CARDRUNNERS

Friday has come again and it's time for another musical themed entry. Yesterday, the director of one of the web design firms I met with admitted in conversation that he was a former Deadhead. Years ago he had been living on the east coast, had followed the Grateful Dead on one of their tours out west, and he never went back. He eventually settled in Portland for the high quality of life he found here. He, like many, appreciated many things about the Dead; the music, the culture, the freedom, and the experimentation. The Dead were non conformists and loved to experiment and improvise. Much of that adventure and musical exploration has been lost in music today. Radio demands shorter catchy songs in the 2:30 to 4:00 minute range. That leaves no room to experiment musically. Your journey, no matter how great the song, is very structured and brief.

While I was never a big fan of the Dead, I always appreciated their approach to their music. I have always loved bands who take a catchy riff or melody and expand and experiment with it. In a different way, it was why I enjoyed some classical music as a youngster because you were taken on an extended journey that explored the range of the particular composition.

I thought I would share some samples of some interesting groups. The first is the Grateful Dead performing Fire on the Mountain.

With with the demise of the Dead, some groups tried to take up the mantle, most notably Phish. I'm not as familiar with them and I quickly selected a song Farmhouse that captures a sense of their music.

This week I found a couple groups that are also into experimentation and jamming, carrying on the spirit of these earlier groups. They have very different music styles and backgrounds. The first Lymbyc Systym has a very electronica fusion feel with a very trippy video accompanying their song Truth Skull.

The second group is from Norway. They have many musical influences but also embrace the experimental and improvisational elements of these other groups. The group is Jagga Jazzist and the song is All I Know Is Tonight. Enjoy tonight's musical selections.

The year is 1971 and I am 14 yrs old. I try for the first time double barrel Orange sunshine.  I hear the Dead for the first time.  This is when I actually can see and smell the music of the dead in the walls as they float around me.  Then its the purple haze and more dead.  I am officially a dead head by age 15 and never looked back.  I have pics of Jerry hanging in my office at home.  My fondest memories (that is like do I really have any brain cells left) are the vegas concerts.  They would come and play Fri, Sat, and Sun and are you aware that they never played the same song twice at any city/stop, quite amazing, there is no band in the world that is capable of that.

In 1985 my unborn daughter witnessed her first dead concert while in the womb.  When she was born, the day after I spent it in Ventura, Ca seeing the dead whilst the wife was recovering in the hospital.  I am on my third marriage, the first lasted a few months, the 2nd lasted 18 yrs and currently my younger asian wife will be the last.  I met my present wife on a blind date. She got in my car and was concerned by all the dead memorabilia attached to my car and almost scared her away.  I still to this day have license plates that say 1dedhed.  I even tattoed my body with dead style tattoos.  I still have many of my concert ticket stubs saved from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, I also collected a ton of Dead shirts that might even be classic and worth some money.  I stopped wearing them a few years( not funny, yes they still fit) LOL and have them saved in my closet, for what I dont know!

I hope you all enjoyed a look in history that may never be repeated and I am sorry that you all missed it, cya