Grateful Dead

See http://www.rexfoundation.org and http://www.dead.net/familylinks/rex-foundation#new

Recent updates that may be of interest: Musician spotlight by our own bsclowds on SF band Tea Leaf Green, fine Rex supporters. Profile (by me) on Disabled Sports USA's Wounded Warrior Project, a recent Rex Foundation beneficiary. Kirk Bauer, the executive director, lost a leg in Vietnam and had his life changed back in the day when some fellow vets took him skiing. Today the project's working with servicemen and women who've sustained severe injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq, using sports to help them and their families rebuild their lives.

I'm here, not with my mod hat on but with my Rex-Foundation-writer hat on, with a request. I'm working on updating the Rex Foundation blog, and we'd like to get some conversation going. As many of you probably know, Rex is big on supporting youth arts programs, especially those that bring arts education to kids in public schools. (See, for example, Little Kids Rock, which does...) In the course of thinking about such things, we realized that there's sort of an underlying meta question, namely, what is public education supposed to be in the first place? What do we WANT it to be? So we've launched blog topic to talk about it here. Please come on down and speak up! (You need a google account to post, but in this day and age most of us do. If this is a problem for you, lemme know and I'll try to design around the problem.) Thanks! ME

Dear Friends,

Get on board the Rex Community Caravan as the fall season begins. Enjoy great music, discussions and spirited connections at the following events all in support of the Rex Foundation:

Thursday, October 4th, Rex Foundation Black Tie-Dye Ball with Dark Star Orchestra at The Fillmore in San Francisco, celebrating the special Dark Star Orchestra Rex Caravan Tour, where all shows between September 26 and October 20 include $1 per ticket sold for the Rex Foundation. Join us for a pre-concert reception with the artists, great food and connection. Click here for details .

Thursday, October 4^th, Assembly of Dust with JJ Grey & Mofro, The Roxy, Boston, MA, designating $1 per ticket sold for the Rex Foundation. Click here for details.

October 4^th through November 3^rd, The Ryan Montbleau Band’s Patience on Friday CD Release Tour includes many shows with ticket sale contributions to the Rex Foundation. Click here for details.

Saturday, November 17^th, Donna the Buffalo, Ollabelle and special guest David Gans at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, where $5 per ticket sold will be contributed to the Rex Foundation. Join us for a special pre-concert reception with the performers and great concert seats. Click here for details.

Friday/Saturday, November 16 & 17, UMass Amherst Unbroken Chain Symposium that includes a panel presentation on Grateful Dead philanthropy featuring Carolyn Garcia and Sandy Sohcot. Click here for details.

Save the Date: Saturday, December 1^st, Rex Foundation Benefit, San Francisco. Details soon.

We look forward to celebrating with you to enjoy the music and spirit of the Rex Community Caravan.

Thank you for all of your support!

Sandy Sohcot
Executive Director

Now in the mail, or readable online: http://www.rexfoundation.org/RexNewsletter5.pdf.

Addressing the issue of The Will to Change -- Buckminster Fuller remarked back in the '80s that we have the resources to solve the world's problems of hunger and need, but what's lacking is the political will. Taking that as a starting point, three very different interviews address different aspects of this issue, and Rex supporters weigh in with their views.

Rex cordially invites you to stop by the Rex Foundation Blog and give your thoughts on what it takes to achieve the momentum -- in ourselves, our communities, our nations, our world -- to make things better.

Anybody going? (Someone from here must be going, as it's either sold out or pretty close to it, I understand) RatDog! Little Feat! The Waybacks! If you're going, let's meet!

I'm sure Rex thanks you!

Hi folks--here's a heads up on a cool story I got to work on for the Rexes. It's about one of their grantees, via Mickey, who was invited to Iraq to teach drum circles as a peacemaking tool. It's a stunner of a story and I mostly try to stay out of its way... There's also an interview with Mickey on the subject, which you can read in the text version or stream/download (click/right or control click) and listen. (Why yes, that doofus talking to MIckey is me, but take no notice; Mickey's in great form.) Anyway, it's all here: http://www.rexfoundation.org/foodforthought/drumsforpeace.html Check it out, and I hope you like it half as much as I liked working on it!

the Rex stuff in the Store, including some new posters and a black t-shirt that I need to order soonest!

