Friend of the Devil
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Took a big walk this morning and now catching up on some creative outlets since I am caught up on clinical work. I always have research stuff I could be doing but such is life. Nice to be doing something other than farting in my office.
I watched a video abut how creating things makes us happy. I think if all we do is consume, life gets heavy and tough to bear. So playing a casio keyboard (i figured out how to play a couple of ocarina songs from zelda), doodling, and now I guess I am blogging!
Listening to a COnneticut show but once again reminded about all of the americana the dead brings up in their songs. Workingman's and American Beauty are full of this stuff. ALthough they continued to play all of these early songs there is certainly a difference hearing the electric performances versus their early more acoustic approach.
In terms of Americana songs, friend of the devil is my favorite, and that is a song that has popped up in different times in my life. I learned how to play it around the end of high school and would play it with friends when I worked in new mexico in the summer of 2007. When I got into the dead recently, it was a familiar friend to hear on sets when i was still getting into the rest of the catalog. I should learn it on piano now!
Was trying to find a fun picture for friend of the devil and landed on Devil Anse Hatfield, of the Hatfields and McCoys. These two families had a big fued in appalachia and the Hatfields were from WV, my home state. Devil Anse was the head of the Hatfield family, and apparently a real character. Not sure how he got the nickname but I know there was like murder and romance and stuff going on. ANyways, some of the Hatfield descendents still live in WV and my dad used to go to a store in Wayne county run by a man who clamed to be a Hatfield. Apparently he was a character too! When I think about the grateful dead and Americana, this is where my thoughts often land - maybe the devil that Jerry was talking about was a man like Devil Anse!
Happy trails
10/08/2025
I know you rider
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Did you know Jerry played pedal steel on "Teach Your Children" by CSNY?!?!? SOrry that is kind of blowing my mind. I have been inspired by jerry to pick up slide guitar - I'm not committing to pedal steel quite yet - so stay tuned. I play guitar most days so it will be neat to try something new.
I have always been a big music nut and one thing especially interesting about getting into the grateful dead is being able to enjoy playing their songs as much as listening to them. For a long time I have been more focussed on what could be done with recorded music - basically I wanted to hear tracks or albums that pushed recorded music to new heights - like how the beatles quit touring to focus on making records. Fast-forward to the modern era where everything is recorded and commodified - now I am so much more excited by performances.
Obviously GD is super commodified but I love getting to hear a group of musicians focussed on playing as opposed to getting something on tape. Ultimately this is probably why the studio albums will always be lacking compared to the live shows - the spontinaiety of the performance is what it is all about!
"Goes to show you don't ever know"
Still exercising and feeling much better these days. Kids can wear you out! It ends up I don't have sleep apnea and the doctor just said I was exhausted. ANyways - on the mend and feeling good now.
Happy trails
10/07/2025
Sing me back home
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Rocking and rolling today. I went to the doctor and I am still exercising eery day. Starting to get healthy again. I also did my sleep study so I should have my sleep figured out soon. It's not easy to take care of yourself when you have a lot going on, but I am finding that it is worth it.
The kids are really into Disney music and I have been taking a lot of meetings in the car, so now it actually feels like a treat when I get to catch up on dead shows. I am working my way into September 1972 and they are so good, but I am really missing Pigpen's contributions. Taking some time to catalog my listening and update the site.
I called into my favorite podcast, the Best Show tih Tom Scharpling, and told him about the Oregon show which was really fun. I think it was my first successful call on the show (he usually razzes me), so a win on the whole.
Happy trails
9/30/2025
Bird Song
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Feeling really great this morning. I have been sleeping better and I am doing a good job at work. My family has survived hand foot and mouth disease and things are moving at the house. My son with dyslexia and adhd is getting what he needs, and, for what feels like the first time, on track at school.
For a long time, I have tried to be fiercely independent, but I have come to realize that opening up to others and asking for help is really incredible. People want to help you and it is amazing to have that kind of response. I jam glad to be a part of something bigger.
Wrapping up this August shows at the Berkeley Community Theatre. I have really gotten into the 8/24 version of “Bird Song.” Jerry wrote this song about Janis Joplin, who he was in love with but had passed away a few years earlier. It speaks to the beauty of life and the ephemeral nature of great people and things
Happy trails
9/17/2025
Not fade away
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I have always been neurotic. I am not sure if that is getting better or worse with age! I am starting to feel better. I have been resting more. I have also been on call so I haven't been drinking which seems to have buoyed my health. Also my kids are keeping me busy! Lots of walking and activities.
I am happy to be listening to more of the august shows. The band is starting to add new material which is fun to hear, but unfortunately may have been prompted to fill the space left by pigpen. I miss that guy. ALso I have almost made it to the point where I am listening to shows that are happening in the same time of year. It will be cool to listen to september shows in september!
Happy trails
9/12/2025
Dark Star
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Working again. Life is getting better, maybe it's getting better all the time???
