Grateful Dead Channel host, Gary Lambert, to moderte Grateful Dead discussion in NYC

Gary Lambert, host of Sirius/XM Grateful Dead Channel, will host a discussion on the Grateful Dead as part of the band's exhibition at the New York Historical Society. The event titled "Tales of the Grateful Dead and New York," will tale place on Thursday, May 27 from 6:30-8 p.m. at New York's Society for Ethical Culture. Lambert will act as a moderator for the discussion, which will also feature radio personality Pete Fornatale, author Carol Brightman and writer/Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye. 

“The folks who put together the exhibition at the Historical Society asked me if I wanted to moderate a public program, which they put on frequently in conjunction with their exhibitions (as well as their freestanding events that are not connected to their exhibitions), on relevant matters to the Society’s mission of presenting New York history,” Lambert said in a statement. “So, I thought it would be really great to do something specific to the Dead and New York because their relationship to the city was so enduring and so important to them in terms of establishing a beachhead in the Northeast. Very early on there was a conscious strategy, which [former GD road manager] Sam Cutler mentioned in his recent book You Can’t Always get What You Want, of playing New York a lot as an anchor for all other dates they could do in the region, and the band developed a great mutual affection for the town and the fan base there. And it also occurred to me that although the Grateful Dead was uniquely a product of a certain time and place—the Bay Area in the ’60s—so much of what they did was informed by cultural forces that either originated or found their fullest expression in New York: a lot of the jazz and other avant-garde music that they chose to emulate, for example; and of course the Beat movement started in New York and migrated out west and that had a crucial impact on what those guys became. So I thought it would be great to get a bunch of smart people together and talk about that specific aspect of the Dead’s history and how and why the city took to them as it did.”

Furthur to headline Friday night at Vibes!

After months of anticipation over whether Furthur would be performing at the 15th annual Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival in July, promoters announced earlier today that the band will in fact be headlining Friday night!

Correct me if I am wrong, but I just realized that since Furthur and the Rhythm Devils are both at Vibes this year that means it will mark the first year all four remaining members of the Grateful Dead were present at the family-friendly festival since its incarnation following Jerry Garcia's death.

This is certainly going to be a Vibes to remember. Hope to see you all there!

For more inforation, visit www.gatheringofthevibes.com

Dead-family members to perform benefit concert for the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics

In the spirit of benefit concerts played by psychedelic San Francisco bands since the mid-60s, a number of musicians, including some who were integral in the original San Francisco scene, will join together to play a benefit concert for the Haigh Ashbury Free Clinics next month. The event which is billed as "a rock concert worthy of their strong musical heritage that would make their founding benefactor Bill Graham proud," will feature Moonalice, Eoin Harrington and orginal Country Joe & The Fish guitarist Barry "The Fish" Melton, including a number of addtional speical guests. The event will take place at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall on June 17.

For more information, visit http://www.hafci.org/

Who will be the GOTV Friday Night 'Family' Headliner?

The 2010 Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival (July 29-Aug. 1) lineup is almost complete. One thing is missing: a Friday night "family" headliner.

GOTV will release the highly anticipated lineup addition on Saturday, May 15 at Noon. So who will be the "family" headliner for Friday night? Well, it has been hard to find any substantial rumors, but the obvious hope for all Vibe Tribers has to be Bob Weir and Phil Lesh's new band, Furthur. And it just so has it, Furthur added two new shows at the Nokia Theatre in New York City's Times Square for Wednesday, July 28 and Thursday, July 29, which would put them just a short bus ride from Bridgeport, CT - home of GOTV - for Friday, July 30. The only thing that concerns me is that Furthur announces all of their new show additions on Friday's and the announcement of the final headliner is scheduled for Saturday. But maybe I am just looking to deep into it.

My initial take was that if Furthur wasn't on the original lineup, than they weren't going to be added. But the more I look at the Furthur schedule, and the fact that Bobby or Phil have attended every Vibes over the past 14 years, leads me to believe it could happen.

What do you think. Will Furthur be the Friday night headliner at Vibes? And if not, who will it be?