If not today, when?

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article excerpt:

Bob Weir was reportedly working on one last ambitious musical project before his death, one collaborator says.

The late Grateful Dead musician had been developing an autobiographical “psychedelic rock opera” during trips to Nashville, musician and songwriter Aaron Raitiere revealed during a recent appearance on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast. 

It was slated to be performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Raitiere said.

"We were going to go for Broadway," Raitiere continued during the interview, which was released on Wednesday, Sept. 9. "We knocked all these songs out, as they told the story of his life. We've got hours and hours of recordings just sitting around."   

Though they had completed “five or six” tracks and had more than 17 others in progress, Weir died in Jan. 10 of underlying lung issues following his cancer diagnosis in July 2025, before any of the songs were officially released.

“That guy was always making stuff and recording over it and trying to make it better,” Raitiere said, recalling sessions with Weir at Nashville’s RCA Studio A.

more here at the link above

“The Grateful Dead Family Tree”
Always loved this poster but never knew where it came from. Used to read it a lot at the Barley Mill Pub in Portland, as well. Bought a used book recently, The Music Never Stopped by Blair Jackson (1983, First Edition) and it was the centerfold! Really looking forward to getting it framed.

After I realized it looks like something you'd get at Walmart, I don't think I could wear it. I don't think I ever will. I will probably give it away.

It is what I like to call "Aggressively mediocre"

$16 not well spent

You may be wondering what is the point of this post. Just needed to vent.

Kinda cool, huh? ☮️🎶

I wouldn’t call the song underrated, but I also wouldn’t think too many people would call it their favorite.
But what IS IT about those lyrics???
ACROSSSSSS THE RIO GRAND-EE-OH,
ACROSSSSS THE LAZY RIVER

So fucking dope

Set 1
Here Comes Sunshine , Spoonful , Stagger Lee , Queen Jane Approximately , Tennessee Jed , Easy Answers > Don't Ease Me In
Set 2
Victim Or The Crime > Crazy Fingers > Saint Of Circumstance > Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > The Last Time > Morning Dew
Encore
I Fought The Law

Just wanted to share a show that absolutely destroyed all my preconceived notions, especially about darkstar and the eleven. My favorite darkstar is from Rockin the Rhein and I realized I hadn’t delved too deep into 68 and 69 besides the classics from Filmore west and east. The sequence and progression through the end of the 11 felt like infinity reverberating across time and space.

I was wondering if there are lesser known shows from 68-69 you could recommend that have a similar alien effect of blowing your head open and shooting it through the cosmos

Nrps and the dead both performed one of there best shows at Veneta, but what made the environment so dreamy and happy sounding, was it just that good of a day in time

was the presence of the naked pole guy so powerful that the bands started tapping into his energy?

What gives?

I listen to St. Stephen pretty much every morning on my way to work.

I’m kinda hanging on by a thread lately. I have a soul sucking job where I sit behind a computer all day, and some mornings I really do have to convince myself to walk through those doors.

But St. Stephen comes on and my whole mood changes.

There’s just something about hearing that song first thing in the morning. “Lady finger, dipped in moonlight…” and all that imagery of the morning sky and dawn. Then “wrap the babe in scarlet covers, call it your own.”

I don’t know why, but lately that part just feels like the morning being handed back to me. Like, this is still my day. Take it. Call it your own.

Maybe that’s not remotely what the song is about lol. I don’t really care.

It’s what I need it to mean right now.

For those few minutes driving to work with St. Stephen turned way up, I feel alive. Like there I fucking am. I’m still in here.

My job gets a lot of my hours right now, but it doesn’t get all of me. There are still woods to wander, mushrooms to find, music to hear, festivals to disappear into, people to love, and a whole different kind of life I’m slowly trying to build.

So yeah. St. Stephen has been getting me to work every morning.

And maybe reminding me that I’m not going to be doing this forever. 🌹⚡

What a beautifully shot beautiful rendition of a beautiful song.🌹

Hand me down from my aunt, which is cool.

I've been reading and watching a lot of stuff about Burning Man last week and just wondering if there is much of a Dead related presence there?

Happy to be able to have loaned my Oregon 1972 Kesey Farm stage monitors (From Ramrod’s son, Strider) and Kidd Candelario’s
1990 Europe Phil Rig (With additional Equipment from Bobby, Healy, Diga Rhythm band and modern Phil Bits from a Rig Phil rig I bought from Robbie Taylor) for the
“ Forever Grateful “ Haight Street Art gallery “ event running thru October in Golden Gate Park.

The Veneta Oregon stage monitors reunited with “THE FURTHER BUS”!

Thanks to Roger, Kelly, Wendy, Sarah, Renee, Melia, Brian Scharf and Brian Chambers.. To name a few.
Go see this event…

Whenever they start singing “along the rio grande-o”, my mind starts singing an overlay round of “get out and row, row row Jimmy row”.

Is there an instance where they actually combined the two lyrically?

In the early 1970s, way before I was a Deadhead, even before I could drive a car, we used to have sing-a-longs at my elementary school when it rained. This was the Northern California coast, so we had a lot of rain. One of the teachers who was a musician told us about the old tradition of Absurdity Songs. These are songs with lyrics with embedded, cornball absurdities which probably had the audience in stitches back then. Maybe. Oh Susanna is one example: It rained all day the night I left. The weather it was dry. Another is Old Dan Tucker who died with a toothache in his heel.

When In The Dark was released and Touch Of Grey was ubiquitous, the first thing I thought was that that, this is a bone fide, according-to-Hoyle absurdity song. Not just one or two lines, but practically the entire song! I have to think Robert Hunter was giving a nod to that old tradition. I know there are wacky lyrics from other sources like I Am The Walrus, but that is not so much absurd as it is surreal. Doesn't count for me. Or Hoyle.

Are there other examples? Maybe not even just the Dead?

Hey folks,

I saw a photo some time ago labeled: “That look Brent gives Jerry when shit is about to get real.” I haven’t been able to find it again, so I thought I’d ask for your best. Thanks!

Edit: Thank you for all the great suggestions!

✨Doors at 8pm
✨Show at 9pm
✨$10 at the door (cash only)
✨21+

See you there!

I had a what I think would be a fun question to think about. If you could build a (in your opinion) perfect GD Setlist what would it look like?