Photo by Dino Perrucci

Before launching Furthur’s official message board, Phil Lesh and his wife Jill spent some time on the Grateful Dead fan sites answering questions. When one fan asked about the possibility of Railroad Earth opening some shows, Lesh hinted that he hoped to host the band at a venue he planned to open on the West Coast.

Lesh hit the boards again yesterday and revealed that he plans to open a venue called Terrapin Landing in the Marin County section of California. In an email to Relix/Jambands.com, Lesh’s publicist confirmed the bassist’s comments and his plans to open the performance space. According to Lesh’s original post, he is “taking the first steps to make a long time dream- a permanent musical home- come true. We are purchasing a building in Marin, and plan on remodeling it to feel like an old barn; we ‘re calling it Terrapin Landing. We will continue with Furthur while making music at Terrapin Landing when we are at home.” Lesh goes on to explain:

The music will be varied, featuring:
Phil Lesh & Friends (continuing the tradition of revolving lineups, including old as well as new friends)
West Coast Rambles, based on (and blessed by) Levon Helm’s historic Rambles
Album night- we pick a favorite album or two to play live
Telstar night- we put together a band for free form improvisation
Sing-alongs to monthly Sunday morning gospel music
Trivia nights
Monthly big band night
Seminars with local musicians and artists
Our goal is to create a vibrant community gathering place: beautiful, comfortable, welcoming – for members of the community to commingle and enjoy good music.

While on the message board Jill Lesh also revealed that there will be no Furthur Festival 2011 while Phil Lesh mentioned that he invited Elvis Costello to sit in with Furthur after bumping into the singer/songwriter at his local New York gym.

Lesh recently performed at one of Levon Hem’s Midnight Rambles. Furthur will perform in Pittsburgh, PA tonight.