The Rex Foundation is pleased to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Rex Benefit The Wheel - A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia, taking place on Saturday, March 24th at the The Hamilton in downtown Washington, DC, featuring New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jesse McReynolds with Garret McReynolds and Steve Thomas, and 

Like every good Deadhead, sometimes I’ve tried to imagine what it must have been like back in 1964 when Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions played at the Top of the Tangent coffee house in Palo Alto.  As most Deadheads know, it was Mother McCree’s, a band steeped in traditional folk and bluegrass influence, that birthed the band we’ve come to know as the Grateful Dead.  Back then, I don’t think anyone could have imagined that the sprawling lawns of the

Did you ever see the movie, The Blues Brothers?  I saw it back when it came out, in a theatre.. It’s one of my favorite comedies of all time. And one of my favorite scenes is at the honky-tonk bar, where John Belushi’s character asks the waitress what kind of music is played there.  She replies in a happy chirp, “Oh – we’ve got both kinds.. Country – AND  – Western.. “

Join the Rex Foundation on Saturday, December 4th at The Fillmore in San Francisco for a festive, one-of-a-kind musical occasion to benefit the Rex Foundation:  The Wheel - A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia.  Musical friends of Jerry Garcia since 1962 come together to play his music, including:  Jesse McReynolds, Garrett McReynolds, Steve Thomas, Peter Rowan Blue Grass Band: Peter Rowan, Jody Stecher, Keith Little, Paul Knight, David Nelson & Friends, Electric: David Nelson, Barry Sless, Robin Syl

Dear Dead Heads:

In 1964, Jerry Garcia and his buddy Sandy Rothman packed up a tape recorder and took off for the American South on a bluegrass pilgrimage. One of the groups they most wanted to see was “Jim and Jesse” (McReynolds), of Dothan, Alabama. They saw them, and they had a ball.

Jim and Jesse went on to legendary status in the bluegrass world with more than 45 years at the Grand Ol’ Opry, Grammys, and membership in any Hall of Fame that means anything to this music.