Terrapin Flyer is one of the top touring Grateful Dead bands and on their just announced 18 show Fall Tour they will be returning to the western United States. The band has performed for the last 23 years with the best musicians in the Dead scene and often with former members of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band! Their shows with Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and Melvin Seals established them as a national touring force and a reference in Rolling Stones official Grateful Dead issue.
The band has a long and storied history of performing with legends of the Grateful Dead world starting at the turn of the century with Grateful Dead and Tubes keyboardist Vince Welnick. With Welnick the band was able to expand their provenance by touring with a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Going toe to toe with Welnick and being in his good graces, they linked with Melvin Seals from the Jerry Garcia Band in 2004. The next 16 years included many tours with Melvin and they established themselves as a nationally touring band with strong drawing power from coast to coast. Beginning in 2006, the band performed on many tours with Grateful Dead veteran Tom Constanten exploring the Dead’s origins with a former member of the Grateful Dead who performed with them at Woodstock. With Constanten they also have hosted the Chicago White Sox Grateful Dead Night for the last 7 years. Over the course of the history of the band hundreds of musicians have performed in Terrapin Flyer including Mark Karan of Bob Weir’s Ratdog, Bob Bralove of the Grateful Dead and Sikiru Adupoju of the Mickey Hart Band.
The band has established itself without the assistance of their esteemed guests, and today they tour with a lineup of favorite members of the band. Among these musicians currently in the band is Josh Olken who is known as one of the top interpreters of Jerry Garcia’s guitar playing. Josh was even chosen to play Jerry Garcia’s Alligator guitar (used by Garcia on the Europe 72 tour) in Redwood City, California last year. Also in the band is Wavy Dave who made his mark on the national music scene through his work with the popular bluegrass band Cornmeal. Wavy has also been playing bass in Terrapin Flyer since the early days of the band. Other current members of Terrapin Flyer include Jon Reed on drums, Michael Cole on keys and Doug Hagman on rhythm guitar.
All of these musicians have toured extensively in Terrapin Flyer over the years and bring with them a wealth of talent and experience. What has contributed to Terrapin Flyer’s success has been an authentic interpretation of Grateful Dead music combined with players who understand the aesthetic of the Grateful Dead and their community. Together with band and audience, the spirit of the Grateful Dead lives on in a Terrapin Flyer show and fans of the Grateful Dead can close their eyes and dance the night away harkening back to another time’s forgotten space.
And Terrapin Flyer all began from a Grateful Dead jam night in Chicago that has led to the band now being one of the top Dead bands. The Fall Tour will include familiar venues and an expansion into new territory for the band. Returning from a successful Halloween run last year, it begins with 3 Montana shows in Billings, Bozeman and for the first time Whitefish. In Oregon, the Eugene show is sure to include guest performances with original Merry Pranksters Ken Babbs and George Walker. In LA the band will return to the historic club The Mint where such legends as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Willie Dixon have also graced the same stage. The tour will end where it all began in Chicago where the band will be celebrating their 23rd Anniversary at the legendary venue Martyrs’ on Thanksgiving weekend for 3 nights! Check out all the dates of the tour below.
10/27 Thirsty Street Billings MT
10/28 The Elm Bozeman MT
10/29 Great Northern Bar Whitefish MT
10/31 High Dive Seattle WA
11/2 Volcanic Theatre Bend OR
11/3 Wow Hall Eugene OR
11/4 Talent Club Talent OR
11/8 Club Fox Redwood City CA
11/10 Full Circle Brewing Fresno CA
11/11 The Mint Los Angeles, CA
11/12 Last Exit Phoenix AZ
11/16 & 17 Mystic Hot Springs Monroe UT
11/18 & 19 The State Room Salt Lake City UT
11/23, 25 & 26 Martyrs’ Chicago IL
