The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, and psychedelia; for live performances of lengthy instrumental jams that typically incorporated modal and tonal improvisation; and for its devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to Lenny Kaye, "their music touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world".
Robert C. Christie Hunter was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time in his childhood in foster homes, as a result of his father's abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing. He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with Jerry Garcia. Garcia and Hunter began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life.
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
William Kreutzmann Jr. is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to perform with former members of the Grateful Dead in various lineups, and with his own bands BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & the Kids.
Sunshine Daydream is a music documentary film, starring the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes shown at small film festivals, and bootleg recordings of it circulated on VHS and DVD, and as digital downloads. A digitally remastered and reedited official version of the film was released on August 1, 2013, showing only one time in selected theaters as that year's edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies. It was screened with Grateful Days, a new documentary short that includes interviews with some of the concert attendees. Sunshine Daydream was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2013.
Railroad Earth is a bluegrass-influenced Americana band formed in Stillwater, New Jersey in 2001. The band's music combines elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic and other Americana influences. Recognized as "carrying on the tradition of improvisational, genre-spanning music laid forth by the Grateful Dead," Railroad Earth is known for lyrical songwriting and extensive live improvisation. The band takes its name from the Jack Kerouac prose poem "October in the Railroad Earth". The band also has a song of the same name.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands typically referred to as jam bands and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, after taking a one year break.
Thomas Richard Hamilton Jr. is an American songwriter, musician, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the bands Brothers Past, American Babies, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Bill Kreutzmann's Billy & the Kids, and Electron.
7 Walkers was an American rock band featuring former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, guitarist Papa Mali, multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard, and bassist George Porter Jr.
Dave's Picks Volume 1 is a three-CD live album by the band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 25, 1977, at the Mosque in Richmond, Virginia, and contains the complete concert from that date. It was released on February 1, 2012.
Dave's Picks Volume 4 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on September 24, 1976, at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was released on November 1, 2012.
Winterland: May 30th 1971 is an album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. As the name suggests, it was recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California on May 30, 1971. The album includes most of the second set from that concert, as well as the encore. It was produced only as a two-disc vinyl LP, in a limited edition of 7,500 copies, and was released on November 23, 2012, in conjunction with Record Store Day.
Lockn' Festival, formerly known as Interlocken Music Festival, is an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Virginia. The festival focuses primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
The Peach Music Festival is a music festival started by the Allman Brothers Band and Live Nation Entertainment that has been held annually since 2012 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, Pennsylvania. One exception was in 2020.
July 29 1966, P.N.E. Garden Aud., Vancouver Canada is a live album by American rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded at the PNE Garden Auditorium in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 29, 1966. It also includes four songs recorded at the same venue on the following day. It was produced as a two-disc vinyl LP in a limited edition of 6,600 copies. It was released on April 22, 2017, in conjunction with Record Store Day.
Larry Dwayne Keel is an American bluegrass musician from Southwest Virginia who has been performing since 1976. He was a founding member of Magraw Gap in 1990. He also performs with his wife, bassist Jenny Keel, in The Larry Keel Experience. He has released over a dozen albums.
Billy Strings is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He won a Grammy Award in 2021.
Holly Bowling is an American pianist. She is best known as a former member of the band Ghost Light in which she performed on keys and vocals. Classically-trained, she has transcribed some of the music of Phish and the Grateful Dead into arrangements for solo piano. In 2014, Bowling published her "Jam Transcription" of Phish's famous rendition of "Tweezer" from Lake Tahoe on July 31, 2013. The success of Bowling's "Tahoe Tweezer" ignited her career as a musician.
Dave's Picks Volume 27 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on September 2, 1983, at Boise State University Pavilion, in Boise, Idaho. It was produced as a limited edition of 18,000 copies, and was released on July 27, 2018.
Ghost Light is a five-piece American jam band formed in 2017 by Tom Hamilton, Raina Mullen, Holly Bowling, Scotty Zwang, and Steve Lyons. Ghost Light's debut album, "Best Kept Secret," was named one of Glide's top 20 albums of 2019. Ghost Light has performed on major festival stages and in historic venues including Lockn' Festival, Jam Cruise, Electric Forest Festival, Mission Ballroom, Brooklyn Bowl, The Peach Music Festival and Terrapin Crossroads. Ghost Light toured as an opening act for Greensky Bluegrass in the winter of 2020.
