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Wake the Dead
Saturday May 30, 3pm
World's First Celtic All-Star Grateful Dead Jam Band
- As an expression of cultural joy, you can’t top an Irish wake. And what is a
wake but a celebration—a toast of appreciation—an expression of love—and
a damn good party? So when eight top Bay Area musicians realized they shared as deep a love for
the songs of the Grateful Dead as they did for traditional Celtic tunes, some
brand-new music sprang up and started partying
- WAKE THE DEAD is a romp that flows seamlessly from rock grooves to hot
Irish reels, and from haunting airs to achingly beautiful melodies familiar to
Deadheads everywhere. “Sugaree” in waltz time, bracketed by an ancient
harp tune and infused with a poignant Celtic longing. “Bertha” thundering out
of “China Cat” on a mandolin tidal wave. The eerie lilt of the uilleann pipes,
giving a glow to “Bird Song” as if it was always meant to be there. Groove
jams to keep the tie-dye swirling. Vocal harmonies that float like clouds.
The music takes off, and the band follows, grinning all the way. These aren’t
worlds colliding—they’re worlds meshing, coalescing—creating a whole new
world of possibility, and true to the spirits of the Grateful Dead and the eternally
hopeful Celts.
- WAKE THE DEAD has wowed concert and festival crowds from San Francisco’s
Fillmore Auditorium to the Oregon Country Fair. National radio play and
concert tapers are spreading the music wider every day. The first album is a
huge success, and the second, Buckdancer’s Choice, is now everywhere on
Redwing Records.
- WAKE THE DEAD bands together eight of the best-known and most respected
players in the west. Harper Maureen Brennan has performed widely for
over 20 years. Her recorded works include three solo CDs and the acclaimed
“Harpistry” collection. Bassist Cindy Browne, enlisted from the eclectic world
ensemble Next Village, is equally at home in folk and jazz, touring from Jordan
to Japan. Singer, fiddler, and fretman Danny Carnahan is a two-time NAIRD
“Indie” award winner whose original Irish-tinged songs (including a collaboration
with Robert Hunter) are popular worldwide. Kevin Carr is a musical triplethreat,
renowned in the U.S. and Canada as a dance fiddler, a pennywhistler,
and Irish piper par excellence. Irrepressible percussionist and multi-instrumental
dynamo Joe Craven performed and recorded with Jerry Garcia and
has toured for the past decade with David Grisman. Sylvia Herold’s delicious
vocal phrasing can be heard on her two solo CDs and in her concerts with
several popular swing bands. Paul Kotapish is known far and wide for his
concerts and recordings with Kevin Burke’s Open House, and for his blazing
guitar and mandolin with The Hillbillies From Mars. And percussionist Brian
Rice, with his expertise in Latin rhythm, rounds out the band’s groove engine.
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Wake the Dead
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