Spending more time on Dead shows and projects today and it feels good. It is said that your 30s are a time of great upheaval, and I would tend to agree. Raising kids, moving, jobs, and perhaps most importantly your marriage are things that require care and attention. It is a lot of pressure but it is all very worthwhile. I'm glad to get up every day and have a chance to do it all again.
Why did the grateful dead cover "El Paso"? Like I get that it is an old country song and they were kind of into similar subject matter, but it is so wild to here them play it for YEARS. Like there was this thing in the early 2000s where it was kind of a joke for indie artists to cover rap songs. A lot of it was napster fodder but some of it seemed ok, although in hindsight probably a little racist. But yeah, i think el paso was meant to be ironic initially and then the dead kind of adopted it. Of note Mexicali blues was supposedly inspired by it.
Happy trails
9/4/2025
Dark Star
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Feeling good today - sleeping better! I even got up and exercised, will I get in shape this year?!
Kicking off a day full of meetings with the 7/26/72 Dark Star. Big meeting days are sometimes daunting, but... sorry got interuppted. I am too busy! 😅 ANyways, happy to be at work getting stuff done. Excited to be listening to a dead show!
Happy trails 9/3/2025
Black throated wind
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I think I have sleep apnea? Anyways, going to the doctor on Friday - feeling hopeful to get things worked out.
Big into my mp3 player right now. I am currently downloading all of my mp3 library. I uploaded all my music to google music in college and it is somehow all still there all these years later (although it is now called youtube music). Not doing as good of a job listening to only the grateful dead right now, although I do have the 7/25/1972 show on as I type this. Just excited to be discovering music again on my own - i am still having a lot of fun with all of this
Happy trails 8/26/2025
Dancing in the Streets
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My daughter went to the hospital on Thursday for bronchiolitis but today we are home baby! We actually got home last night but I am so relieved. It was such a stressful experience and it is really great to be settling back in at the house. I do kind of have a headache because we were so busy with things today, but it is a happy headache (if that is a thing).
I did break down and get an mp3 player only to discover that all the dead soundboard recordings became streaming only in 2005! Fortunately there is still stuff to download but in my endeavour to listen to full shows I am still tied to a phone/computer. I listened to another show from July in Seattle (7/22/1972) while I put together some furniture for my son's room. It was really wonderful, and I honestly felt like the kids were kind of into it which was wild
The gratefuldead website has been putting out downloads since 2006 so I fortunately have found some more stuff to check out, this will supplement my show listening. It is also kind of fun to have stuff that you can't download and some stuff free to download - feels very 2006.
Happy trails 8/24/2025
Truckin'
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Feeling pretty good again today. I have been getting more sleep and walking more. I also changed up my reflux meds and I think I am healthier for it.
Anyways, I am post-spotify in terms of my live Dead listening. It is interesting going off streaming for your music after things being so easy for so long. I'm not going to get an mp3 player but using archive.org or some of these grateful dead streamers is actually kind of a hassle. Is there any money in making a high quality grateful dead streaming app??? Modern problems
Happy trails 8/19/2025
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
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I'm gettign stuff done today - feeling good and enjoying a soundboard recording - happy monday y'all.
One kind of interesting thing as someone gettign into GD in my late 30s is that I spent most of my life as pretty anti-jam band. I read an interesting article about this phenemenon: After complaining about the Grateful Dead for decades, outing myself as a midlife Deadhead wasn’t easy
The author talks about a number of things but also emphasizes that people's tastes change as we age. When I was growing up, sort of paralelling the author, everything needed to be quick, cool, edgy - now I just want to enjoy some music. Especially given the enormous backcatalog of live sets, I feel like I can really dig into this interest. It is also funny because I would have thought this was very lame even up to just a few years ago - anyways - here I am, at least i'm having a good time!
Happy trails 8/18/2025
Promised land
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Feeling good this afternoon, a little groggy in the AM but my kids wanted smoothies so at least I had a healthy breakfast.
FInished the june show and on to another audience recording today from July 72. Have been trying to get through some of the 80s studio stuff and it is such atreat to hear this gritty, loose version compared to the adult-contempo sleeze of late-era dead.
Also having fun watching people do listicles of grateful dead studio records on youtube. I watched this one of some wannabe anthony fantanos refusing to listen to the live stuff and ranking all of their studio records only. What a tedious project. Like even bob weir says they never made great records. Further, they talk about how gimmicky a lot of the production sounds, which makes sense because they were trying to sell records. A bunch of hippies trying to get one over on the record-buying general public. Glad these dweebs checked them out at least 😅
Happy trails 8/15/2025
Help on the way
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I'm on the treadmill again! I stayed up too late watching vertigo, so feeling a little run down this morning.
There is an ebb an flow to life and I feel like things are currently on an upswing. I'm not sure if you believe in karma or God, but something is out there and things are working out!
