DB- How did that collaboration work? What sort of information did you provide him?

PL- I just played him all the music, put it on a CD and sent it to him. He sort of put the bit in his teeth, went ahead and wrote the lyrics, ignoring the fact that I had composed some different music to be sung. But that’s the give and take that you have, so I’ll be modifying everything that I’ve done to fit with the lyrics. In some cases if I compose new music he’ll write some new lyrics for it but it’s a back-and-forth give-and-take kind of thing.

DB- When do you anticipate that it will be completed?

PL- I don’t know because I still really have to compose it and figure out what kind of instrumentation I’m going to have. It’s not just going to be the band involved. There could be an ensemble of wind and brass instruments, extra percussion, keyboards and stuff like that so I’m not sure exactly. But I’m hoping to try and do at least a performance of it by next summer and maybe a recording later on.

DB- Returning to the current line-up, have you considered giving this band a particular name? Phil Lesh and Friends suggests a transience that no longer seems applicable.

PL- I’ve thought about it. If I could come up with a name that could describe it or was eloquent enough about it I would float it to the guys in the band. People have said, “Why don’t you call it the Phil Lesh Quintet?” I like that a lot as it evokes some of the great jazz bands and in terms of rock music I think this band is on the level of any jazz band. That’s something that I have considered and I’m still considering.

DB- I’d like to hear a bit about song selection. For instance, John Molo introduced the idea of performing “Golden Road.” This tour you debuted “Liberty.” Who brought that to the group and what is the process?

PL- Actually that was my idea. I want to do a lot of those Grateful Dead songs that were never officially recorded, like “Liberty.” It went through a whole bunch of changes with Garcia and Hunter. It originally had different music to it, there’s an obscure and complicated history. But in general if someone in the band wants to do a song I really trust their judgment. We’ve pulled out a lot of Beatles songs and we’re going to do some Motown stuff.

Oh and I just had a flashback to this Rolling Stones song, “We Love You.” It was a single and the B side was “Dandelion.” It was kind of a psychedelic single, two sides of a coin, the solar and the lunar, something on that level. “We Love You” had Beatles singing on it and it’s a really cool hypnotic kind of song. That’s what’s what we do, stuff like that where we remember great songs.

We’re doing a couple of Van Morrison songs, like “Into the Mystic” which Warren just suggested one day. I started drooling because I wanted to do it myself and to have him singing it that’s the icing on the cake. That’s just how it works.

At our first series of rehearsals, I was just checking out the sound of my instrument in the morning, diddling with it, and I started playing the bassline to “Sunshine of Your Love,” when everybody comes running in and jumps on their instruments. We ran right through it with harmony vocals and everything and it was, “Hey, there’s one for our repertoire right now.” And of course I’m encouraging everybody to write for the band.

DB- How’s that proceeding?

PL- Well so far, so good. Everybody is interested is doing it and bringing songs in, myself included. I’m writing like mad. Yesterday we just worked up a new one ,a Hunter-Lesh song I wrote the music in August and Bob wrote the lyrics for it in September and now we’re putting it to the band. We should be hearing that in the next couple of days, before we get to Boston we’re probably going to put it in the setlist.

DB- Let’s talk a bit about the Unbroken Chain foundation, what projects do you have on the horizon?

PL- Last summer we did an “odyssey of the spirit” where we encouraged people to do good works in their own area. We provided them with certain kinds of support and we sent them t-shirts and CDs to listen to while they’re cleaning up the park or whatever. It was remarkably well-received and a lot of people participated and did lots of good things. We’re doing a benefit in New York City for the disaster relief there on the 3rd of December and Unbroken Chain is going to be the channel through which those funds get to relief agencies. We just finished doing a music in schools thing where we tried to fund school music in all the places we played during the summer. We just got that finished up and sent those funds on the way so I’m really pleased about that. That’s one of my main horses, music in school and the other is hepatitis C organ donor blood drives. We do a lot of blood drives.

DB- In terms of music in the schools, I’m amazed by what’s defined as essential. It really feels like the people making budgetary decisions have limited perspectives.

PL- I would say that that’s true, although it’s funny, the people who are making the decisions have that limited perspective but the people they’re representing, the people of the communities, have a much wider one. We were able to do some good works years ago in my hometown, Berkeley, California. The Grateful Dead did a benefit for music in schools that covered the salaries of the music teachers in grades 4-6 for a year. Then the next thing that happened was the people put a bond issue on the ballot which passed overwhelming and after that the city of Berkeley had music instruction for those grades covered for the next ten years out of city finances. Although interestingly, across the bay in San Francisco, the Board of Education dropped all music and art but not sports from the elementary school and everybody in town was outraged. Why those people were elected is beyond me.

DB- I’m certainly a sports fan but the hierarchy whereby sports are considered essential but the arts are not is confounding to me.

PL- It’s totally ass-backwards.

DB- You mentioned the benefit on December 3. I recall you made a decision not to perform the week after the incident. What do you think the impact of those events has been on your playing or songwriting?

PL- It has to make an impact on everyone. I think it affects different people in different ways. I can’t really say with any precision exactly how the experience is manifesting in any way but I can definitely say that my whole view of the world on that level has changed completely. We no longer live in the blessed isles. Now we have to live like the rest of the world in fear but as shitty as that seems compared to the way it was before September 11, that’s the way the rest of the world lives, with uncertainty and fear. I think in a way the American people need to know that and maybe that will engender some compassion for the plight of those people. Maybe the American people will decide to declare war on things like poverty, ignorance and oppression. I think that would be cool.

DB- Indeed, it wouldFinal question- I’d love to hear your thoughts on the legacy of Ken Kesey.

PL- (laughs). I giggle. That’s Kesey’s legacy. I really can’t say what his legacy is, I just know what his presence meant and his presence is still felt even in his absence. The jam band scene is part of Ken’s legacy, and a certain irreverence which has always existed but Ken sort of put in the mainstream whether people like it or not. Anyway, someone who will be sorely missed.

DB- I always thought the Grateful Dead manifested that ethos. There was something in the approach to form and function. And I’m not even talking about the bass player taking the stage in a Barney costume [4/1/93].

PL- Never trust a prankster (laughs).

Pages:« Previous Page