We suspect that a bunch of you, like us, are happily afflicted with Dead Head Packrat Syndrome - maybe you still have all your ticket stubs from Fillmore East or the Greek or Red Rocks; kept those old issues of Rolling Stone and Crawdaddy! that featured articles about the Dead; have the band's albums on vinyl, cassette, 8-track and CD (and were maybe late and reluctant converts to that newfangled music download stuff); and looked forward to checking your mailbox for the latest news from the GD, from the earliest dispatches from the Grateful Dead Fan Club up to our more recent offerings. We looked forward to sending them out to you as well, and it was always flattering to hear from readers that told us they'd collected every issue of the Almanac from Volume 1, Number 1 on.

But even though we're proud of all this history we've helped document, a big part of the Grateful Dead legacy has always been about looking forward, being open to innovation, new technologies, etc. And so, as each succeeding generation becomes more accustomed to finding art, entertainment and information on everything from our home computers to our smart phones, we adapt to new ways of getting the word out to you in as efficient and timely a manner as possible - and maybe save some trees in the bargain. Even as we feel a little pang of nostalgia for the old familiar format, we eagerly look forward to experimenting with ways we can utilize this new mode of presentation, with audio, video and other cool embellishments. We look forward to trying things on and seeing how they fit, and welcome your feedback on how we can make it better.

Appropriate to this new-era Almanac, this past year has been one in which the members and creative offspring of the Grateful Dead continued their penchant for exploring new territory both musically and technologically, even as we continue to celebrate the Dead's rich historical legacy. Click the right arrow below for more Dead World Roundup.

Of course, there's been plenty happening in the here and now as well, as Grateful Dead and Dead-inspired music keeps proving itself an open-ended continuum, with plenty of new and exciting incarnations and permutations emerging all the time.

Mickey Hart is, as always, a whirlwind of activity, exploring new musical expression in his own solo and collaborative work, even as he continues as a protector and preservationist to some of our greatest and rarest sonic treasures. To spotlight his endeavors in the latter category, Mickey proudly announced the formation of an alliance with the Smithsonian/Folkways label to release The Mickey Hart Collection, the first offering in a program of reissues from the acclaimed series known as The World, which Mickey produced for Rykodisc. Included are original works by Hart and some of his most illustrious colleagues, field recordings made by Mickey and others around the globe, and archival treasures from the Library of Congress Endangered Music Project.

Mickey was also engaged in exciting new collaborations, including one with the great San Francisco choreographer Alonzo King and sculptor Christopher Haas for King's Lines Ballet Company. Hart created a new musical score for a work memorably titled Triangle of the Squinches. This summer, Mickey introduced a brand-new Mickey Hart Band lineup, which played a tantalizingly brief bunch of shows on the West and East coasts, in preparation for the recording of an album featuring all-new songs written in collaboration with Robert Hunter, and incorporating some of the literally unearthly sounds Mickey has been collecting from deep space with the help of powerful NASA radio telescopes and Nobel laureate

Bill Kreutzmann and his compatriots in 7 Walkers continued to have a blast (and win new fans) with their terrific "swampadelic" band. Whether playing their growing body of new tunes written with Robert Hunter, doing their own fresh take on the Grateful Dead songbook or covering various blues and R&B classics, the combination of Bill, Papa Mali, George Porter, Jr. and Matt Hubbard keeps getting better with each tour, laying down ultra-danceable grooves that wed the best of San Francisco to New Orleans, Memphis, Austin and other fabled Meccas of Funk. When George Porter had to miss a few gigs every here and there due to previous commitments (such as reunion gigs with the original Meters), the Walkers came up with an ingenious solution as to holding down the low end of the sonic spectrum... they engaged the services of the phenomenal New Orleans Sousaphone virtuoso Kirk Joseph, from the Dirty Dozen and Treme brass bands and his own Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove.

