CANCELLED Skull and Roses IV 4/20: Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge, Jackie Greene, Keller Williams, David Nelson, Grahame Lesh, Stu Allen!

CANCELLED Skull and Roses IV 4/20: Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge, Jackie Greene, Keller Williams, David Nelson, Grahame Lesh, Stu Allen!

2022 UPDATE: This was cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic. Skull &Roses 4 is taking place in 2022

Skull and Roses IV
4/2020

hey now! I had a fantastic trip to Skull and Roses 3 this past April, and I am super excited to get to do it again. What an amazing lineup this year!

Including the much-heralded return of Billy and the Kids. I believe this is the first appearance of a member of the Grateful Dead at Skull and Roses! I’m excited to add this to my calendar, in advance. This is a small festival, just a few thousand folks, super kind vibe, at the same place the Grateful Dead played.

I encourage you to GO! For what modern concerts cost nowadays this is an incredible bargain and a great weekend and if you can get there Thursday for Stu Allen and Mars Hotel AND Rooster Conspiracy(!), you’ll have four days of fantastic fun and dancing at the beach.

I’ll see you there. ~ happycat!

from the folks at Skull and Roses…

You won’t want to miss Skull & Roses Festival IV | Ventura County, as we return for our biggest year yet!

Join us April 2-5, 2020 at Ventura County Fairgrounds for elevated experiences and an expansive all-star lineup including original Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann in his long-awaited return of Billy & The Kids. He will be joined by other headliners Oteil Burbridge & Friends and Steve Kimock’s Voodoo Dead plus many other incredible artists:

Melvin Seals and JGB * Jackie Greene * Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass * Circles Around The Sun * Ghost Light * Grateful Shred * David Nelson Band * Stu Allen & Mars Hotel * Rooster Conspiracy * Midnight North * Pink Talking Fish are Dead * Cubensis – Grateful Dead Music Experience * Moonalice * Jerry’s Middle Finger * Dave Harrington’s Merry Pranksters * Big Steve and the Ass Bites From Hell * The Alligators Pigpen * Electric Waste Band * Grateful Dub * Marcus Rezak’s Shred Is Dead * Xtra Ticket Featuring Dave A’Bear * David Gans * The Noodles * China Cats * Catfish John

ALL TICKETING & SOCIAL LINKS WILL BE LIVE AT 10AM
TICKET LINK (live FRI for on-sale): Skullandroses.com/passes
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/538293883627812/
SOCIAL LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SkullandRoses4
https://twitter.com/skullandrosesCA
https://instagram.com/skullandrosesventura

We can’t wait to party with you in April!

Skull & Roses is a multi-day festival which celebrates the
music and community that formed around iconic American rock band the Grateful Dead. It returns for its 4th and best installment so far at the holy grail of the West Coast Grateful Dead scene, the Ventura County Fairgrounds (California), from April 2-5, 2020.

This year, for the first time, an original member of the Grateful Dead – drummer Bill
Kreutzmann – will appear as one of the festival headliners, sharing the long-awaited return of his side project Billy & the Kids. The event has also evolved from bands exclusively performing music of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia, to now include those that have been inspired and influenced by their timeless music, including many original acts such as Jackie Greene, Circles Around the Sun, Ghost Light, David Nelson Band, Midnight North, Moonalice, and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington.

Now four days
Skull & Roses has also expanded to four days, beginning with a Thursday night (April 2) Kick-Off Party featuring Stu Allen and Mars Hotel and a rare performance by Rooster Conspiracy featuring Jay Lane, Reed Mathis, and Todd Stoops. Friday to Sunday, the music will run daily from 11:00am to midnight, and until 7:00pm on Sunday on two alternating stages.

In addition to Billy & the Kids, headliners also include the second Skull & Roses appearance by Oteil & Friends , and the festival debut of Voodoo Dead , Steve Kimock ’s (The Other Ones) unique project which debuted for three sold out late-nights during the 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and have only performed a handful of times outside of Jazz Fest with slightly varied lineups that explore the Dead’s expansive live catalog with a nod to New Orleans.

Kreutzmann will be joined by “The Kids” Tom Hamilton (JRAD), Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits), and Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green). Burbridge, who performs with Dead & Company, will be accompanied by Eric Krasno (Soulive), John Morgan Kimock (Mike Gordon), Jason Crosby (Terrapin Family Band) and more. Kimock’s Voodoo Dead also features Jeff Chimenti (Dead & Company), George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Jackie Greene, and JM Kimock (Mike Gordon).

New experiences
While continuous music will take place on two stages all day long, there will also be new spaces for festival goers to explore including an expanded ‘Shakedown Street’ vending area, an all day and night general store, Shady Grove, where people can relax and cool off, and Franklin’s Tower, a large indoor lounge with chairs, couches, and full-service bars. Plus, a gallery of photos to view and purchase by photographer Jay Blakesberg and posters by Dennis Larkins and others.

