As another new year rolls in, I can’t say how excited I am to see the Grateful Dead family not only thriving but flourishing. We Deadheads can take pride in having become a borderless, boundless global community where a simple Steal-Your-Face sticker on your pack and a smile will find you a safe haven. And with thankfulness being one of the defining criteria of a Deadhead for the life-changing, enlightening experience the Dead brought to our lives, we have a healthy desire to express that gratitude. What is “it” we’re so thankful for?

Waynard Scheller and Rainbow Full of Sound (RFoS) play Grateful Dead songs, and they’ve been doing so for a while – 300 shows’ worth. But this year’s tour will come with a very special twist: they are going to recreate the Dead’s legendary 1972 tour of Europe, tracing the path of twenty-one shows from England to Denmark to Germany to France to the Netherlands and back to England.

On the heels of 2019’s From Another World, the prolific, two-time GRAMMY Award-winning American music icon Jim Lauderdale will release his 33rd album, When Carolina Comes Homes Again, March 6 on Yep Roc Records. The first single, “As A Sign,” co-written with Robert Hunter, is now available at all digital platforms.

GW: Congrats on the recent sold-out New Year's show in Boulder - you guys seem to be building up a loyal following in Colorado. Is CO the home base for the Gasoline Lollipops then? How was the show?

For about 25 years now, “Phil & Friends” has constituted several combinations of like-minded players with extensive Grateful Dead music pedigrees and acumen. On New Year’s Day, 2020, Phil Lesh performed and led a high-spirited, two-set show in the Beach Park, the outdoor performance venue at his Terrapin Crossroads club and restaurant in San Rafael, Calif.

About five years ago, Robert Hunter, sweet be his memory, sent his old friend David Nelson a stack of lyrics.  David’s written music for several of them, some of which were on the David Nelson Band release Once In A Blue Moon.

The DNB finished another song, “Movin’ Right Along,” but for whatever reason—perhaps because it seemed so very intense—it sat and waited.  And on September 23rd, Robert himself moved along to wherever we’re all going, and it seemed appropriate to share it with you.

A new, cavernous San Francisco concert venue was put to use by Dead & Company on Dec. 30, and while it is the biggest indoor venue in Grateful Dead-hometown history, the party was no less enthusiastic. On New Year’s Eve, balloons would drop and a vintage plane would fly through the arena at midnight, but here on the 30th, the penultimate night of the year, Dead & Company delivered a big, powerful show worthy of review.

This was supposed to be a Seaside Chat, but sometimes the winter weather gets in the way. With the wind, rain, and waves, you might have heard nothing on the video, and this is too important to have drowned out by Mother Nature...