT&T Park.

• • • •

"We did this two years ago," Flannery said. "And they haven't been together. They're about ready to start a 50th anniversary Grateful Dead, so they kind of split their ways this last summer, and so this might have been the first time they've been together."

10/12/14 - From Facebook.com/TerrapinCrossroads:

Come down to Terrapin Crossroads on Tuesday Oct 14th to watch the San Francisco Giants game!

Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and Tim Flannery are singing the National Anthem!

Grateful Web: When you were working with Bill Kreutzmann are there any things you learned about the Grateful Dead you wouldn’t have known otherwise?

Papa Mali: Bill and I became really good friends. Hearing things from his point of view was really interesting. The one thing I learned more than anything else is: don’t pay attention to the stuff everybody says about the Grateful Dead on the Internet. If that’s all you read, you would think they hated each other. That’s just not true, they love each other. All four surviving members of the Grateful Dead are like brothers. I know there’s a lot of love between those guys – they all know they can never go back to those days when Jerry was alive. Still, they’re all musicians so they have to play.

It drives me crazy sometimes seeing the comments that Deadheads make about the Grateful Dead. They’ve already done such brilliant work – they’ve influenced our lives and changed the world. How can you say anything bad about them?

GW: Have some respect!

PM: You know, have respect – they’re just humans. They’ve done such beautiful, beautiful work. And if you pay attention you can tell that they’re still doing beautiful work. I was backstage with Bobby, Mickey and Bill one time and I just couldn’t believe the love in that room. I know that they all feel that way for Phil, too. There’s a lot of love there and some people aren’t privileged to see that firsthand. I think they all laugh about what people say about them. They’re humans – think about it if you had to age in public, you know what I mean? Not everybody has to have their lives scrutinized, especially past the age of 60.

10/05/14 - On today's Tales From The Golden Road broadcast, conference co-organizer Michael Parrish confirmed that Bill Kreutzmann will speak about his new autobiography at So Many Roads: The World in the Grateful Dead, A Conference & Symposium on 11/06/14 at San Jose State University.

10/01/14 - JamBase: Bob Weir Among SF Music Tech Speakers

09/28/14 - On today's Tales From The Golden Road broadcast Gary Lambert said, "when I talked to Bill [Kreutzmann] a few weeks ago at the Lockn' Festival he said he's really not at all interested in the touring grind anymore but he's interested in doing certain well-chosen special events, and he's building himself a place in Hawaii where he can play on a regular basis."

09/16/14 - JamBase: Mickey Hart To Perform With Zakir Hussain At SFJAZZ

09/08/14 - JamBase: Robert Hunter | First California Shows In Over A Decade

09/02/14 - The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir will be showing at the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester, MA on 09/11/14.

08/21/14 - Rolling Stone: Bill Kreutzmann Reveals Taj Mahal Team-Up: 'I Want People to Freak Out'

08/21/14 - Relix.com: Steve Kimock, Aron Magner, Oteil Burbridge and Special Guests to Jam with Bill Kreutzmann at Lockn’

08/20/14 - 2:50 into this video clip Bruce Hornsby seems to imply that he will not schedule any performances between 11/2/14 and 4/10/15, because during that time he will be attending almost all of his son Keith Hornsby's basketball games.

08/19/14 - From ColBruce.com:

We are happy to announce that [Col. Bruce Hampton] will return to the amazing Lockn' Festival for a special Friday set with Bill Kreutzmann!

08/13/14 - JamBase: Kreutzmann & Locknstep Allstars Replace Furthur At Lockn'

08/13/14 - Jambands.com: Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann Throw Out First Pitch on Jerry Day

08/12/14 - Jambands.com: "I’m Doing Fine": Tim Flannery Shares Email from Bob Weir

08/11/14 - From Rolling Stone:

"I love the guy and wish nothing but good health," Weir's former manager John Scher tells Rolling Stone. "He’s an extremely talented and very underrated musician. He's an important guy. Bobby's been having health problems for a while and now there are plenty of people who support him and want to help him get the care he needs."