Bill Kreutzmann & 7 Walkers Great American Music Hall. August 7, 2011. Photo © Bob Minkin

It seemed as though at almost every show the band had some surprising setlist tricks up its sleeve - how about The Clash's "Train In Vain?" Or Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain?" And then there was the great pranksterish concept of playing all the songs from the Beatles' "Abbey Road," one a night, and in the spot on the setlist that matched that song's place on the album (culminating on Phil Lesh's birthday at New York's Best Buy Theatre with the epic medley that concluded side two of the record). There were also some memorable guest appearances on Furthur's stage: particularly on the last night of the band's run at Radio City Music hall, when they were joined by Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams; and on the final night of the Spring tour in Boca Raton, FL, Clarence Clemons (along with Al Schnierof moe.) sat in for what, in a bittersweet twist, turned out to be the Big Man's final public performance.

Bob Weir has had a particularly busy and creatively fulfilling 2011. In addition to three full tours with Furthur, Bobby deftly juggled a wide variety of projects, with impressive results. Prominent among these was his long-awaited collaborative venture with the Marin Symphony Orchestra, titled "First Fusion." For this benefit performance, Weir teamed up with composer Giancarlo Aquilanti to create beautifully orchestrated arrangements of more than a dozen beloved works from the Grateful Dead repertoire.

experience the music in real time, as TRI is specifically tailored to high-definition webcasting, delivering stunning audio and video quality to everything from smart phones to big-screen HDTVs anywhere in the world. The studio's inaugural presentation featured Bob with some of his RatDog cohorts, including (Messrs.) Wasserman, Lane, Chimenti and Sylvester, special guest guitarist Steve Kimock and a few of Bob's new friends from the Marin Symphony. That maiden voyage taken care of, TRI welcomed Furthur to its friendly confines, for a full three-plus hour pay-per-view performance. Bob has also welcomed such musical pals as Chris Robinson and Jackie Greene for enjoyable spontaneous jams, and TRI has begun to host webcasts by other artists as well. Recent visitors to avail themselves of the facilities have included Slightly Stoopid and Chickenfoot. Bob and the TRI gang have lots more in store, and you can keep informed of it all at www.tristudios.com. Weir and his partners are also involved in the reincarnation of the legendary Mill Valley music venue the Sweetwater Saloon, home to many memorable performances and jams over the years. The new home of the club, scheduled to open this fall, will have a full audio/video link to TRI Studios, making "Live at Sweetwater" webcasts a regular feature.

TRI Studios seems to be part of a most welcome trend in the music world: artists finding creatively satisfying alternatives to the usual touring routine by opening their own small, audience-friendly environments for live performance. A trailblazer in this field is Levon Helm. Since 2006, the great drummer/singer of The Band has been the host and featured performer at an ongoing series he calls the Midnight Ramble Sessions, held at the wonderfully cozy studio that he owns and operates in Woodstock, NY. In addition to playing with his own immensely entertaining band, Levon regularly welcomes all sorts of talented friends to sit in and perform sets of their own.

Gathering of the Vibes Bob sits in with Levon Helm at the Gathering Of The Vibes festival, July 22, 2011. Photo ©Jay Blakesberg

Our man Lesh made another notable guest appearance during the summer, at a July 27th benefit for Hepatitis C awareness, held at New York's Beacon Theater and starring a group famous for its marathon concert runs at that venue, the Allman Brothers Band. Phil jammed with the ABB on the Grateful Dead favorites "Shakedown Street," "Sugaree" and "Franklin's Tower," and also backed two other old musical pals, David Crosby and Graham Nash on two tunes: the CSNY standard "Almost

Thanks to all who came out for the 4/20 and 5/5 (arriba!) screenings of The Grateful Dead Movie. We're looking forward to our next gathering! Here's another look at the rare Jerry interview that streamed prior to the film. This interview took place on day two of the five night run at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom where The Grateful Dead Movie was filmed. Shot on Oct 17, 1974 on 16mm film at a hotel in Sausalito, CA.

become something of a good luck charm. At each of the four Giants games at which members of the Dead have sung the Anthem, dating back to 1993, the home team has emerged victorious.

