On January 27th, I dropped by Terrapin Crossroads for a good old-fashioned Hoedown with Phil, John Kadlecik, Jason Crosby and the Terrapin Family Band (Grahame Lesh, Brian Lesh, Ross James, Scott Padden and friends).
I caught up with Brian and Ross over a beer, and here’s what they had to say about life in the Family Band and what’s on Terrapin’s agenda for the first half of 2013.
SL: How did you hook up with Ross?
Brian Lesh: We actually found Ross through Craigslist about 4 years ago. I was playing in a band with a few friends and we posted an ad for a guitarist. He was in the Bay Area playing music, so we started playing together. We played for a couple of years — and then that band fell apart. Terrapin Crossroads was coming together around the same time and it just worked out. I was finishing up with school and Ross started playing here — it all kind of fell into place.
SL: So, is facial hair a requirement for the Family Band?
Ross James: LOL!
BL: It sure is! You have at least one week to grow some facial hair and everyone has to show they are trying.
RJ: Alex (Nelson) is trying…
SL: I was at the first gig, the soft opening, and it was pretty awesome. What was it like for you?
BL: Well, my first gig actually was on March 17th, not the soft opening. I was still in school during the soft opening. But, I was in town during Spring Break and my first show was on St. Patrick’s Day and it was just great – it was incredible. Until that point, I still didn’t know what it was like. I’d gotten phone calls and had seen pictures and heard stories about it, because everyone had been working on it for so long. Then I came in and it was pretty incredible; I had no idea what to expect. You know, it was hectic and kind of a mad house — but then everything magically came together — it was great.
SL: How do you guys come up with your set list? Is it collaborative?
RJ: It depends on the day…
BL: When we first started out, we were like “does anyone know any songs?” If you could sing it and you could play it, then you taught it to everyone else. But now we have a repertoire to draw from. Plus we go back to stuff we haven’t played for a while, or we listen to something we thought was really cool and want to try again. Usually though, everyone picks the songs they want to sing. Like, I’ll want to sing these two songs and Ross will want to sing those two songs and then we’ll put them into some kind of order. It also changes when we have guests coming in. For example, when Further was in town we leaned toward the Dead repertoire because it was that kind of scene – you know, people were in town to see them. So, it’s also situational.
SL: You’ve play with some amazing musicians — Tim Bluhm, Jackie Greene, Chris Robinson… Who would you like to play with next?
RJ: Justin Townes Earle and Steve Earle. Either one — or together!
SL: And do you think that could happen?
BL: Well, Justin was recently in town playing The Sweetwater and there was talk of playing together, but it just didn’t work-out. But hopefully — maybe in the future. Justin’s on the top of my list.
SL: So what’s it like playing with your Dad (Phil Lesh) and your brother (Grahame Lesh)?
BL: It’s incredible… Yeah, it’s pretty great. There’s no way to describe it other than it’s just really comfortable. I’ve played with him (Phil) for so long that I know what’s going to happen. You know it’s going to end up all right musically, so you can kind of let go. And then it’s just fun too — it’s cool to be up there doing it.
SL: Do feel added pressure because it’s your dad?
BL: No, not all (laughing). I feel more pressure when I’m up there and Jeff Chimenti takes a solo and throw’s it to me. I’m like “really?” But no, it’s all pretty low-key.
SL: So Ross, what’s the deal with the red pick-up truck on your amp? Any story behind that?
RJ: No. No real story there. It’s just a toy. I like old stuff, and I got that on EBay a while ago. I’d love the real thing — that would be cool. I’ll get one eventually.
SL: What other instruments do you play?
RJ: Anything I can get my hands on.
SL: What kind of music are you listening to these days?
RJ: Well, some Devendra Banhart. And an old Waylon record (Waylon Jennings Live’74). That’s what’s in my truck right now.
SL: You recently purchased as Leslie… How do you like that sound?
RJ: Oh, it’s the best. It’s awesome — I’m really diggin’ it.