Friday September 5 Schedule:
FURTHUR
Lesh, Chimenti, Kadlecik, Russo & Lane
PHIL LESH & FRIENDS
Haynes, Scofield, Medeski & Russo
THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
CABINET
TAUK
DEL McCOURY BAND

08/10/14 - According to Jambands.com, "An official statement from the Weir camp to Jambands.com confirms that Weir will not appear with Furthur at this year’s Lockn’ Festival. Weir is off the road immediately and indefinitely."

08/10/14 - According to RatDogLive.com, "Circumstances have necessitated that all scheduled tour dates for Bob Weir & RatDog are being cancelled. This applies to all dates on the summer tour starting on Thursday, August 14 in Boston through September 14 in Nashville and also includes the Jamaica event in January of 2015."

08/01/14 - Esquire: The Grateful Dead's Drummers on Their 'Far-Out' New Collaboration

08/01/14 - Jambands.com: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Jeremy Salken Join The Disco Biscuits in DC

07/28/14 - From Highway 81 Revisited:

Highway 81 Revisited: Do you have any other projects in the works right now?

Robert Hunter: After this, my plan is to sit down and work on guitar for the next tour.

H81R: So there will be more tours?

RH: Oh yeah. God willing and the creek don’t rise.

07/17/14 - The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir will be showing at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, PA on 08/17/14.

06/18/14 - From The Daily Times:

[Bruce Hornsby's] long-time association with the Grateful Dead would last until Garcia’s death in 1995, and today he continues to collaborate with various members of the band.

“Jerry Garcia was my main partner back then, in that he played with me outside the Dead, and I would play with him outside the Dead and sit in with his band,” he said. “I’m touring with Bobby Weir, my old partner from the Grateful Dead years and post-Dead years, in October and November.”

• • • •

“I think one thing that all these projects have in common is that everyone I’m working with here, from Skaggs to Spike, from Branford to Ornette, from Weir to Pat, all do their work at a very high level of virtuosity,” he said. “They’re all great people and good friends of mine. It’s pretty simple, really — I like to work with people who I love, musically and personally, and all these qualify in that way.”

05/20/14 - Robert Hunter Summer Tour Dates are up.

05/13/14 - The Interrobang: Bob Weir’s Long Strange Trip

05/13/14 - There is a job opening for Grateful Dead Properties Manager at Warner Music Group, and one of the responsibilities listed in the job description is to:

Build branding and sales opportunities around meaningful events and milestones, with special attention to the 2015 50th anniversary of the band.

04/30/14 - From LocknFestival.com:

Furthur to Headline Friday Night at Lockn' Festival

Exclusive to the 2014 Lockn' Festival in Arrington, VA, Furthur will be playing their only set of 2014, featuring the original lineup! This lineup of Furthur features Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Jay Lane, and Joe Russo! This very special performance is in addition to the previously announced separate performances by Phil Lesh & Friends, and Bob Weir & RatDog. This Furthur performance will be the only planned collaboration between Bob and Phil in 2014.

Priding itself on unique performances, this year's [Lockn'] festival will find Lesh and Friends (which features musicians Warren Haynes, John Scofield, John Medeski and Joe Russo) playing an interlocking set with Bob Weir's Ratdog [on 9/5/14], after which both bands will come together for a one-of-a-kind set that will mark the two Grateful Dead members' only planned performance together this year.

04/28/14 - Jambands.com: Warren Haynes, John Scofield, John Medeski and Joe Russo to Join Phil Lesh at Lockn’ Festival

04/28/14 - Jambands.com: Bob Weir to Play Acoustic Set at San Francisco Film Festival

04/27/14 - After the 5/2/14 Sundance Kabuki Cinema (San Francisco, CA) screening of the new documentary The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir there will be a short solo acoustic performance by Weir himself. This info was confirmed by Gary Lambert at about 10 minutes into today's Tales From The Golden Road broadcast.

