TRI Studios Special Guest...Louisiana Jones! And other news...

 It's a funny thing...this resurgence of Grateful Dead interest between some friends and myself. We didn't start listening to them again together, but discovered the oddity of tuning back in separately at the same time, after the same amount of time passing since we last flew high with the Dead. And that number is 20 years.

And I suddenly had the good fortune of being invited to a super special RatDog reunion show at Bob Weir's new studio, TRIstudios (not "try" but T.R.I.!) near my home, in San Rafael. Got a pass at the door, although they didn't need ID. The vibe was casual and fun. Lots of hot food and free drinks were served in a comfortable lounge. Along the wall of the lounge, I found a pretty cool painting on metal in the shape of pick:

(thank you, Jerry, for a real good time).

The show was fantastic; Mark Karan was there shredding on guitar. I filmed a highlight...it was a searing moment that lifted me up and gave me that undeniably excitable feeling...I held my breath, I was on the precipice of losing myself, the goal at all shows.

After the show I was invited to hang outside with the musicians. There was the irrepressible Kenny Brooks who played saxophone and a few crew members with great stories. Like Zach, who introduced himself to me in such a friendly manner, including me in the circle of doobie smoking and tale swapping. He talked of George Clinton teaching him the magic of the Funk. He said he learned that pausing the music at just the right moment can be nearly painful for the audience, in a good way, and puts the Funk in the music like nothing else. It's the secret of the Funk. (George Clinton's advice first-hand, right here, wtf...!) (Am I one degree removed from George Clinton right now?)

(thank you, Mark, for a real good time).

The next morning I contacted my old Deadhead friend who now lives in Minnesota, far from our past as barefoot, high-as-hell 19-year-olds in California. She attended most of my 42 Grateful Dead shows with me. Always there, my right-hand girl. She told me we used to "talk and dream" about getting invited to shows that put us 6 feet in front of Bob Weir at eye level. I don't remember that, but she's probably right. We're in our early 40s now and it's still an exciting concept. And for me, an awesome experience. 

The show was webcast live...not sure how much if any is available for viewing at this point in time. Get yourself to tristudios.com to poke around. In the meantime, here's another snippet.

More Marin County news: Both Bob Weir and Phil Lesh have opened clubs. In Bob's case, it's a reopening—of the iconic Sweetwater in Mill Valley. For Phil, this means buying out an old seafood restaurant (where guy and I had our rehearsal dinner) and calling it "Terrapin Crossroads" (what was wrong with "Station"? Irked.). The greatest thing about the Sweetwater re-opening is getting to catch Mark Karan tear it up twice in February. His show on the 8th is sold out, but the 22nd is still available, an insane bargain at $8 advance. I'll be there!