So far the shows with David Gans and friends in North Carolina Have been fantastic! Eric Crews, a reporter form the High Country times in Boone, came out to the Tuesday night show at the Rocket Club in Asheville after doing a phone interview with David early in the day. He shot some great video footage and posted a wonderful article:
David Gans & Friends Bring Psychedelic-Americana Sound to ReelHouse Friday
Creator of The Grateful Dead Hour Talks About His Music, Travels
Story by Eric Crews
APRIL 29, 2010 High Country Press
David Gans, the musical impresario behind The Grateful Dead Hour, a weekly radio show that covers all-things Grateful Dead, was driving north on Interstate 26 through the rolling hills of South Carolina en route to Asheville to play a gig when his phone rang. A reporter on the other end of the line wanted to know what the musician thought of the town of Boone during his last stop there seven years ago for a gig at a place Gans can’t remember the name of.
“When you’re on tour,” Gans explained, “you’re not really in a town, you’re kind of in a space capsule. Because, usually, you get there and you do the sound check and maybe you go the motel and then you go back and you do the gig and you get up the next morning and you go to the next gig. So a lot of times you go through places but you don’t really see them. I can tell you more about what I’ve seen on the highway than what I’ve seen in the towns in most cases.”
It is on the highway, in the midst of America and all the little nuances of everyday life on the road, that Gans finds his inspiration. Passing through small towns and stopping off in big cities, playing music with friends, meeting new people—all of these little things add up for Gans, and in the end, provide him with the incentive he needs to leave his home behind and strike out on tour for awhile.
“Being a musician is a terrible, terrible way to make a living,” he said. “Because it’s just really hard to make any money at it, but it’s a wonderful way to see the world,” Gans said, as the sound of the South Carolina wind blew through the car’s open window as he drove. “I’m driving right now in a rented car and, for me, the drives between stops on the tour are the chance to look at the planet and to check out the trees and the rocks. It’s a wonderful thing to be out in this beautiful country making music. It’s a glorious thing, really.”
When Gans is out on the road, traveling from town to town, he can’t help but to think back to the early years of the Grateful Dead and how it all got started for them.
“Jerry Garcia used to drive around the country listening to bluegrass music when he was a kid,” Gans said. “And then the Dead created this scene where young people would follow them around having adventures. Jerry said once, ‘Grateful Dead is one of the last great American adventures. It’s akin to running off joining the circus.’ So I love the festival circuit this time of year. You get to see a lot of the same people, and hear a lot of great music, and in between you get to connect with a lot of wonderful people.”
Back at home in California, when he isn’t on tour, Gans finds endless enjoyment in the simple things in his life like shopping at the Farmer’s Market with his wife, preparing home-cooked meals, and lounging with his two cats at their home near Oakland. “I feel incredibly fortunate that I’m able to have these great adventures out here in America and then go home to a life that I’m so happy with, too.”
While at home in Oakland, Gans is the host of a widely syndicated radio show, The Grateful Dead Hour. The show has aired more than 1,100 times, and over the many years has chronicled many of the incredible live performances by the Grateful Dead that have made them into the iconic symbol of the American touring band. Gans got his start with the Grateful Dead as a reporter assigned to cover the blossoming music scene of the late 1970s, and, according to Gans, the Grateful Dead was always his favorite band to cover. He first saw the Dead in 1972. “They really changed my understanding of songwriting and what music was all about,” Gans said. “I really learned a lot from the Grateful Dead.”
Part of what he picked up as a musician from the Grateful Dead was the importance of songwriting and song styling—learning quickly how merging the lyrics with the music could create synergy within the song.
“I grew up in an age when we all listened to the Beatles and thought we could change the world with songs. And I’m still trying to do that. I try to write songs about the real world that encourage people to look at the bright side,” Gans said. “Ultimately, I’m just a lover of great American music and I’m just trying to make a little of my own.”
Gans will be joined on stage this tour by a few of his friends, including Jay Saunders of Acoustic Syndicate on bass, Bobby Miller, a mandolin picker with a penchant for fast runs and Grateful Dawg-style strumming, and Mike Rhodes of the Blue Rags on drums. At a recent show in Asheville the group jammed their way through a bevy of classic American rock songs by artists such as Little Feat, Dire Straits and the Grateful Dead while getting down to a few of Gans’ originals. This combination of older classics merged with new originality is certain to hit a positive note with fans of eclectic Americana music.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2010/04-29-10/david-gans-and-friends.htm
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