'Grateful: The Music Plays the Band' New Compilation Album Arrives

(MPG) ALP has released Grateful: The Music Plays the Band, a seventeen-track collection of some of the finest Grateful Dead songs performed by key members of the band's greater musical community including Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Company), Dark Star Orchestra and more.

Proceeds from the LP will benefit The Grateful Guitars Foundation, a 501-c3 nonprofit that obtains world-class musical instruments for talented players who seek to carry on the tradition of jam band music into the 21st century and beyond. The foundation will host their second annual benefit concert at San Francisco's famed Great American Music Hall on August 13, 49 years to the day since the Grateful Dead's legendary performance at the venue. The event will feature performances by Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band), John Kadlecik (Melvin Seals & JGB, Furthur), Barry Sless (Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros), Elliott Peck (Midnight North) and more, as well as guest appearances from David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and more.

This project features longtime and newcomer bands influenced by the music of the Grateful Dead, committed to expanding the group's sound in various musical directions - from live grooves to Afrobeat to sultry synth-driven pop.

Founded by Andy Logan in 2019, the Grateful Guitars Foundation not only serves to put guitars in the hands of musicians in the community but also supports music instruction in schools to seed the next generation of talented players. To capture the tones of specific eras of Grateful Dead concerts, Logan worked with luthiers across the country to build a library of models of every guitar played by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir from 1965-1995. He loaned these instruments out to bands doing recreation shows, most notably to Phil Lesh & Friends at Terrapin Crossroads in 2015 and 2016. Since that time, gear has been gifted to Jeff Mattson, Rob Eaton, Rob Barraco, Skip Vangelas, Stu Allen, Garrett Deloian, Zach Nugent, Alex Jordan and more.

Logan also owns some of the instruments the band actually played, including "Alligator" (a Fender Stratocaster Garcia played from 1971 to 1973 so-named because of a sticker on it) and the Martin D-28 with which he recorded "Ripple," as well as Weir's Modulus Blackknife (used 1983 to 1985) and a few more owned by Weir, as well as amps, speaker cabinets and keyboards all used by the Grateful Dead.

"These instruments should be played, not mounted on a wall," says Logan. "I wanted to share them with the fans and players who have loved the Grateful Dead, so that the jam scene is enlivened by their unique tones and historical significance."

Grateful: The Music Plays the Band tracklist:
1. "Jack Straw" - Dark Star Orchestra
2. "Friend of the Devil" - David Nelson Band
3. "Peggy-O" - Alex Jordan & Friends
4. "Candyman" - Katie Skene & Andrea Whitt
5. "They Love Each Other" - ALO
6. "One More Saturday Night" - BERTHA: Grateful Drag
7. "Loser" - Michael James Wheeler
8. "Touch of Grey" - Doom Flamingo
9. "So Many Roads" - John Kadlecik
10. "Music Never Stopped" - Cubensis
11. "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider" - La Horsa Bianca
12. "Stella Blue" - Oteil Burbridge
13. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" - Unlimited Devotion
14. "Sugaree" - Brown Eyed Women
15. "See What Love Can Do" - Jerry's Middle Finger
16. "Dark Star" - Afro Dead
17. "Morning Dew" - Dark Star Orchestra

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