SL: Has it changed your sound?
RJ: Oh yeah, yeah — it totally changed the way I play. It’s really fun.
SL: What’s in store for 2013?
BL: Oh, so much. It’s just more of everything. More music, more events, more parties, more of it all…. Our group, American Jubilee, which is made up of me, Ross, Alex Koford and Scott Padden are going to start doing a weekly thing at Terrapin. We’re going to bring more people into the Family Band, to make it an ensemble cast. Folks like Alex Nelson (Walking Spanish) and Emily Sunderland will sing and play with us. We’ll also have nights where we feature an outside player – like Mark Karan or Stu Allen. We’ve got some rambles coming up with Jackie Greene, which will be great. And then some fun things in March.
SL: Terrapin’s one year anniversary is coming up. Anything big planned?
BL: Yes, there will be something — it’s still in the working stages. But, it definitely will be something big. So look out for that.
SL: And what about Phil’s birthday?
BL: Yeah, it will all be rolled into one party. There will be a big birthday show, and a one year anniversary show and it’s also St. Patrick’s Day.
RJ: And it’s my birthday…
BL: And it’s Ross’ birthday. Which is the really big event — it will be just great!
January 27, 2013 Terrapin Crossroads Setlist
Hoedown with Phil, John Kadlecik, Jason Crosby and the Terrapin Family Band.
Terrapin Family Band consists of Ross James, Brian James Lesh, Scott Padden, and Alex Koford featuring Alex Nelson and Emily Sunderland
Deep Elem Blues (JK)
Tin Roof Shack (JK)
Apartment Song (RJ)
Friend of the Devil (BL, PL)
Ramshackle Shack on the Hill (AN)
One Too Many Mornings (JK)
She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain (PL, JK, BL)
Saint Dude (JC)
Jack-a-Roe (JK)
Big Railroad Blues (RJ)
Angel from Montgomery (ES)
Old Home Place (BL)
If You Got to Go, Go Now (RJ)
Peaceful Valley (JK)
Dire Wolf (JK)
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms (BL)
Donor RapHappy Birthday, HarryI Know You Rider
Ed Note: Thanks for the interview Stuart! Stuart is a contributor to Relix and Jambands.com, as well as a supporter and friend of DeadHeadLand! You can view more of Stuarts great Bay Area rock concert photography here: Caught in the Act
Mickey Hart held a small press conference in his trailer backstage at the Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival, In Bridgeport Connecticut, on July 23, 2011. Several reporters were present, and this interview features questions from Deadheadland and our friends: Glide Magazine, Stu Levitan Books and Beats, The Aquarian , and Hearst Connecticut.
Photos are by happycat!>^.^< and DHLmonte!
( ~);}
Deadheadland: Hi this is happycat! from Deadheadland, here with Mickey Hart.. Mickey Hart: Is there really a Deadheadland? I’ve always known there to be one, but I didn’t know there to be a physical face on it (laughs), I was always hoping there would be a Deadheadland in the afterlife, but now I am seeing it here in actual form, there is a Deadheadland… well go ahead Deadheadland!
So tell us about the new Mickey Hart Band? MH: this band was built to perform the music’s I am creating using cosmic sounds, radiation radio waves… I’ve been collecting these light waves coming from the big bang 13.7 billion years ago, from black holes to stars to the planets, sun, the moon, the earth to us. I’ve been toying with these, not really toying, but changing the light waves in the sound waves and having a conversation with them. So this has been a 2 ½ year, almost 3 year project – I’ve been collecting these and working with the scientists at Lawrence Livermore and gathering this information from radio telescopes from around the world, so this is the true history with sonic, it’s called Sonification – I’ve been “sonicfying” the universe basically… and that’s what this band has been made for, to play those, to play with those rhythms, to play with those sounds and to create them on stage in a live situation.
