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In perhaps their most guitar driven lineup since the death of Jerry Garcia ten years ago, The Dead toured last summer for the first time ever with three guitarists. It was with this lineup, that featured Bob Weir, Jimmy Herring and Warren Haynes, that The Dead managed to put together one of the most formidable tours of 2004. In fact, The Dead received a Jammy April 26th at The 2005 Jammy Awards held in New York City. The band won the award for Live Download of the Year, for the opening night of their tour, which just so happened to be at Bonnaroo on June 12th, 2004. We recently caught up with Bob Weir and asked him about the changes in touring with three guitarists after some 30 years with just him and Garcia.
"Well yeah, I mean the traffic situation out there is such that I paired down what I was doing so that there wasn't a whole lot of god awful clutter. And that worked well because a simple line attracts a lot of attention. Those guys (Herring and Haynes) could relate fairly readily to what I was doing. There wasn't a whole lot of getting in each others way last summer."
Although Weir at times paired down his playing to allow more space in the music, it seems long time drummer Mickey Hart felt it was just another experiment in terror.
"It was an interesting experiment. Too many vibrating strings for me. Yeah, just too many damn guitars, but all of them great players. Just another experiment in terror, you know. I had a good time, I actually wrote a few songs with Warren. He's a fine player and a decent human being. I really like him."
Although The Dead have decided against a 40th anniversary tour this year, while Haynes concentrates on Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band and Herring tours with Col Bruce Hampton's Code Talkers, look for the band to hit the road in 2006 for an extended tour. The official results of the 2005 Jammy Awards are: Song of the Year: Umphrey's McGee, "In the Kitchen." Lifetime Achievement: Buddy Guy, New Groove of the Year: Benevento/Russo Duo, Tour Of The Year: Phish, Summer 2004, Download of the Year: The Dead 6/12/04, Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN, DVD of the Year: Phish, IT , Archival Live Album: Jerry Garcia, After Midnight Kean College, 2/28/80 , Mimi Fishman Memorial Community Service Award: HeadCount, Studio Album of the Year: Gov't Mule, Deja Voodoo, Live Album of the Year: Keller Williams, Stage, Live Performance of the Year: Phil Lesh & Friends, 12/19/04 and Grahamy Jammy: Ken Hayes. Since its inception in 2000, The Jammy Awards has become one of the cornerstone events of the improvisational music community as legendary performers share the stage with the hot up and comers and noted musicians from a diverse array of genres.
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