The winter and spring of 1969 was a particularly exciting time for the Grateful Dead. They were finishing up their long-awaited third album, Aoxomoxoa, and playing with a passionate intensity unequaled in their nearly five years together.

Mickey Hart is internationally known as the percussionist for the Grateful Dead, legendary for his explorations of unusual time signatures and the percussion of India, Asia, Africa, and South America, a two-time Grammy winner and an accomplished composer, producer, archivist, and activist.

He also creates visual art.

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

Save Saturday, December 4th to join the Rex Foundation at The Fillmore in San Francisco for a special night of music and connection: The Wheel - A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia.  Watch for the full announcement within the week, including ticket details.

There are also some great Rex Musical Caravan events taking place over the next few weeks in different cities that we hope you'll enjoy:

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.

“Get Lost in the Great North Woods” is the perfect way to describe Hoxeyville Music Festival.  The 8^th annual festival was held in the Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan.  Each year Hoxeyville has grown and improved this year followed suit and featured a bigger and better lineup than ever before, cleaner and more organized festival grounds, and the largest crowd to date at around 4,000 people.  One of the greatest things about Hoxeyville is the family atmosphere, whether it was a grandparent and grandchild watching a mid-day set, lon

Dear Dead Heads:

In 1980, the Grateful Dead needed a director to shoot the planned multi-city broadcast of their Halloween show from Radio City Music Hall.   They brought a guy named Len Dell’Amico out to San Francisco for an interview, and he managed to navigate through one large Hell’s Angel and some fat, potent spliffs sufficiently well to persuade Jerry Garcia that he was the guy for the job.  The result was Dead Ahead, which went on to become a platinum home video.

Until I arrived at this year’s Gathering of The Vibes Festival in Bridgeport, CT, I didn’t know I was looking for something. Until I left, I didn’t realize that I had found it. The following is a recounting of that journey. Along the way masters in the field of musical entertainment will appear. All were influential, some more than others. But as you read this recounting of GOTV 2010, remember that this is one man’s quest.

The fifteenth annual Gathering of the Vibes will begin next Thursday, July 29, at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT.

The San Francisco Giants will pay tribute to music legend Jerry Garcia on Monday, August 9, when they face the Chicago Cubs at 7:15 p.m. Garcia and the Grateful Dead are synonymous with San Francisco and each year the City celebrates “the days between” which are the days within Garcia’s birthday (August 1) and the day of his passing (August 9).