‘It's a big deal': Grahame Lesh readies for S.F.'s Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration
The son of Grateful Dead founding bassist Phil Lesh, the 38-year-old grew up immersed in the music and culture of the Bay Area band. Though he was only 8 years old when its founding guitarist Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995, he learned much of the music by watching his father perform in the spinoff group Phil Lesh & Friends, which was formed in 1998 and featured a rotating cast of musicians inspired by the Dead. Lesh even jammed with his father on several occasions.
When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee died in October at 84, Lesh made it his mission to continue honoring his father's legacy through his own career. He plans to do so with the Heart of Town, a three-night concert series at San Francisco's Pier 48 that will be part of the electric city-wide celebration of the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary year.
Scheduled for July 31-Aug. 2, the guitarist and his band Grahame Lesh & Friends will honor the influential band, which was founded in the 1960s and became emblematic of the era's counterculture movement, with an array of special musical guests.
'It just seems that the entire world of Grateful Dead fans are going to descend on the city,' Lesh said, describing the weekend as 'a celebration of the entire city and the music that came from San Francisco, especially in the '60s.'
The Heart of Town's kickoff show is slated to begin at 8 p.m., but the Aug. 1-2 shows, which overlap with Dead & Company's sold-out three-show run, will begin at 11 p.m. to allow Deadheads to attend both concerts without being too crunched for time.
Lesh spoke with the Chronicle a few weeks before kicking off the Heart of Town shows.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What inspired the Heart of Town run of shows?
A: It's the 60th, it's a big deal … It really just seemed perfect to try and gather as many musicians that have been inspired by the Grateful Dead, because there's countless of them, including myself.
A: I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life, in Marin and in San Francisco, so it's not unfamiliar to me what the community is like. … I run into Deadheads everywhere, and my dad would as well. It's very cool to give everyone in the community, and the familiar faces that I'm going to see, a place, basically the whole city, to go and celebrate the music and the community that we all love.
Q: Is there a particular memory you have growing up around the Dead that really sticks with you as a musician today?
A: I was younger when it was the actual Grateful Dead, so I kind of learned this music when my dad started Phil Lesh & Friends a few years later. … The breadth of musicians that came through is very memorable to me, and I really learned and have memories from them that are maybe even stronger than my memories of the Grateful Dead. But every time my dad and Bob and Mickey and Billy would get back together and do something as the Dead or as the Other Ones, it was always really special. They all harkened back to the long history they had since they were in their teens and 20s.
It's kind of crazy how far back the music goes and reaches deep into the roots of American music that predate even them. My brother and I grew up in this whole community and it's going to outlive us all too.
Q: What is the most helpful piece of advice you received during that experience?
A: My dad would talk a lot about the way they approached the music. But the takeaway generally was just that they always did what felt right, and they pursued what they wanted, what they thought sounded good, what they thought was fun, what they thought was right for each song in each moment. That sort of freedom is definitely what I try to bring to every time I approach the music.
Q: What does it feel like to be carrying forward your father's legacy with these upcoming San Francisco shows?
A: It's been nine months or so since he passed, so it's all still relatively fresh. It's all very special. I was lucky enough to play with him in San Francisco, especially in the last five or so years, kind of a lot. The Grateful Dead is kind of just the ultimate American music to me and to a lot of people. It's always very special to be a part of that.
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