Barton Hall Echoes: Deadhead Stories with Seth

 What happens when two old friends return to Ithaca, New York, to sneak into Barton Hall — the site of the Grateful Dead’s legendary May 8, 1977 show? In this episode, I sit down with my college friend Seth in the bleachers of Barton Hall and reflect on the music that drew us back. We talk about the Dead’s history at Cornell, the lore of 5/8/77, and how Seth’s journey later intersected with the band when his company designed posters and t-shirts for a fundraiser featuring Bob Weir and Mickey Hart. From campus mischief to behind-the-scenes connections, this conversation blends memory, music, and the enduring pull of the Grateful Dead.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_05: 0:00

I went back to my old college stomping grounds for a weekend with friends, expecting to sit down with my buddy Seth to hear about his unique fundraising experience with members of The Grateful Dead. What I didn't expect was that we'd be able to walk right in and record our conversation inside of one of the Dead's most iconic venues. This is the So Many Roads podcast coming to you live from Barton Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

SPEAKER_06: 0:56

With my good friend Seth, who I met at Ithaca College here in this famous Grateful Dead City. And we just were on a summer trip with some friends, a little college reunion. We figured we'd come by, check out Barton Hall. I'd only been in here one other time for a uh blues traveler concert back in the 90s. Uh so we figured we'd have a little chat about Ithaca's history with the Grateful Dead, as well as a little bit of uh Seth's experience. So let's get to it, Seth. So talk to us a little bit about before you became a deadhead, just really briefly, like what was your musical experience growing up?

SPEAKER_00: 1:30

Yeah, so I had a pretty wide taste, you know, from uh Barbara Streisand to Genesis, you know. Um, and I middle school I was really into progressive rock. So yes, Genesis, Emerson Lakin Palmer, huge Pink Floyd fan, like huge Pink Floyd fan. Um and that was really carried me through almost all the way into cut basically into college.

SPEAKER_06: 1:55

Okay, so when I met you, you were a prog rock guy.

SPEAKER_00: 1:59

Yes, definitely. Yes.

SPEAKER_06: 2:01

And so what's really interesting to me is that, you know, we were talking about driving up here uh to Barton Hall, I was like, you know, I didn't really figure out that you were a deadhead to like the latter part of college. True. So let's talk a little bit about that. Let's talk about how you got on the bus. How'd you become a deadhead? How'd you get on the bus?

SPEAKER_00: 2:25

So, yes, I hung around the bus stop a lot. Um when I was in school. Was I at the bus stop? What's that?

SPEAKER_06: 2:30

Was I at the bus stop?

SPEAKER_00: 2:31

Uh, you may have been around the bus stop, but we were talking actually, it was more like the school bus stop because at summer camp, right, uh we used to have this sing thing and they used to play Ripple and um Uncle John's band like every Saturday. And so that was my the extent of my Grateful Dead uh connection.

SPEAKER_06: 2:48

When was the summer camp?

SPEAKER_00: 2:49

Uh I was in the Pocono's Camp Pine Mere. So um, you know, and you had older counselors who didn't who did know the dead. Some of the counselors took their off days and they're like, oh, we're going to Philly for the dead shows. And then they came back, you know, after two nights or whatever.

SPEAKER_06: 3:02

That's so interesting to me because again, we've only just started this podcast a few months ago. And you're like the third person to tell me, either in the cat skills or in the poconos, yeah, they heard the Grateful Dead sort of in the beginning of their musical experience at a camp.

SPEAKER_00: 3:17

Yep. Yeah. That's kind of cool. It's cool. And, you know, I loved it.

SPEAKER_06: 3:20

All right. So take us from there. How'd you become like a full fledged?

SPEAKER_00: 3:22

Right, full fledged. So I was listening, we were listening in school, and then I went to my first show with my brother. He took me to RFK uh in 1994. So really at the tail end. Um, and uh actually the first like album he played was one from the vault. And so you have the intro, right? And you're and before you're as you're driving to the RFK, you're hearing the intro of all these people. And I still wasn't connected with it. I didn't know everybody right, right. It's very, you know, if you're like, oh, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, and then you hear who are all these other people, and then you unpack that and you're like, this is crazy.