Rather than indigenous music from a couple hundred years back, you had to go back thousands or millions of years years… MH: …billions, billions, 13.7 billion years ago, to where time and space came from, the beginning of creation the moment that blew our universe up, the blank plate when the blank page of our universe exploded creating stars and planets, us… so, all m books go back to beat one., y’know, the great moment of creation, the downbeat.. But now, until recently, they haven’t been enough instruments, or the instruments haven’t been created, nor did we know exactly when the big bang was, or how far away it was.
Until 2006, when George Smoot, he won the Nobel for it… a Nobel laureate discovered the arch at the beginning of the universe.. and now all my books… I can find out what it sounded like, it’s not just words, I’m bringing the universe into the domain of sound…which it seems like a logical conclusion, y’know, because if there is a vibration, there is a sound and there is a light, because vibration is just either light or sound, it’s a wave form – and once you have the data you can take it wherever you want.
Can you perform using these vibrations of light and sound? MH:…it’s done through my sound droid, RAMU – Random Access Musical Universe – so RAMU, takes these waves… I program RAMU, it’s just a robot, a droid and it, when I call these sounds up it spits them out, just like any computer, it’s a computer, with a memory bank, light and sound… it’s binary code, zero’s and ones, it’s digital domain stuff, I just bring it in… it’s programmable, I put it into the computer, it’s just a very sophisticated computer.
After the Bay area shows in August, and the other scheduled shows in August, will there be a tour, will there be more shows with this band? MH: Well this is like a preliminary run, to see what it does do and what it doesn’t do. So we didn’t want to book a tour… we got to see how it works, a work in progress, and then we are going to tour next year, because the CD will be out by then, and that is what I have been involved in doing, is making these cosmic sounds, bringing these cosmic sounds into the world of entertainment, cause you know listening to the raw sound of the universe is not always really entertaining because it’s really in-harmonic sounds out there, there are a lot of collisions, there is a lot of noise out there.
The idea is to bring it out of the noise domain and into the musical domain, so when I get these Sonifications, from Saturn for instance I have to seriously sound design them, make them into what we know as music, because like I said it’s really dense, it’s really in-harmonic of course, and for most people it’s probably as interesting as watching paint dry.
Y’know there are a lot of things that whirl out there, lots of things that chirp, lots of things go boom, and there are a lot of things that hum, and you can only listen to that for so long. So, the art form it’s really more interpretive, I take these sounds, using them as a source material, and bring them into our musical domain into our menu, what we consider as humans, music. I’m in a dance band, we play music that people will enjoy and dance to. So all these sounds and such will be incorporated into what you know as music.
Will there be more Rhythm Devils shows beyond this one at Gathering of the Vibes? MH: It’s possible, it’s certainly possible. Absolutely.
Do you miss the simplicity of just being at a festival? MH: I don’t miss it ‘cause I do it… if you mean just hanging out with people,… I do miss that, it’s been years since I’ve been able to just be there, be myself, pick my nose and nobody sees me and all that… yeah, [people] just ask for autographs or they want pictures taken, they’re all nice folks, yeah, I just can’t hang out for long periods of time before someone comes up and tells me how great it all is, and I appreciate that… it’s a little unnerving, but it comes with the turf. I know, I would do the same thing when I saw people I admire; if I ever saw Buddy Rich, or Gene Krupa… or, y’know, I’d go up to them, and they’re trying to enjoy the music or whatever, and I’d go up to them and try and be as unobtrusive as possible, just like most of my fans. Y’know, I just can’t spend long periods of time in one place, but when I want to enjoy myself I just sit down, people don’t really care.
You’re a veteran of the Gathering of the Vibes Festival here in Bridgeport every year, is it something you look forward too, or is it just another calendar date? MH: No! of course, it’s kind of like – you know, you birthed this, I feel this is very personal, because here are the people who’ve turned onto your greatest creations, and they’re taking it to a new place, beyond, they’re recreating it in their own way. I feel very humbled by it. And I am very gratified to see that the music has resonance and people are embracing it, young folks are embracing it. That is the greatest testament of music, that it lasts, as the song goes it was Built To Last. That’s really one of the greatest compliments you can get. Because there’s nothing like this, and we’re not orchestrating this, people are doing it on their own, for their own good reasons.