SF Giants Grateful Dead Appreciation Night: Bill Walton and Mickey take to the field to lead the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Photo ©Bob Minkin

SEVA Doubles the Fun for Wavy Gravy's 75th Birthday
All-star benefits for the Seva Foundation celebrating the birthday of Seva co-founder Wavy Gravy have been a tradition in the San Francisco for many years. This year, to commemorate the completion of Wavy's 75th trip around the Sun, Seva decided to let the East Coast in on the festivities as well, so parties were thrown on both ends of the country: the first, on May 14th (the day before Wavy's actual birthday) was in Richmond, CA, at a

People everywhere will soon be able to learn more about the good works of Wavy and the Seva Foundation, when Michelle Esrick's acclaimed documentary Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie, which garnered rave reviews on the film festival circuit and in limited theatrical release, becomes becomes available on DVD and appears on the Showtime cable network this fall.

Dave's Picks will combine the best aspects of the Dick's Picks and Road Trips series, by presenting shows selected from the finest master tapes in the vault, mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, and always including period photos and informative liner notes. Here's a new wrinkle: The four 2012 releases (the first should be out around February 1) will be available in a limited, numbered, edition of just 12,000 COPIES.

That's still a few months away, but if you SUBSCRIBE TODAY, you can guarantee that you'll receive all four sets, plus a special subscribers-only BONUS DISC (to be sent out with the 2nd release), and we'll throw in FREE domestic standard shipping & handling to sweeten the deal! What's more, we're offering an early bird subscription rate of $95.50 through December 15, 2011. This constitues a savings of over $30 as compared to purchasing the volumes a la carte. Get it (or gift it!) here.

Click the right arrow below to find out what the first Dave's Picks show will be!

What sort of shows will Lemieux be picking? Well, we are, in fact, prepared to unveil the first choice for Dave's Picks: May 25, 1977 from The Mosque in Richmond, Virginia. "We wanted to start the new archival release series with a bang, and few tours are as highly regarded as the Spring Tour of 1977," Lemieux commented recently, "and amongst the consistently great shows from this tour, 5/25/77 is one of the best. That it's being released so late in the Grateful Dead's archival release series history, demonstrates the depth of material in the vault.

"On a tour that featured magnificent jam sequences virtually every night, the jam of 'Estimated Prophet'> 'He's Gone'> 'Drums'> 'The Other One'> 'Wharf Rat'> 'The Other One'> 'The Wheel' is one of the best from the entire tour, both unique and inspired." Toss in a great "Scarlet-Fire" and both "Half-Step" and "Lazy Lightning" in the first set, and you've got a recipe for Grateful Dead Bliss!

And now, as that youthful reprobate Alex says in A Clockwork Orange, "This is the real weepy and like tragic part of the story." You see, sometimes when a new door opens, an old one must close. To make way for Dave's Picks, we decided to end the Road Trips series with the current offering (see below). Why? Well, we just wanted to go in "a different direction," as the euphemists would have it, try something new. Please, no tears! You'll make us cry. (No high-fiving, either, haters!) Anyway, Road Trips had a good run - 17 releases representing 15 different years spanning 1969-1993. We're proud of every one of 'em! More on recent releases in that series in a moment, but first - dim the lights, cue the mysterioso music...

To become a charter subscriber to the Dave's Picks series, click here.

Dead's European jaunt in '72 has long been regarded as one of the best - if not the best - of the band's storied career. Over the course of two months in northern Europe, the group played one blazing show after another to surprised and delighted audiences who mostly knew the band through their reputation rather than their records. Night after night the band played marathon shows filled with old and new songs and spectacular jamming - every night featured either "Dark Star" or "The Other One," along with many versions of "Playing in the Band," "Truckin'" and other exploratory vehicles. The mere mention of certain cities - Paris, Rotterdam, London, Copenhagen - is enough to bring a knowing smile to the face of many Dead Heads.

Parts of the Europe tour have dribbled out over a number of releases through the years, and tapes of the rest have long been eagerly passed among traders, but it wasn't until this massive undertaking that the entire tour - all 22 shows - was mixed down from the original, pristine 16-track recordings (by longtime GD mixmaster Jeffrey Norman), and fully mastered to exacting HDCD specs (by Grammy-winner David Glasser). Put 'em all together in a steamer trunk-style box, add a beautiful coffee-table book loaded with photos and essays, plus write-ups on each of the individual shows by a galaxy of notable Dead scribes, and you've got an extremely appealing package.

