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Furthur’s Origin Story: Dead Behind, Furthur Ahead (Relix Revisited)

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

Meanwhile, Weir explains that when it comes to RatDog, “that certainly hasn’t run its course but I only have so much time and energy. I’ve got a lot of other projects on my plate right now, too.” These include a May performance with California’s Marin Symphony Orchestra and a solo acoustic gig at the Sundance Film Festival, which may inspire a tour. In addition, he is close to completing a studio that he has been building for the purpose of Internet broadcast.

“One of the shows I want to do [in the studio] is RatDog,” Weir confirms. “I want to get all or at least most of the guys who are still alive who played with RatDog and do a retrospective. In doing so, we’ll probably make a DVD and a record. I’ve got unfinished business with that outfit.”

Weir also mentions that he can imagine another band coming back together. “I actually expect that The Dead will reconvene at some point, but that’ll be a walk down memory lane,” he says. “It will be for those folks who want that, but we can’t live there.”

For now, Furhur is pulling Weir into deeper realms. The personnel has shifted slightly since the band’s premiere, with Jay Lane departing in the spring of 2010 to join his friend Les Claypool in a reconstituted Primus. “We had a feeling it was going to boil down to one drummer,” Weir asserts. “The two drummer business is kind of cumbersome. Even a drummer and percussionist is a bit cumbersome, so it all happened sort of serendipitously.” In addition, backup singers Sunshine Becker and Jeff Pehrson have come on board to sweeten the vocal harmonies and help carry the music somewhere new. In the process, Furthur is playing to a swelling, enthusiastic fan base of longtime Weir and Lesh fans along with many fresh faces who have never shared in the Grateful Dead live experience.

As for fans’ waning yet not altogether abated criticism of Kadlecik, Weir responds: “I think you’ll find over the past year and some, John’s playing and delivery has drifted a bit from sounding that much like Jerry. That’s what we expected; that’s what we’re getting and we’re happy with it. At the same time, we’re making good music and it satisfies us. It keeps us hopping because John is on his toes. When a new opportunity arrives harmonically, rhythmically—whatever—he’s there. He can hear us and we can hear him and he just fits. But if you want it to sound completely new, be patient, it will—soon.”

Lesh agrees: “I think John has gained an enormous amount of confidence and most important to me, he doesn’t have any trouble being himself anymore. “He’s evolved to the point where he doesn’t feel like he has to channel Jerry. He can just relax and play, so that the context of the moment determines how much of Jerry he channels.”

What is undeniable is that Kadlecik and his bandmates have invigorated Weir and Lesh—infusing them with a spirit that has yielded new creative output, while drawing them back to the stage on a consistent basis, as evidenced by the consecutive New Year’s Eve shows. It’s even led the bassist to revisit his recent performances, listening back to live recordings, “mostly to see how I can improve but also sometimes while we’re playing, I’ll notice that there’s some little arrangement that we didn’t quite get right and if I listen back I’ll know to bring it up in rehearsal,” Lesh says.

From Kadlecik’s perspective: “Musically, they both seem on fire with their passion. Every day, I see the same energy as a five year old on Christmas morning with a new toy.”

Lesh, who will turn 71 in March, reflects, “Music is infinite. There’s no end to it and you can never stop growing with it because it won’t let you. Every musical organism—and that’s what bands are—has a life and a mind of its own. Musical organisms grow over time because it takes time to learn each other’s little idiosyncrasies and that’s a human thing. Nothing is perfect out of the box and music is never perfect. Striving toward that goal is an evolving process. It just gets better and better and that’s what I love about it.”