And that’s another part of it, it’s for good reasons, they’re chasing the feeling, just like we chased the feeling and that’s what this world and life is all about, chasing the feeling, finding the good feelings and going towards them is the good feeling thing, so, if this , I would say elevates the consciousness, uplifts the consciousness – and anything that does that is high on my list. So it’s not just another night.
But y’know, I don’t really have just another night. Y’know when I do something, I’ll do it with everything I have and I treat it as special as the next night. Because you don’t get to play that much, really, when you consider how many hours you take to rehearse, get ready for something, and then you’re just on the stage for a few hours; so if you look at it in those terms, you take advantage of those times as precious time, that’s how I feel about all shows.
But this, what is particularly gratifying is because of the nature of the history of this event it was spawned, after… after Jerry passed, y’know, by Deadheads that we’re grieving, and they needed a place to go to deal with their emotions. And they found this. And it’s grown, beautifully into something that has great flowers… It’s like your children in a way, they might not be perfect, but it’s certainly a seed you have planted that has come full circle, that is growing and alive, it takes your life’s work, and it continues into the future, and it’s alive, it lives, the music lives.
What is it about sailing… MH: Sailing? You mean the America’s Cup? Well that’s a rhythm machine. It’s not sailing per se, but it’s any team. I’m a groupist, and I like to see rhythm masters at work whether it’s a basketball team, football team, or America’s Cup team, I like to see the best of the best doing what they do best and exceling at it, taking it to the highest level. Sailing is not necessarily one of my favorite things to do; it’s certainly very enjoyable. I like the water, and it’s certainly a clean sport, there’s no motors in it, so we’re not dirtying up the waters so that’s a good side of it, and also it’s all about rhythm, the wind the sails, the team work it takes to be able to navigate at 40 mph on a pontoon high up in the air, and that’s really… it’s thrilling, it accesses a new domain, a very special domain, it heightens the senses, so in that respect I like sailing, that kind of sailing.
What do you feel about others interpretations of Grateful Dead music, by your former band mates, and others, 7 Walkers, Dark Star Orchestra, etc.? MH: It’s all good. If anyone has the feeling to make Grateful Dead music, they should make it, and it’s to my benefit, and it’s to everyone’s benefit, and that’s all that’s really important. Hopefully the people that are playing Grateful Dead music play it as it should be played, and that’s all my request would be, y’know, to play it with your heart and soul. So, y’know, I wish all of them good fortune and good luck in their journey playing Grateful Dead music.
Are you going to include any Grateful Dead in the new Mickey Hart Band? What about Mystery Box? MH: Oh of course! We’ll have some Grateful Dead music in it, because that’s part of me! I wouldn’t want to lose that on the short, because I like the songs – I’ll bring some them with me. Absolutely! And there are a few great Mystery Box songs, “Where Love Goes”, “Full Steam Ahead”, there’s a few of them we’re going to do, we’re going to select from my whole catalog.
Regarding your work with Smithsonian Folkway’s, can you recommend something? MH: Funny you should mention that, my collection is coming out on Smithsonian Folkways in a few months, (October 11th) – And so, this is really a rare moment, because I am releasing 25 of the best of my recordings from around the world. And these are recording at the highest resolution, and great liner notes, and it tells of my journey around the world. And also of the indigenous cultures that created this music filled with their stories and hopes and dreams, and thousands of years of evolution that are contained within these talking books.
Do you think discovering this music, the way people at this festival discover music through listening to you, has this has fed your creative aspiration to keep going in this direction? MH: Absolutely! Well said, because as a song catcher, and there are song catchers out here, the ones that record called tapers, that’s what they are is song catchers, when I go out into the field I learn the riches of the people that I am recording, and that enriches me first, then secondly, when going into these indigenous cultures, them knowing I have taken the time to learn their music, and give some of their music back to them like long lost relatives, or repatriating music.