The Rex Foundation brings its special mix of fun and fundraising back to New York City by throwing a Black Tie Dye Ball with the band Dark Star Orchestra on Saturday, November 29th at the Nokia Theater. For the Grateful Dead the music came before the money (and because of this the money usually followed), and the Rex Foundation – originally funded by direct contributions from the Dead – has relied on fundraising events organized around this same principle. Says Foundation Executive Director Sandy Sohcot, “benefit events are a great way to connect the musical community to grassroots philanthropy, furthering a tradition that began at the first Grateful Dead Rex benefit in the spring of 1984.” According to Carolyn Garcia, Rex Foundation board member and wife of the late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, “There is a very special community spirit that happens at these Rex events, where everyone – the musicians, fans, venue operators, promoters – enjoy connecting around music, having fun together while helping support worthwhile grassroots non-profits.” The Rex Foundation has distributed $8.4 million in grants to over 1,000 programs across the U.S. and internationally since forming in 1983. ---------- EVENT DETAILS: Black Tie Dye Ball A Rex Foundation Benefit with Dark Star Orchestra Saturday, November 29, 2008 Nokia Theatre 1515 Broadway (44th & Broadway), New York, NY 10036 Reception & Concert Tickets with Special Seating Access 5:30-7:00 p.m. Drinks, Food, & Reception with Artists 7:00 p.m. General Admission Doors 8:00 p.m. Show For more event details and to order Reception and Concert Tickets call 415-561-3135 or visit www.rexfoundation.org.

From the Sweet Music Everywhere benefit in December, mostly by Bob Minkin and Susana Millman. Check 'em out!

but you don't need to be on Facebook to see them.

The Rex Foundation is now on Twitter! Come check it out here: http://twitter.com/rexfoundation.

is on the Rex site: http://www.rexfoundation.org/deadtour_09.html.

I don't know about the inner workings here, but I'll pass this to the Rex folks. Totally agree, of course.

in other news, and with my Rex hat on, I heartily encourage folks here to check out the new Rex Web site here. Many folks have been working on this for some time trying to make it easier to find info, read current stuff, etc., so come on down and tell us what you think. And, if I do say so myself since I did the interview, Peter Rowan has some great tales, e.g.: "My brothers were in Stinson Beach, working with David (Grisman) and Garcia, and that’s when we started playing more together. Up on the side of Mt. Tamalpais, with the eucalyptus smell in the air and the fog rolling in over the far hills--just the feeling was totally different from any other place I’d ever been. I ended up staying out here all through the 1970s. "Out of all that foggy Stinson Beach coastline came the day that David and I wandered up to Jerry’s house. We started playing with Jerry and we’d go up there every evening, and we started to play a few dates around the local area. John Hartford played fiddle with us, we did a show with the Chieftains… but we were kind of a rascally band. For Jerry it was just pure fun, and everyone in the group had a different idea of what to do and where to go with it..."

Dear Friends, We are pleased to once again have Rex Jams at the upcoming All Good, 10,000 Lakes and Gathering of the Vibes summer festivals, where the funds raised during the jams support local area high school music programs. The Detroit Lakes High School Marching Band was reactivated because of the 10,000 Lakes Festival and Rex Jam support of the last two years! Click here to learn more about each festival and the Rex Jams. We look forward to seeing you! On August 1st, supporters of the Rex Foundation are presenting A Very Jerry Evening in Indianapolis, Indiana as a Rex Musical Caravan event in honor of Jerry Garcia. Check out these details and tell your friends in the Indiananopolis area to enjoy a great night of music. Speaking of friends, Dark Star Orchestra is once again setting out on a month-long DSO Rex Caravan Tour of the West, from September 23 to October 17th. As you'll see on our website write-up, we're planning a Black Tie-Dye Ball on Friday, September 25th at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland to celebrate the Tour. Check out the video recently done at the Rex office, featuring me and Rex Board members Carolyn Garcia and Nick Morgan, where we describe the positive impact of the Rex Jams and Musical Caravan events. Our main message is that your support, whether as direct contributors, musicians putting on Caravan events, or fans at festivals and other Caravan events, adds up quickly to make it possible for Rex to provide the seed grants to non-profits doing such important work. We crossed the $1 million in grants since beginning our renewal because of you! Looking forward to seeing you this summer, with thanks, Sandy Sohcot Executive Director