Skull & Roses is also introducing a new ticket category, GA Plus, for 500 fans which will offer many great perks including access into the High Time Lounge , a large tent with great views of both stages, furniture, full-service bars, reserved bleacher seating adjacent to the stages, and air-conditioned bathrooms. GA Plus members will have exclusive access to their own section of Franklin’s Tower, which will feature intimate musical performances, meet & greets, and even
admittance to interviews with some of the musicians by Grateful Dead extended family members Steve Parish and Dennis McNally.

Skull & Roses is offering many new lodging options this year including hotel rooms at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach and Ventura Beach Marriott , RV and tent camping at the nearby Ventura Beach RV Park , and home rentals through our partnership with Vrbo.

Don’t miss this celebration April 2-5 with friends, family and the community where you can expect “strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hand.”
Tier 1 tickets will go on sale Friday, November 15th at 10:00am PST starting at $199 while supplies last for General Admission and $399 for GA Plus , also while supplies last . More information and details can be found at: Skullandroses.com

Patti Smith poetic reading of Dark Star, in honor of Robert Hunter’s Passing

Patti Smith poetic reading of Dark Star, in honor of Robert Hunter’s Passing

Patti Smith reading Dark Star as poetry, in memory of Robert Hunter, lyricist for the Grateful Dead, who passed away on September 23, 2019. This was a few days later, at an unnamed Synagogue in Brooklyn New York.

Patti Smith has often expressed a great fondness for the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, and Robert Hunter.

Patti Smith once performed a few songs with Robert Hunter, in 1998, at Irving Plaza in New York City, (see tracks 21 and 22 in the embedded Archive.org playlist below, New Speedway Boogie and Franklin’s Tower.)

~

While the song Dark Star was often an extended musical exploration of space beyond, the lyrics are beautifully concise, conveying vast emptiness within a couple of short verses.

In the film “A Long Strange Trip: the Untold Story Of The Grateful Dead” Robert Hunter was asked by the Weirs about the songs meaning… and he recited the lyrics and then replied “What is so unclear about that? It says what it means!”

Dark Star was of the earliest Grateful Dead songs penned by Hunter, and it also in many ways was their signature tune, though they often went many years without playing it.

Here is the studio version of the Grateful Dead Dark Star, that was released on a 45/single, and is possibly the shortest complete musical version of the song:

Grateful Dead | Dark Star
Patti Smith, w Bob Dylan | Black Peter (Robert Hunter)

Jack O’ Roses (full album) | Robert Hunter | 1980 ~ out of print

Jack O’ Roses (full album) | Robert Hunter | 1980 ~ out of print


Jack O’ Roses
Robert Hunter
1980
DSLP 8001 (Out of Print)

1. Box Of Rain – 0:00
2. Reuben And Cerise – 4:53
3. Talkin’ Money Tree – 10:08
4. Friend Of The Devil – 11:27
5. Delia DeLyon And Stagger Lee – 14:27
6. Lady Of Carlisle – 18:08
7. Book Of Daniel – 22:26
8. Terrapin – 26:31
– Lady With A Fan
– Terrapin Station
– Ivory Wheels/Rosewood Track
– Jack O’ Roses
9. Prodigal Town – 42:27

He’s Gone: Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead lyricist, dead at 78

He’s Gone: Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead lyricist, dead at 78

Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead lyricist, dead at 78 – Sept. 23, 2019

“It is with great sadness we confirm our beloved Robert passed away yesterday night,” Hunter’s family announced in a statement. “He died peacefully at home in his bed, surrounded by love. His wife Maureen was by his side holding his hand. For his fans that have loved and supported him all these years, take comfort in knowing that his words are all around us, and in that way his is never truly gone.  In this time of grief please celebrate him the way you all know how, by being together and listening to the music. Let there be songs to fill the air.”

From Robert Hunter’s family (via Rolling Stone)

Robert C. Hunter (June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. (Wikipedia)

Of course there is no need to tell that to a Deadhead. His words mean more to us than anyone else’s words can tell. How much, he’ll never know.

In the moment, nothing better than Hunter’s own words, which dare to speak with the wisdom of a child, directly from the heart…

Attics of My Life

In the attics of my life
Full of cloudy dreams; unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me

I have spent my life
Seeking all that’s still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me

In the book of love’s own dreams
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
You flew to me

In the secret space of dreams
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me

~

Attics Of My Life
Lyrics by Robert Hunter, Music by Jerry Garcia

Deadheadland will be finding many ways to pay tribute to our sage poet. We love you Robert, and are so very grateful for all you gave us.

Safe travels through the bardos, or whatever you see next.

http://www.hunterarchive.com/

https://www.dead.net/band/robert-hunter

Robert Hunter © Robbi Cohn DeadImages.com
Robert Hunter, City Winery Napa California, November 22, 2014
Video highlights from Robert Hunters 3 nights in Napa in 2014, which were some of his very last performances.