Even so, nearly everyone associated with producing this magnificent box was positively shocked when the limited edition run of 7,200 boxes sold out within a couple of days of being announced on Dead.net.

right now, the first 12, from the concerts at Wembley in London (4/7-8/72) through the two awesome Paris shows (5/3-4/72) are available, with the rest to follow over the next couple of months. Prices on the discs vary (after all, Bremen is one disc, first Copenhagen is four; most are three), but this way you can hone in on the shows you really want. For those of you who think you'll want most of the shows, however, a quick computation on our handy abacus tells us that buying the complete music box will save you $131 compared to buying all the shows individually. Here's more info about single-show sales.

For those who actually want to spend time with their families, or who simply aren't interested in buying and wading through that much music, this past September saw the release of a fantastic two-CD set culled from the tour called Europe '72: Volume 2. Designed to be a true companion to the original Europe '72 3-LP set released 39 years ago, it features no repeated songs from that release among the 20 selections. What's there will knock your Birkenstocks off: "Dark Star" going into "The Other One" from the Bickershaw Festival in England (the only show on the tour in which both of those tunes were played), an electrifying "Not Fade Away" > "Goin' Down the Road" > "Not Fade Away" from the group's first show in London, Pigpen gettin' down on "Good Lovin'" in Frankfurt, "Sing Me Back Home" from the last show of the tour (also London), and favorites ranging from "Playing in the Band" to "Bertha" to "Black-Throated Wind'; more than two-and-a-half hours of prime cuts. For the complete rundown on that offering, click here.

But man does not live by '72 Dead alone. (OK, some do, but they're all crazy). Since our last Almanac in the fall of 2010, there have been four more releases in our Road Trips series, two from the '70s and two from the '80s.

also included.) A year-and-a-half after the Europe tour, the band continued to move in exciting new directions. Wake of the Flood had just been released and many of the songs from that fine album were turning up in the Dead's sets, including four that appear here - Bob Weir's epic "Weather Report Suite," and the new Hunter-Garcia masterpieces "Stella Blue," "Here Comes Sunshine" and "Mississippi Half-Step."

The beating heart of this particular release is an amazing one-hour journey that begins with the aforementioned "Half-Step," drifts into a powerful and spacey "Playing in the Band," which comes back to earth for "El Paso," returns to a "Playing" jam before heading into "Wharf Rat." Then the "Playing" reprise appears and the medley is capped by a truly astonishing "Morning Dew." Hard to believe that the same show then serves up a medley of "Truckin'," the rarely sung "Nobody's Fault But Mine,"

The choices from 4/5 include the infrequently played "Deep Elem Blues," one of the exciting early versions of "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" and an adventurous "Playing in the Band." Once again, it's a confident and cohesive band putting it on all on the line! Here are more details.

Wait a minute. If there were four "volumes" of four releases each, how do you get to 17? Easy, math-boy. We wanted to go out with a bang by putting out one more Road Trips set, which we've cleverly numbered "Vol. 4, No. 5": the just-released package dominated by the complete Boston Music Hall concert from June 9, 1976 (and featuring a few additional numbers from the June 12 Boston show). This is another wonderful show top-to-bottom. You Dead history buffs probably know that this concert was just the band's third since coming back from their year-and-a-half hiatus (November '74-June '76). When the group returned to the stage, with Mickey Hart once again in the lineup, they brought back a number of old favorites, introduced some new songs, and generally turned the Grateful Dead songbook on its head.