04/25/14 - The Daily Beast: Bob Weir on Drugged-Out Deadheads and Living in Jerry Garcia’s Shadow

04/25/14 - From CNN.com:

For Weir, when it comes to looking back at all of the concerts and experiences he had, what he misses most now are the moments the band spent together offstage.

"I kind of miss the laughs, the yucks, because we kept each other amused," Weir says. "That's the only way we were able to stick together for all those years. People would come backstage, and they'd listen to some of the repartee, the interplay going back, and they'd just leave the room going (fanning himself) these guys are nuts! But we had a lot of fun."

• • • •

Although fans are hoping for a Grateful Dead reunion, the film might be the best way for Deadheads to get some new material from the band. All Weir says about the possibility of getting back together is, "We've got our best people on it."

04/23/14 - From the HuffPost Live 4/23/14 webcast with Bob Weir:

Dave Tomar: I'm wondering, at this point, because we love to think of the Grateful Dead as a warm family, is that still true or is it just business for you guys at this point?

Bob Weir: Well, we don't do that much together these days. I played with Phil Lesh for a few years in the band Furthur, and. . . we'll play on and off together after that. I'm looking forward to playing again with Billy and Mickey, our drummers. We all get along; actually I love those guys. We have caustic, antagonistic, but humorous relationships with each other. . .

• • • •

Bob Weir: I have a new band, which is actually an old band, RatDog, and we're going to change the name of RatDog.

Ricky Camilleri: Why are you changing the name of RatDog?

Bob Weir: Because every day things change; I'm tired of that name. . . you know, we have a number of [possible band names]. I was thinking of Bobby and FUBAR, Bobby and the Weirwolves. . . there are a few of them. And I invite suggestions as well; you know, go to our website. Let's put RatDog to bed. I've got the right guys, but I don't have the right name.

04/21/14 - RollingStone.com: Phil Lesh 'Not Completely There Yet' Processing Jerry Garcia's Death

04/16/14 - RollingStone.com: Phil Lesh's Long Strange Trip to Brooklyn

04/11/14 - From David Fricke's new Rolling Stone article on Phil Lesh:

Over two days of conversation, Lesh uses the words "cordial" and "distant" to characterize his current relationships with Weir and the Dead's surviving drummers, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. But he also speaks of their original fraternity and the reverberations in his music now with thankful fondness. At one point, Lesh, who was an only child, declares, "I found my true brothers through the art of music and a series of improbable coincidences. Life found me my family."

• • • •

How is your relationship with Weir? You have toured with him as Furthur since 2009. But there was a long estrangement after Garcia's death.

We're like brothers that get along most of the time. When we disagree, we disagree so radically. I have to say, there is nobody that plays like him. He has these enormous hands, which enable him to play all kinds of altered chords on the guitar. And his sense of rhythm - it implies so much. That's why it was perfect for the Grateful Dead.

Were you concerned for his health when he fell onstage during a Furthur show last year at the Capitol Theatre?

Yes, it makes me very concerned. But what to do? Furthur is on a break. We're letting it take a nap. Bob is booked for the whole year with Ratdog, like I am in Port Chester. I would bet money that sometime this year Bob and I will do something. But it won't be Furthur.

Your last reunion tour with Weir, Hart and Kreutzmann, as the Dead, was in 2009. Can you imagine playing together again? You are in a cycle - with the club and Port Chester - that seems to be moving away from that.

Those guys are all in a cycle too. We spent 30 years developing this group mind. It was telepathic. My metaphor for us was that each of us had to be like a spoke on a wheel. And what we're after is what's in the center.

But when Jerry passed, it left such a hole. We all had relationships with each other. But the primary relationship was the one each of us had with Jerry. Jerry was the hub. We were the spokes. And the music was the tread on the wheel . . .

The club, Furthur, Port Chester - do they help you fill that hole now?

