Earlier this year, the Rex Foundation Board of Directors presented our Ralph J. Gleason award to Levon Helm.

The Avett Brothers have released a video and a sneak peak of songs to be performed for their extraordinary upcoming concert event Dear Jerry: This Is 30! featuring special guest Warren Haynes, one of two concerts honoring the music of Jerry Garcia coming to the DC/VA/MD area on October 14 and 15.

Bob Weir’s latest album ‘Blue Mountain’ inspired the Campfire Tour which came to the Wiltern Theater on the 10th of October. The packed venue was entertained with Bob performing solo, three songs against projected images of the Dust Bowl era, (including 2 of his new tracks (KC Moan, Blue Mountain and a lovely Loose Lucy).  The rest of the band came on stage to support him, which included notable performers Steve Kimock from RatDog, Matt Berninger, Bryan and Scott Devendorf (all from The National), Jon Shaw and Shakey Graves.

Celebrated Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain's exciting announcement of a dual performance alongside sitarist virtuoso Niladri Kumar at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall was instantly an event not to be missed. The evening's exploratory possibilities have been further expanded with the exciting addition of percussionist and musicologist Mickey Hart as special guest.

Bob Weir was quite literally born and bred in music. The adopted son of loving parents Frederic Utter and Eleanor Cramer Weir, his identity would deepen and develop in his youth. Though his parents did their best (Mama Tried) Weir’s nature was rebellious and questioning. His dyslexia didn’t help matters. In his teens, Weir was shipped off from his birthplace of San Francisco to Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado where hopes were that he would straighten out.

Fantasy Records, a division of Concord Bicycle Music, is pleased to announce the vinyl edition of the acclaimed MERL SAUNDERS/JERRY GARCIA Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings, out October 28^th.

“Never trust a prankster,” a motto of the Acid Test-producing Merry Pranksters back in the 1960s, was apropos on Friday, at Bob Weir’s inaugural Campfire Tour show in San Rafael, California. In support of Weir’s new countrified, ballad-heavy album, “Blue Mountain,” all signs pointed to a live show in which Weir’s new band would mosey on through a series of sparse, slow-paced odes.

For the first time, the earliest known studio recording by Jerry Garcia will be released on November 11 through Round Records/ATO Records. In 1962, Garcia and his folk/bluegrass quintet The Hart Valley Drifters went into Stanford University’s KZSU studio in Palo Alto, CA to record a session for the stations program Folk Time (also the album’s title). The lost session resided in a closet for nearly 50 years before the reels were unearthed in 2008 by former Stanford student Ted Claire, who produced and recorded the original session.

Steve will be joining Bob Weir's Campfire Tour on guitar and lapsteel (he may even dust off some pedal steel for this special occasion). After being a part of the recording session for Blue Mountain and also appearing on the new record, it's an honor for Steve to also participate in the tour. 

See you on the road!

TOUR DATES

September 30th, Bob Weir's first solo CD in ten years will be available for purchase. Titled Blue Mountain, this 12 track release is a personal collection of music inspired by the ranch stories and fireside songs of Bob’s youth, told with wisdom and heart. Weir will be touring nine dates with Aaron Dessner, Bryan Devendorf and Josh Kaufman.

Purchase at:

http://bobweir.net/#bluemountain

"Blue Mountain" video: