Grateful Dead

I feel like my post might have sounded overly critical and some others too. I fully agree with Pappypgh. Etiquette is not always my forte. Nonetheless. I believe conversation, dialogue and communication are all healthy, normal activities. A person can make a comment and that may not reflect everything that person thinks on a matter, or who that person is. I think it's great Dead.net created the Dead Covers Project. But like everything else in the world, I think things can often work better, be better etc. It's not negativity on the past and now. It's optimism about the future. I think it's always worthy to ask across the scope of human activity, shall we modify, grow, expand, be better, be more positive, or do we remain stagnant. Like I said, I agree with Pappypgh, but I pose the question: Should everything remain the exact same, dead covers project, and everything else in the world, or will things evolve? And how will they evolve? Everything is always changing and evolving. Why not have discussions and conversations and be proactive in positive evolution? In regards to musicians and artists being disappointed in not receiving recognition: I guess there is a fine line between being egotistical and caring enough about what you do that you'd like someone to look at it or listen to it. I think this is a great ongoing battle in the brains of many creative people. Tension, and angst, and desire often push artistic expression. I agree that motivated musicians should have bands and take them on the road. But some people, have life, family, health issues which prevent this, other people are studio musicians, other people do photography, or are visual artists, or shoot video. Part of the theme of my post is that there are not only many kinds of dead heads there are many kinds of musicians and artists who play GD music or tie into the scene somehow. I think multiple categories and more "top Picks" would be better for everyone and the world. I think the project would end up distributing more listener/viewer time and energy across a wider range of videos and music. It's not a big Wow thing, it's just an idea. Also, I saw 97 Grateful Dead shows between '83 and '95 and didn't see Lost Sailor once. Yes, I was disappointed. Of course I think Augusta '84 was completely quintessential, but I was in high school and lived in California. I saw Lost Sailor in Amherst last fall by Further. Complete disaster. Just because I say these things doesn't mean I am less mentally and emotionally advanced than other people. It just means I really liked early to mid 80's Lost Sailor > Saints and wished I had seen one. There's no reason for me to feel guilty about this.

It was certainly bound to happen. The comments stating "it SHOULD be done THIS way, not THAT way," and, "Here's how you SHOULD have done it." Come on, folks. Remember when you'd walk into a show and you were hoping to catch your first "Dupree's"? Or you really wanted a "Lost Sailor," that night? Then, they didn't do it. And sometimes they'd even, "play 'Day Job' again." It goes to show, you don't ever know. Take things for what they are. I submitted about 10 videos - 8 or 9 of me playing solo and a couple with theCAUSE and not one of them got 'liked' more than about 9 times. I did no campaigning of any kind and I knew, once I saw how people were making the 'Top 10' that if I wanted to be there, I had to campaign hard. Not interested. But you know what? I did get ONE reply to my "Reuben & Cerise" solo video that was a really nice compliment. Someone I didn't know - that wasn't already a fan of my band - watched it and told me they liked it. Even if that didn't happen, I was happy to participate. Sure, it would have given me (Mingle)wood to see one of my videos in the Top 10, or get featured for a day. But it didn't happen and life goes on. If you're hell-bent on a contest and are truly upset by how this little project played out, I suggest you hit the pavement HARD with your music and work it to the point where you become as successful as you want to be with it. This project was just a place to put your stuff. Whomever watched it, 'liked' it or shared it is completely inconsequential. Did you enjoy making it? Did you enjoy listening to others? Great. If your only concern was that the almighty finger of the Grateful Dead reached out and plucked your submission because it was so awesome, you were probably doing this for the wrong reason. It was just a chance to share it with some like-minded people. The rest is icing on the cake. If you, like me, didn't get to the icing - be thankful you had some cake and move on.

This is in response to some recent comments (harp unstrung, ziphler, etc...) Like with everything Grateful Dead, you can't always get what you want, but if you try, you get what you need. I fully 80% believe this more than 50% of the time. We put up a Darkstar by Dali with fairly extensive psychedelic creative video editing. I heard about the dead covers project and was psyched to remix this great living room jam Darkstar we had and create a video in the vein of some other artistic video work I have been doing recently. After the music was created and mixed, I spent 40 hours plus about 40 hours of rendering time (computer crunching video all night) in a fairly intense way and got the tune posted at 1:00 AM on Feb. 1st. Perfect project at the moment! Very enjoyable! And i did get more hits and comments than anything else I've posted. Though the chordal structure is very continuous, I think this was a truly whole hearted psychedelically adventurous piece of music with many improvisational elements. I believe this Darkstar is good (good enough to listen to, if you like psychedelic Grateful Dead music). Don't take this comment the wrong way, but most of the chosen songs and tunes in dead covers project are just that, songs and tunes. They aren't psychedelic adventures. From the first notes, and the first singing, it's easy to project ahead and fill in the gaps. You know what the second verse of deal is going to sound like. You know what the guitar solo will sound like. Don't get me wrong No ONE LOVES Grateful Dead music more than me - the classic repetoire from the late 60's thru the early 80's. Huge neural pathways are sliced thru my mind and all the tunes flow right through them easily. I love all of it, the country, the bluegrassy, the ballads, about 100 tunes that are just Grateful Dead and nothing else, and all the long "second set" material.... Terrapin, Playin, Estimated, Darkstar, Eyes, Help Slipknot. Alright, where am I going with this.... I agree, you can't squeeze this into a "contest" and I think it is wrong to view it as such. Everyone benefits. Musicians and video people can put stuff up, listeners and viewers can watch. But if it is framed as an annual thing and the process is what it is, I think there are legitimate concerns. - There are multiple styles of Grateful Dead music. Big, psychedelic jam tunes by live bands were largely ignored in the picks du jour. - No Bob tunes in final picks... I don't really view things that way, but it is fairly traditional to sub-divide to Bob and Jerry tunes, and there are distinct stylistic differences across large percentages of each. - I agree that videography and video editing seemed to be largely ignored. Birdhouse doing Here Comes Sunshine was sweet - I mean they had to go out in a field and nail a performance, at the exact time the sun is poking through the trees, and a pretty smooth camera operator was shooting the video - and the tune is excellent. And the editing and production was great. The point is that I agree the videography, and sound quality, seemed to be less of an issue, than some aspect of novelty in the performance which sometimes I found difficult to pinpoint or appreciate. There are many kinds of Deadheads and will be many kinds in the future. Most of my friends are jazz musicians and various other types, some like the Dead, others don't. Many people are impressed with the virtuoisity of the musicianship and complexity of certain material. I think there will be many young people - I mean, next generation, after next generation, who will get into Grateful Dead music in different ways. I wonder if you are brand new to it all, and you dial in the top 5 covers picked to be promoted in March what you will think.?? Do you think, "cooked hippies" or do you think "vast array of incredible music and creativity"? Again, don't get me wrong. I am a cooked hippie myself. I suggest CATEGORIES: - Bluegrass/Country - "other" 1st set material (late 70's > 80's "first set" material - "Second set" material - Non-traditional styles (punk, rap, metal, classical...) - Quality videography - Creative video editing, effects, etc. I further suggest maybe 5 tunes get picked per day, or a tune in each category perhaps, and then several dozen featured at the end of it all. I guess I like the concept of it as an ongoing thing and not contest. Hilarious comment by someone on Deadheads wearing watches... Also, I'm not a big Facebook self promotion guy. Yes, I have my business and stuff which I'd like to see grow via social networking, but I hate playing games and trying to get all my friends to Like me on you.tube and facebook. I like to put out some interesting music and art, but let interested people take interest, and other just won't. Again, the whole thing was great, I fully enjoyed and will continue to check out hundreds of videos. I laughed and cried a bunch of times. It's amazing how great music passes inter-generationally and binds humanity through time. Thanks again Grateful Dead, Furthur, and all the fans!!