It's impossible to fill it . I'm putting boundaries around it. There is still everything else surrounding it. There's this whole galaxy out here. So we're going to explore that galaxy and let the hole be there. We love and respect it. We miss it like crazy. But we have to move on. We have to keep living. We have to keep playing.

03/18/14 - RollingStone.com: Grateful Dead Members Joining Disco Biscuits at Gathering of the Vibes

03/15/14 - The Disco Biscuits featuring Mickey Hart & Bill Kreutzmann will play Gathering of the Vibes 2014.

03/07/14 - Robert Hunter will play the Newport Folk Festival on Friday, July 25, 2014.

03/04/14 - From ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI:

[Jay] Lane says there could be more changes coming to [RatDog] soon, although hopefully not in personnel.

"I think the way Bob was lookin' at this, especially since there's kind of a new, reinvented band, he was jokin' around about a name change. Not jokin' around, he really was thinkin' about changing the name. He keeps on mentioning it even though we booked all these gigs as RatDog. We're sayin' it's not a good idea right now. But I understand why he wants to do that, as part of a reinventing thing."

But no matter what the name of the band will be going forward, Lane says he's excited for the future. The band will celebrate it's 20th anniversary next year, but it will probably get overshadowed by the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary, which Weir has already said he hopes to commemorate in a big way with his surviving bandmates.

"I'm sure he'll probably do The Dead before he does any RatDog kind of thing," Lane says.

But, Lane is hearing that a new album, RatDog's first since Evening Moods in 2000, might be coming soon.

"Yeah, in fact we've already been kickin' around with a few ideas. And Bob's lookin' to go record when we're hot right off the tour. That's what I heard, so that's inspiring."

Regarding the Dead's upcoming 50th anniversary next year, [Donna Jean] Godchaux says she hasn't heard a word about any plans but wouldn't rule out singing with the surviving members again. "Who knows?" she says. "I've not heard any discussion. But you never know what's going to happen with those guys."

02/16/14 - At the end of today's Tales From The Golden Road broadcast Gary Lambert confirmed that the Weir/Hornsby fall shows will indeed be in the "Alone And Together" format. Lambert said, "Matt Busch, Bob Weir's manager, told me that Bob and Bruce are planning another tour where they do solo and together sets later on this year."

02/14/14 - Jambands.com: Bob Weir Ramps up RatDog

02/10/14 - Jambands.com: RatDog May Change Their Name

02/09/14 - On today's Tales From The Golden Road Bob Weir told David Gans and Gary Lambert, "[Steve Kimock is] part and parcel of our effort to more or less reinvent RatDog. This will have to be a work in progress over a sustained period of time. I think one of the things we can do to kick that off is to go back to our old name Scaring The Children, which I think we're going to do this year." Later in the program he also said, "RatDog — soon to be Scaring The Children again — we'll be back in the Seattle area soon enough."

02/07/14 - Jambands.com: Bob Weir and Bruce Hornsby to Tour Together in the Fall

01/31/14 - Bruce Hornsby told accessAtlanta, "I’m doing two tours this year. With Pat Metheny, I’m going to open for him and he’s going to play with me. That’s July-August. Then September-October Bob Weir and I will head out, which we’ve done a few times…" Also, Hornsby told an audience at a solo concert in Ithaca on 11/15/13, "for those interested Bobby Weir and I will be playing on tour next fall, just the two of us, like you see here."

01/30/14 - From a RollingStone.com interview with Bob Weir:

The Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary is coming up in 2015. Is it a chance for you to look back and get sentimental?
Let me start by saying that I'm already in my 50th year, so this is an ongoing process. We have to do something commemorative. I think we owe it to the fans, we owe it to the songs, we owe it to ourselves. If there are issues we have to get past, I think that we owe it to ourselves to man up and get past them. If there are hatchets to be buried, then let's get to work. Let's start digging. I'll just say, to my delicate sensibilities, that it would be wrong to let that go by un-commemorated.

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