The first set includes stand-out versions of then-new songs such as "Crazy Fingers" and "The Music Never Stopped," just the third version of "Cassidy," a neatly jammed "Scarlet Begonias" and a potent "Ship of Fools," among other treats. The second set opens with a long, circuitous "St. Stephen" (the first in five years), then goes into "Eyes" followed by "Let It Grow," which was now independent of the first two parts of "Weather Report Suite." "Samson and Delilah" and "Lazy Lightning" > "Supplication" were brand-new to the Dead repertoire, while the bevy of rearranged songs included "High Time" and "Dancing in the Street." The encore was another recent one: "Franklin's Tower" (which would never be played in that slot again). For a band that hadn't played together in eons, the Dead sound

All you vinyl LP lovers will be happy to hear that the pace of Grateful Dead re-releases has moved from a trickle to an inundation! The most recent additions to our ambitious re-release program: Shakedown Street, Blues for Allah, and Europe '72 are now available on 180-gram virgin vinyl in beautiful new gatefold covers. And now you can also buy similarly hi-qual versions of the first five studio albums, which were previously available only as part of a box: The Grateful Dead, Anthem of the Sun, Aoxomoxoa, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. There's going to be a lot more vinyl coming down the pike, too, so stay tuned!

For those of you who want hear something a little more contemporary, by all means check out the superb challenging music that's being made today by Bob and Phil in their band Furthur, which has been getting better and better during its two years together. Not only are "instant" soundboard recordings of each concert available for purchase right after the show, you can also buy other shows by mail-order through the Gnomes and Hobbits website. The band has been playing some really great shows filled with new interpretations of Grateful Dead classics, obscure tunes you probably thought you'd never hear performed live, and a cornucopia of cool cover tunes by everyone from Led Zeppelin ("Fool in the Rain"!) to The Beatles (every song from Abbey Road) to Pink Floyd ("Eclipse," "Time"). You can find all the other information about Furthur you could possibly want at the group's fine website.

It's an incredibly diverse collection that includes many fine albums that have long been out of print. Among the artists represented are Babatunde Olatunji, Hamza El-Dinm, Airto Moreira, the Gyuto Monks, Zakir Hussain, Ustad Sultan Khan and so many others. You'll find music from Egypt, India, the rain forests of New Guinea, a Bulgarian women's choir, Native American musicians and singers, gypsy music from Europe, chants and songs from the South Seas - it literally spans the world. And it's been quite a while since transcendent Mickey Hart albums such as The Apocalypse Now Sessions and Dafos have been available.

"Music is our talking book, our portal to the spirit world," Mickey commented recently. "I hope you will enjoy these audio snapshots of my musical journey. It's an honor to have my recordings at Smithsonian Folkways alongside the greatest songcatchers of our time."

To learn more about The Mickey Hart Collection and to hear examples from all 25 releases, go Mickey's website. It's a blast!

RIPPER ARTS STUDIO
Inspired by nature and his love for the Grateful Dead band, Michael Ripper has created functional pieces of art using reclaimed woods from the Appalachian Mountains. Paying homage to Jerry’s beloved Thunderbolt guitar, this year’s handmade heritage collectibles include a solid walnut Dancing Bears Votive Holder and a maple Bolt Bone Cutting Board. The one-of-a-kind designs pay it forward by using sustainable woods that could end up in landfills. Ripper’s passion for the planet is mirrored with his love for the band – everywhere inside his studio lives cool fan memorabilia. Ripperartsstudio.com

SUNSET HILL STONEWARE
We’re pleased to introduce our DeadWare collection – specially handcrafted for Grateful Dead fans. These American-made stoneware products are individually crafted by Wisconsin artists who rock out to our kind of music. These mini pieces of art are oven, microwave and dishwasher reliable – and electric Kool-Aid safe. Since 1997, Sunset Hill Stoneware has provided iconic museums, national parks and gift stores with their distinctive product portfolio personalized with 3-dimensional clay medallions.

SALLY ANN HANDBAGS
Sewing and music go hand in hand for the handbag maven Sally Ann. Her eye for cosmic, colorful fabric combinations an talent for knowing what DeadHeads want to wear in their everyday life & to see their favorite bands – the new Bolt Crossbody Bag is the perfect concert-ready necessity! Most of her work has been featured at local music festivals down south like Bristol Rhythm & Roots and the Blue Plum Festival.

Joe's Music Collection

He had the opportunity to see the Grateful Dead live only once - at Deer Creek, in Indianapolis - shortly before Jerry died. Ever since his first high school art class, he still associates "Terrapin Station" with the process of making art and while sculpting the Bolt Bird Feeders, he cranked up some of those tracks on his iPod! His birds loved the design, and so will yours. Joepapendick.com