send me an email re the DSO idea; we're actually working on something that might be a good fit, but since I'm part of a committee drafting the relevant document I can attest it's not quite ready yet. But we do love those creative collaborations... There are a couple of the black churches here that have really good programs for guys getting out of prison, Allen Temple and Acts Full Gospel. I forget which one of them has the Men of Valor program, but I have the fondest memories of sitting next to some Men of Valor guys at a city council meeting where I was there for the dogs and they were there for the program. By the end of the evening of political shenanigans and ridiculous statements from assorted parties, we had bonded thoroughly. As far as I know Rex isn't involved with those programs, but they are a very good thing and I'll pass this to Sandy.

So with my Rexfoundation.org editor hat on, I sat down last week with Sandy Sohcot for a little video interview. You will immediately see that I am not in the habit of doing video interviews, but Sandy has lots of good stuff to say. In essence, she's recapping the last eight years: why Rex was revived after the dissolution of the band, what we've been up to, who supports us and what everyone's up to. Link is here: http://rexfoundation.org/2009/10/12/rex-foundation-conversations-renewal-community-community-caravan/.

might want to check out this rare item, offered on eBay with 15% of the proceeds going to Rex! Own a piece of Amelia Earhart's plane! (Ends March 21)

I get a kick out of its mere existence though. And who knows, maybe there IS some high-rolling Rex fan who really really wants this...

April 24 in Teaneck, New Jersey: Reflections Band.August 6-8 in Millerton, NY: Festival of Family with New Riders, Boris Garcia, David Gans, Fiddlehead, Brok'n Arrow and more. October 29-30: Hulaween, String Cheese Incident, Hampton Coliseum

(July 9, 2010) Tomorrow, July 10, at 5:45 Eastern time, Matt Butler conducts the Everyone Orchestra at the All Good Festival in a Rex Jam. As the band plays, volunteers will go through the crowd collecting donations, with all proceeds going to the music programs at Preston High School in Kingwood, West Virginia. Can’t be there? No worries! The Rex Jam will be broadcast on iClips.net. The audio from the show will also be available for purchase on the All Good website through digitalsoundboard.net; all proceeds from those sales will also benefit Preston High School’s music programs. The lineup of the Everyone Orchestra for this show: Matt Butler – conductor Jen Hartswick – trumpet, vocals (Trey Anastasio Bamd) Brock Butler - guitar, vocals (Perpetual Groove) Kofi Burbridge – keys, flute (Derek Trucks Band) Roosevelt Collier – pedal steel (Lee Boys) Albert Suttle – drums (Perpetual Groove) Chuck Morris – percussion (Lotus) Graham Wiggins (Dr.Didg) – didgeridoo Oteil Burbridge- bass (Allman Bros./Derek Trucks)

thanks Badger! looks very cool.

There's a listening party at nugs.net this week, and all the download info is there too. Here's more info on the release: http://rexfoundation.org/2010/08/05/jerry-jams-for-rex/.

which I certainly had fun doing, is here. We're working on getting audio; we'll see how that turns out...

If you were thinking of starting off next year with the Jam Cruise (and given the lineup, who can blame you...), the promoter is offering a cool way to book your cabin and have some of the proceeds go to Rex--check it out here.

check out Bill Walton's Dead tribute with the Sacramento Kings, also benefiting Rex! February 9 at ARCO Arena. Sacramento Heads take note!