Today, music fans can tune in for the first time to The Music Plays the Band podcast from Dark Star Orchestra Drummer Rob Koritz. Highlighting and focusing on the influence of the Grateful Dead on the life and career of professional musicians within the jamband world and beyond, the podcast is available now on all streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes and more via the landing page https://themusicplays.buzzsprout.com.
Given that musicians who like the Grateful Dead really love talking about the Grateful Dead, Rob goes deep and delves into long form conversations with some of the scene’s most respected musicians detailing how they got turned on to the band and the impact it had on their life, music and careers. Koritz notes "I get to talk with some of my favorite musicians, getting to connect on why and how the Grateful Dead influences their music, their work ethic and other insights you’ll want to tune in to hear!"
Featured special guests in the first batch of episodes include Keller Williams, Rob Barraco (Dark Star Orchestra, Phil & Friends, The Dead), Kenny Withrow (New Bohemians), Vinny Amico (moe.), and Ben Kaufman (Yonder Mountain String Band). In addition to the featured artist interviews, each episode will have three mini-segments:
The Black Music Moment highlighting the monumental influence of Black Music on the sound of the Grateful Dead. Rob states “I'm very excited to be able to delve deeper into the musicians, the music and the stories of those black artists who had immense inspiration on the Dead’s music.”
The Sarno Music Solutions Breakdown with audio guru Brad Sarno about ideas and techniques that shed light on the sonic secrets from the Grateful Dead audio world. Known for his Sarno Music Solutions and Blue Jade Audio Mastering, Sarno is an authority on the equipment and audio world of the Grateful Dead, as he was behind the crafting of the unique guitar rig used by Trey Anastasio for the ‘GD 50’ celebration in Chicago in 2015.
There's a Grateful Dead Cover Band in Every Town featuring conversations with local Grateful Dead bands from around the country, discussing different approaches to covering the music and the communities that have developed around these scenes. Koritz notes, "we all know the cover band in our area, I am happy to shed a little light on these hard-working artists in communities all over the country."
In addition to the streaming sounds of the podcast, The Music Plays the Band today launches its Patreon site offering a wide variety of limited-edition, fan exclusives ranging from outtakes to monthly one on one video conversations with Rob Koritz. Complete details and experience levels are available at https://www.patreon.com/TheMusicPlays.
The genesis of ‘The Music Plays the Band’ podcast begins with Rob, finding himself in the unusual place of having lots of time at home, with Dark Star Orchestra unable to tour due to the global pandemic. Not being able to bring the music to the people, Rob began engaging with fans on social media, offering question and answer sessions, as well as some live interviews, which inspired the evolution of taking things further.
As is the norm when dealing in all things Grateful Dead, events started taking on a life of their own, as Rob was approached by old friends and St. Louis songwriting/production team, Brothers Lazaroff, about supporting him in elevating his offering further to create a formal podcast available to a wider audience.
Pulling from his lifetime as a professional touring musician specializing in the music of the Grateful Dead, Rob is excited to bring conversations he feels are largely missing from the cannon of Grateful Dead inspired content.
“I hope you’ll take a listen to our initial episodes! We have great conversations with tremendous musicians, plus we have some really great bonus content and opportunities to get to know me a little better."
The first two episodes of ‘The Music Plays the Band’ podcast are available now at https://themusicplays.buzzsprout.com/.
‘The Music Plays the Band’ online:
https://themusicplays.buzzsprout.com/
https://patreon.com/TheMusicPlays
https://youtu.be/3VhWloLB3qE
https://www.facebook.com/themusicplays
https://twitter.com/TMPTBPodcast