I branched out an listened to some non-dead last night which was kind of exciting, but working throught the june 72 show right now. It is an audience recording as opposed to a soundboard tape, and it is super fun. I was initially bummed about the audio quality, but it is actually great to hear the audience and some of the hiss and crackle of an amateur recording. I probably won't come back to the show but enjoying the ride
Happy trails 8/14/2025
Wait until that deal come round
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I have been exercising! I am really enjoying it. I have a treadmill at my desk so I walked 2 miles while I caught up on email. Had meatloaf for lunch with fig newtons and coffee for dessert.
I finished the Academy of Music shows from March 72. Having already listented to the european tour for that year, I am now 6 months into 1972! THe crazy part is that means I'm only like a ~40% of the way through shows for 1972. THere is just so much to listen to. I am honestly astounded by how much recorded dead there is - a real embarrassment of riches.
ANyways, I have also been playing a lot of balatro - love that game. I am also getting some academic stuff done. I got a paper back with minor revisions and now I am also pushing some older projects forward. Academics can feel overwhelming sometimes, but really it's just about getting a little done everyday because in time it does add up.
Happy trails 8/13/2025
Cumberland blues
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One thing that is weird about getting older is how serious things can get. Like sometimes a situation could be life or death or really important or meaningful.
THat's one thing I kind of love about the grateful dead. As a group who's output is mostly complete and more happy than sad, I don't have to take the grateful dead too seriously. That isn't to say there isn't depth in the music, the writing, or the things they accomplished but me getting to geek out about the grateful dead doesn't have to be seroius at all. Also they were delightfully silly. Like when they didn't want to play the song "Alligator" anymore, they would just tell audience members who requested the song that they had just forgotten how to play it. Love getting to hear snippets of banter in these live shows and enjoy how free-spirited the group and the fans were throughout the years, really stands in contrast with a lot of today's stan culture stuff - this is despite the fact they had equivalently diehard fanbases.
ANyways, I have gotten to work out every day for the past week. I;m still trying to fix my diet, but I am feeling better just getting some exercise in.
Happy trails 8/12/2025
You win again
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Typing this while rocking the little one to bed.
I’ve been trying to wrap up the March Academy of music shows over the past couple of days. My daughter didn’t have daycare today and my son only had a half day at school so I have been on duty. It is kind of surprsing how much more music I get to listen to when I am working and commuting. Also my family revealed to me that they are all tired of listening to dead shows. So it goes!
Happy trails
8/11/2025
Turn on your love light
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I'm feeling pretty good today. I had to go out and pick up a script for my son last night around 1030 and it wasn't ready until 11, so instead of being grouchy in a CVS for half an hour I went to the whattaburger next store and got a spicy chicken sandwich. He has a skin infection so we had to motivate him to take a pill at 1130, which he didn't love. ANyways after that everybody crased so I stayed up and finished the 03/25/72 show with Bo Diddley and played some balatro. Pretty good night overall.
One interesting thing about the show is that it sounds like Jerry uses an envelope filter on the 22 minute rendition of "Turn on your love light." The Mu-Tron was released in 1972 so this may be one of the first shows where Jerry uses it. It's the the classic funky "wah wah wah" sound he is known for.
This morning I am onto the 3/36/72 show, still at the Academy of music. It is still very exciting to hear the group gearing up for the Europe tour and it still sounds like peak GD. Also I love Pigpen, I have really grown to enjoy his songs a lot - what a loss he passed so young.
Happy trails 8/8/2025
Playing in the band
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Wouldn't it be wild if the grateful dead met the rizzler?
TOday I am listening to the 3/25/1972 show where the grateful dead is the backing band for Bo Diddley. THis is a really fun show. THis is kind of a unique scenario where the group is playing with one of their heroes, someone who probably got them into playing rock n' roll. Also, it is fun to hear something more akin to the source material - rock and R&B as opposed to hearing something more like what the influenced - jam music. Also where they play not fade away all the time, the buddy holly song that rips off the bo diddley riff, they seem primed to play bo diddley songs. Anyways, tons of fun - looking forward to listening to the beach boys collabo (my friend tyler recommended this). Collaboration between artists these days seems so common but early grateful dead collobration is crazy. That being said - nothing would be as crazy as Dead and Co playing Not fade away featuring the rizzler. 8/7/2025
Bloggin down the road feeling bad
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I'm kind of dragging this morninng, but I made it to work and have already gotten a few things done. One tough thing about getting older and having kids is how tired you get! Now I am trying to get in shape! Anyways, Listening to the Academy of music GD shows from 1972, before they went on their European tour. The band sounds loose and excited. It is interesting to contrast these shows with the recent Dead and Co. 6oth anniversary shows from last weekend. Obviously the setlists differ but even peak 72 dead - the vocals were never the focus. I think people, myself included, sometimes get too hung up on the group sounding old or feeling like they jumped the shark - I'm just glad someone is still here doing it. Happy trails 8/6/2025
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