Some of these musics I have recorded was ripped from them, some by the missonization of music by the Church, taking their music – and giving them a new Bible no extra charge, or by World War II, or by the slave trade… and by recognizing their music, this is really important. They take me in like a member of their family, and then I get to appreciate the best of the best of their music, while being able to curate at the Library of Congress and The Smithsonian those musics that were ripped away from them, and give it back to them – and they are so appreciative of this. Because it’s like a great handshake, that America is giving them, giving them back the things they love the most, their culture, their art, their music.
Mickey Hart had a final question for me: Deadheadland! Is it a physical place, or more like a state of mind?
Jesse McReynolds and his brother Jim debuted on Capitol records in 1952, though they recorded for many labels since. “Cotton Mill Man”, “Diesel On My Tail”, “Are You Missing Me”, and “Paradise” are a few songs regarded as Jim & Jesse classics.
Magical vocal harmonies, Jim’s guitar playing, and Jesse on mandolin, backed by their band The Virginia Boys, always a crew of top notch musicians. They toured the world, had Radio and TV shows, and in 1964, they joined the Grand Ole Opry.
Jesse had his first exposure to Rock fans playing on The Doors Soft Parade album, on the track “Runnin’ Blue”.
In the 70’s they did a bluegrass take on Chuck Berry’s music, that was a big hit for them.
They continued to play through the 80’s and 90’s, and get awards and honors, even getting a National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, presented by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jane Alexander at the The White House, September 23, 1997.
In 2002, both brothers were diagnosed with cancer. Jesse was able to beat his, and sadly, Jim did not. He passed away on December 31, 2002, ending the longest active professional brother duet in country music history – 55 years.
Jim carried on, and has played around the world with new incarnations of The Virginia Boys.
A few years ago…. Jesse learned from Sandy Rothman that Jerry Garcia had been a fan of Jim and Jesse, and used to tape them off the TV! Jerry and Sandy went to see them play even, but Jerry was too shy to do much more than ask for an autograph. At Sandy’s urging, and as a gift to his wife Joy, a longtime Deadhead, Jesse started this project…
Plus – one of the biggest treats on the album is a new song – by Robert Hunter and Jesse McReynolds! “Day by Day” – this alone makes the album a must have!
Jesse will be playing this weekend at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa California. In addition to playing a Jesse and Friends set on both Friday and Saturday (sure to be full of Grateful Dead songs and bluegrass standards, and a few of Jesse’ own songs too!) – Jesse will also participate in the special tribute performance to Jerry Garcia and Bear (Owsley Stanley) – along with David Nelson, Steve Kimock, the members of Moonalice and many others, they will be performing the classic album History of the Grateful Dead Volume 1 (Bear’s Choice). NOT TO BE MISSED!!!
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I recently had a chance to talk with Jesse on the phone, about the record and the upcoming show. He was a great guy to talk with, and I look foreword to meeting him in person this weekend at the Harmony Festival! Here is the interview:
DEADHEADLAND: Hello, Is this Jesse McReynolds? JESSE MCREYNOLDS: Yes it is,
DEADHEADLAND: Well this is Brian from Deadheadland, good morning! Jesse: Hi Brian how you doing?
DHL: great! I guess it is afternoon for you in Nashville? Jesse: Well, yes it is, though we have a little sunshine for a change
DHL: good, we had the sun break through a bit today in the SF Bay Area Jesse: good! I look forward to being back there soon
DHL: I look forward to seeing you at the Harmony Festival. Jesse: Last time I was there was for the Rex Foundation show… good times there!
