The Deadcast launches its 10th season, hitting the road for the April 1978 tour documented on the new FRIEND OF THE DEVILS box, exploring the band’s new sound for ‘78 & the birth of drums/space, featuring taper tales & rare archival interviews with Jerry Garcia.
by Jesse Jarnow
The Grateful Dead came into spring 1978 as a subtly different band than recorded Terrapin Station a year earlier and embarked on the beloved spring ‘77 tour. Multiple pieces of the Dead’s sound morphed in tiny ways, impacted by road accidents, solo projects, equipment changes, and other unexpected circumstances.
Richard Loren, the band’s booking agent in 1974 and manager in 1978, is the author of High Notes: A Rock Memoir, a singular look into the Dead’s world.
Enormous thanks to David Gans for use of interviews, originally published in Conversations With the Dead, as well as the Retro Photo Archive, for access to some way cool and never-heard audio of Jerry Garcia talking about his guitar and gear with journalist Jon Sievert, recorded during this period.