This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2014) |
Joe Russo's Almost Dead | |
---|---|
Also known as | Almost Dead, JRAD |
Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 2013 | –present
Members |
Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to drummer Joe Russo, the band also includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past, Ghost Light, and American Babies on guitar and vocals.
The band's first concert was on January 26, 2013, at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York for the second night of the Freaks Ball XIII. As Joe Russo recalls in the September 2017 Relix Magazine interview, he was supposed to play in the Dean Ween Group (Mickey Melchiondo from Ween's side project) on that second night but shortly before the date, Mickey cancelled the Dean Ween Group appearance and Joe pulled together Bustle In Your Hedgerow (Russo, Dreiwitz, Metzger and Benevento's Led Zeppelin band) and added Tom Hamilton to form Joe Russo's Almost Dead. [1] JRAD played one more show that year at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York on December 27, 2013.
JRAD slowly began playing more shows in 2014, including several sets at summer festivals including the Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, California, and String Cheese Incident's Hulaween Festival in Live Oak, Florida. They played two nights in Chicago and two nights in Colorado ending in a New Year's run on December 29, 30, and 31, at the Capitol Theatre, in Port Chester, New York, with the Grateful Dead's own Phil Lesh on bass filling in for Dreiwitz. The JRAD run with Phil Lesh was dubbed "PhilRAD." JRAD played a total of 10 shows in 2014.
Forty-six shows were listed on the band's website for 2015, including performances at Electric Forest, All Good Festival, Mountain Jam and High Sierra Music Festival. [2]
JRAD had their debut appearance on Jam Cruise in January performing two consecutive nights in the Pantheon Theatre and a Pool Deck set. [3] In July they would play their first show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in support of Umphrey's McGee. [4] In February 2016, it was announced that Joe Russo's Almost Dead would play a three show run at Brooklyn Bowl for Freak's Ball XVI, from March 24-March 26.
With Ween returning to tour, Dave Dreiwitz missed JRAD's five-night 2016 New England spring tour. Jon Shaw of Shakey Graves and Cass McCombs filled in for Dreiwitz. [5] In August, they played two performances at Lockn' Festival in Virginia, which featured two headline performances by Ween and Phish. [6]
Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti filled in for Benevento at two performances in New Orleans in April 2016. [7]
JRAD played a total of 36 shows in 2016. [8]
In 2017 JRAD performed forty shows including their first headlining indoor arena show, their first headlining Red Rocks Amphitheatre show and a return to the Dominican Republic for their second year in a row at Dominican Holidaze. Their first headlining arena show at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado was a sold-out show originally scheduled for Red Rocks Amphitheatre but due to a late spring snowstorm, the concert was relocated overnight to the 1stBank Center. [9] The band also performed twelve sold-out nights at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York City during the Spring and Fall of 2017. On March 9, the first night of the spring Brooklyn Bowl run and the band's one-hundredth concert, they premiered Russo and Hamilton's "Keeping it Simple", their first-ever original song. [10] For three of the Brooklyn Bowl performances Oteil Burbridge filled in for Dreiwitz while on Ween tour. [11] On August 31, 2017 the band headlined a sold-out performance at Red Rocks with Oteil Burbridge on bass guitar filling in for Dreiwitz out on Ween tour. In October, between the 5th-7th and the 12th-14th, the band performed the latter six sold-out shows at the Brooklyn Bowl. JRAD's 125th show saw John Mayer, current lead-guitarist of Dead & Company, sitting in on guitar on Friday, October 13 in the first and second set of the show. [12]
JRAD started off 2018 with three sold-out nights in January at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York [13] followed by a spring tour beginning on February 15 in Nashville, Tennessee with guest vocalist Nicole Atkins performing 'Doin' That Rag'. [14]
Rolling Stone named JRAD's Peach Festival performance "Best Scene-Stealer", saying that, "JRAD takes improvisational jam rock to the nth degree." [15]
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
Oteil Burbridge is an American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann and Derek Trucks.
Dave Dreiwitz is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bassist for the bands Ween and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur. He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
Marco Benevento is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording engineer of Fred Short, a recording studio in Upstate New York, and a member of the rock groups Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, both of which feature his regular musical collaborator Joe Russo.
Jeff Chimenti is an American keyboardist, best known for his ongoing work with former members of the Grateful Dead. Since May 1997 he has played with Bob Weir & RatDog, and has also played on every tour of The Dead and Furthur. He currently plays with Dead & Company.
Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans. Although they originated as a trio, the band has worked extensively with different horn sections, which have included Sam Kininger (saxophone) from 2000 to 2003, Rashawn Ross (trumpet), and Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) from 2003 to 2006. The band also worked with vocalist Toussaint Yeshua from 2006 to 2007. Soulive is currently touring in the original trio lineup of Eric Krasno, Alan Evans, and Neal Evans.
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, partially improvised performances, as well as for a loyal fan base who often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. They disbanded in 1995, following the death of de facto bandleader Jerry Garcia. Since then remaining members have reunited for a number of concert tours and one-off performances, often in very different configurations. The following is a list of instances where former Grateful Dead members have reunited.
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an American alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.
Furthur was a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of the Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, RatDog's Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and Jay Lane on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo on drums. Named after the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the 1960s, Furthur was an improvisational jam band that performed music primarily from the extensive Grateful Dead songbook, as well as their own original music and that of several other well-known artists. In addition to the original members, the band's lineup included backup vocalists Sunshine Becker of the a cappella ensemble SoVoSó and Jeff Pehrson of the folk rock bands Box Set and the Fall Risk.
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.
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.
Billy & the Kids is an American rock band formed in 2014 by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Joe Russo's Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton, Tea Leaf Green bassist Reed Mathis and the Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner.
Dead & Company is an American rock band consisting of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards).
The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2016 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during June and July 2016. It was the band's second tour, following their 2015 tour. At the band's final show for the 2015 tour at The Forum in Inglewood, California, John Mayer hinted that the band would continue touring in 2016, stating at the conclusion of the show, "At the risk of rocking any boats—known and unknown—we'll see you next year."
Scott Metzger is an American guitarist. His work touches on many styles including psychedelic rock, soul, country, jazz, and surf rock. His collaborations with other artists include Phil Lesh, John Scofield, Joe Russo, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes, Shooter Jennings, LaLa Brooks of The Crystals, Trixie Whitley, Nicole Atkins, Anders Osborne, Dean Ween, Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski Mark Richler, Circles Around the Sun, the Stanton Moore trio, and Umphrey's McGee. Metzger is a full-time member of Joe Russo's Almost Dead since its inception in 2013; he also continues to play with other artists.
The Dead & Company Fall Tour 2017 is a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during November and December 2017. It is the band’s fourth tour, following their 2017 Summer Tour. The tour comprises a total of 15 concerts in 14 different cities between November 12 and February 27, 2018.
The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2018 is a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during May, June, and July 2018. It is the band’s fifth tour, following their 2017 Fall Tour. The tour comprises a total of 24 concerts in 19 different cities between May 30 and July 14, 2018.
Dead & Company Fall Fun Run 2019 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company. It followed the band's Summer Tour 2019. The tour comprised ten dates across five locations from October 31 to December 31, 2019.
Performing the vast and complex catalog of the Grateful Dead is a challenge to most ensembles, but JRAD takes improvisational jam rock to the nth degree.