DHL: Were you familiar with the music of JG and RH before you started preparing for your CD? Jesse: Oh yes, and I had heard quite a bit of it, really, and I almost had the opportunity to work with them on time in Texas, they had a big festival near Austin Texas, I got to play over their sound system, that’s really the closest I ever got to meeting them that one time… back in the 60’s or 70’s some time, I don’t really remember what dates… we were playing in a quite a few different venues at that time with a bluegrass band, of course we had done the Chuck Berry tunes back then, and it had done pretty good for us, so it got us booked on a few different types of shows than just bluegrass festivals
DHL: Jerry sure exposed lots of Rock and Roll fans to bluegrass as well! Jesse: yeah I was honored when I found out from Sandy Rothman, he (jerry) was a fan of ours and he and Sandy used to come to our shows a lot, before he had started the Grateful Dead band. And Jerry was into bluegrass as much, or wanted to be, back then.
DHL: Since you’ve made this recording you have been performing for a lot of Grateful Dead audiences, performing with Dark Star Orchestra and others… Jesse: Yes, I played with them in Nashville, then I uh, I did the Philadelphia folk festival, of course they had a variety of people on that and then I did the Rex Foundation, I did that with David Nelson. David played with me on the album, gave a big boost to the whole thing.
DHL: I look forward to hearing you play with David Nelson! Jesse: Yeah, David’s got a great band, and I really enjoyed playing with them at the Rex benefit, so I look forward to being with them again.
DHL: How do Deadheads compare to the Opry fans? Jesse: Well I think the Deadheads are more dedicated to the music. The people in Nashville, they haven’t went to over-enthused about the project, I can’t get them to play it on the radio here, they say the songs are too long. Of course we have a variety of artists come in, tourism, for the Opry, so um, we have a lot of Grateful Dead fans come into Nashville, and they know about the project. And I do a few songs from the project. But otherwise they don’t really go over great. Opry fans come from all over, they come from every state, and every type of music, and they come on tours, and the Opry is part of the tour.
DHL: Do you like to jam or improvise? Jesse: Oh yes, I do that with David – when we did the Rex Foundation show, I did “Standing on the Moon” and they said let’s really jam it out at the end and I really enjoyed doing that. In fact I always listen to a lot of Grateful Dead, I like the channel on the TV there, the Grateful Dead Channel (Sirius XM), and I’ve heard so many styles of music that they have done, and when they do some of the jams, it is really amazing how well they do it and how well it is arranged. So, yeah, I do that quite a bit!
DHL: the variety is one of the reasons deadheads love them so much! Jesse: Yeah, I think heard it said on the XM channel, when they did songs like “Deep Elem Blues”, and songs we consider bluegrass standards, like “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad”, yep, that one, I sorta grew up listening to those songs. Probably some of the reason is those songs aren’t very complicated to do. Though some of their songs, they get pretty deep into it, the chord progression on everything. Of course when I grew up, the music I played, bluegrass, is pretty straight you know. So it’s a little different, when I get into some of their music. But I try and work it out in a way where um, it will be accepted. That’s why I enjoy working with David, because he knows those songs, and how they’re supposed to go, and he gets the band to really do it right.
DHL: at Harmony Festival, you’ll do your own set, and then you are part of the Tribute to Jerry and Bear Jesse: yeah, I’m gonna be part of the tribute band, they got a bunch of people, it’s gonna be a long jam!
DHL: How are you preparing? Jesse: I’m here, and when they want me to do something, I’m just here learning the music, and they sent me some of the songs they want me to learn. One of them was “Black Peter” I think, and they sent me a list a few songs they want me to do. I think I ordered the CD’s with the songs on it, so I know what is happening pretty much. Though they’ll probably come up with songs I am not too familiar with, I can sit in on a jam pretty good, easily play along pretty well.
DHL: I’m sure you have the chops to jump right in! Jesse: Yeah, I‘ve played a few different things, I did the soft parade with The Doors back a long time ago, that was when I heard that kind of music, and I just listen to a lot of it, and try to not stay in the box, y’know. I like all sorts of music, so I am really looking forward to jammin’ with these folks out there.
DHL: I didn’t realize that was you on The Doors album. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard it. Jesse: Yeah, I was on the song “Runnin’ Blues”; I think they re-released it a few years back, I got a lot of calls from people who saw my name on it, they said “I can’t believe you played with The Doors!” Yeah, I never turned down anything I’ve been offered to do!
DHL: What’s next? Jesse: Well I’ll just wait and see what happens, this is the best project I’ve done in years, and so, I’m not sure what I’ll do next. I’ll play this one as long as it holds up, as long as people enjoy it. And hopefully I’ll get to play a lot of festivals, I did Del Fest, and the Appalachian Uprising in Ohio, and then the Harmony Fest [next weekend] – then back to Maryland to play with Professor Louie & the Crowmatix in July sometime. I got quite a few coming up where I’ll be playing things from the album.
DHL: Are you playing all Jerry/Hunter songs? Jesse: No no, I’ll be mixing up different things, and I’ll do some things that they’ve done, with the acoustic band like “Sittin’ on Top Of The World” – we did our arrangement on that, and “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” and “Deep Elem Blues” and some of the old standards that Jimmy did.
Jesse: Y’know me and my wife, my wife’s a devoted Grateful Dead fan. I tell people out here my wife’s a Deadhead and they don’t know what I mean, but like I told ya, Nashville is sometimes a little behind! But I’m getting a few more shows here in Nashville, featuring the Grateful Dead music, hopefully I’ll get them to recognize it, be more familiar with the music
DHL: Did your wife being a Deadhead encourage you to do this project? Jesse: Oh yeah, she helped me pick some of the songs. We used to travel a lot together, and when we were going on the road, we listened to a lot of Grateful Dead music, so I was really exposed to a lot of it then.
DHL: Good road music! I look forward to seeing you out here at Harmony! it’s been real nice talking with you… Jesse: I appreciate you callin’ – am I gonna see you at the Harmony Festival?
DHL: Yes! I’ll be the guy with long hair in a tie-dye t-shirt Jesse: (laughs) oh yeah, I think we’ll have some shirts there, from the Rex Foundation; I’m trying to support the organization, y’know. They’re nice people.
DHL: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Jesse! Jesse: Thank you, I appreciate it, look forward to seeing you!
JUNE
Fri. & Sat. 10 & 11 Sonoma County, CA (Harmony Festival – Jesse to appear with David Nelson!) www.harmonyfestival.com
Sat. 18 Bean Blossom, IN (Bill Monroe’s Music Park: Bluegrass Festival) www.beanblossom.org
Wed. 22 Summersville, WV (Bluegrass Festival) www.aandabluegrass.com
July Sat. 10 Westminster, MD (Jesse to perform with “Professor Louie & the Crowmatix”)
Th. 14 Mineral, VA (Bluegrass Festival) www.aandabluegrass.com
Sat. 30 Gallatin,TN (3rd annual Pickin’ For Pets! ~ fundraiser for Sumner Humane Society ~ at the Pick Inn) info
September Tues. 13 Owensboro, KY (Bill Monroe 100th Birthday Celebration at RiverPark Center) www.bluegrassmuseum.org
Th. 22 Bean Blossom, IN ( Bill Monroe’s Music Park – Festival) www.beanblossom.org
SL: How do you guys come up with your set list? Is it collaborative?
SL: What other instruments do you play?
Mickey Hart held a small press conference in his trailer backstage at the Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival, In Bridgeport Connecticut, on July 23, 2011. Several reporters were present, and this interview features questions from 
Walkers, Dark Star Orchestra, etc.?
MH: Absolutely! Well said, because as a song catcher, and there are song catchers out here, the ones that record called tapers, that’s what they are is song catchers, when I go out into the field I learn the riches of the people that I am recording, and that enriches me first, then secondly, when going into these indigenous cultures, them knowing I have taken the time to learn their music, and give some of their music back to them like long lost relatives, or repatriating music. 