SPEAKER_06: 3:59

So yeah, yeah. And so um, yeah, my memory of you is like it was either you were in Ithaca after you graduated, but um, you were a year older than me. And I feel like I visited your apartment and you had one of those posters that had like every Grateful Dead song in a sketch. And I was like, wow, Seth has really gone down the rabbit hole. Like he's a full-fledged deadhead. Um so what happened after that show? Did you really just dive in head first?

SPEAKER_00: 4:25

So really, yes. I went, I I still, I mean, I was into it. And then in 95, I went to Highgate, which was great in Vermont, which is awesome. Um, and then the two shows at RFK, and then Jerry died. Um, and it was the same year that I had graduated, right? And so actually, my first job was on the road all the time, driving all over here. So I just listened to shows and concerts and and all the albums in the car for four or six hours all at a time and immersed myself at all.

SPEAKER_06: 4:55

And so you just became fully immersed. Totally. And yeah, so it's it's so fun uh to talk to you about this because again, I didn't really know that about you until the very latter part of my experience up here in Ithaca. Um, and we talk, you know, from time to time text about the dead and stuff ever since. But you have such a wide variety of musical taste that what just makes me curious is before we move on to other things, is like, what do you love about the dead? Because literally at any moment I could hear any kind of music coming out of your phone or speaker. True. So what's your true what you were listening to Roberta Flack the yesterday? Literally, yeah, yeah, like ridiculous stuff. So what is it about the dead as someone who knows so much about music that just like you just they got your hooks. Yeah, the hooks in your hands. You know what? Uh what is that?

SPEAKER_00: 5:40

It's it's a combination of like how I feel. I like listening to it when I'm out and hike. And so sometimes I'll hear the right song and it'll just give me this energy. Um, I like the um mix of of voices, and you know, um I really like that most everything just gives you a jammy beat. You want to dance and stuff, and it's fun.

SPEAKER_06: 6:04

Yeah. I mean, nobody I've met in all these years can really explain it to me.

SPEAKER_00: 6:08

Nope. There's no real answer. It's a magic, some sort of magic. Some sort of magic.

SPEAKER_06: 6:19

That's actually pretty incredible. You and I right now are the only ones in Barton Hall.

SPEAKER_03: 6:23

We are.

SPEAKER_06: 6:23

Uh you know, there's like an echo. Uh, it's hot, and uh it's kind of cool as deadheads just be sitting here. They're the only people in here.

SPEAKER_00: 6:32

Well, when we walked in, there's the Barton Hall sign, and there's like a whole bunch of Deadhead stickers that are all over.

SPEAKER_06: 6:38

Because I threw a So Many Roads podcast sticker up in Barton Hall. We'll see how long that lasts. So um, but we are really literally sitting in you know such an iconic Grateful Dead location. You know, the scene behind us right now on camera is they also showed it at the sphere as part of their show. Um I thought you and I, since again, you've you've probably dove into the Grateful Dead even more than me throughout the years. Um, it's one of the reasons why I started this is because I don't know as much as I want to. So I kind of wanted to explore the Grateful Dead's legacy here in Ithaca, which is a place that's special to you and me, but everyone knows about if they're a deadhead.

SPEAKER_03: 7:15

Right.

SPEAKER_06: 7:15

Um I um fascinated that they played here three times. Not everybody knows that. And so I thought maybe we could start our discussion very quickly about the 77 show. We all know that show, widely considered one of the best, if not the best, Grateful Dead shows, and just get your opinion on it. Um, I don't know if there's anything we can say that's not already had has not already been said, sure. But uh let's talk about that briefly. But then I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the other shows. So what do you think of that? May 8th, 1977. What's your opinion?

SPEAKER_00: 7:48

So uh it I was we were here in Ithaca for all that time, and I actually didn't know about the Barton Hall show until later in my discovery, right? Because I was going through tapes and you know, you get that one, but you have to listen to all the different ones, and so um, it's a good show. It's uh I actually think that the 1977 Spring Tour is probably The Grateful Dead at like at one of their best points.

SPEAKER_06: 8:15

Pretty common opinion, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:16

Um, you know, they're just been coming off of a couple years of uh Mickey wasn't there, and uh they were um not playing as much during that small time there.

SPEAKER_06: 8:28

They came back rehearsed.

SPEAKER_00: 8:29

Exactly. And um, you know, they didn't have a lot of guests or anything during the 77, and they were rolling out new albums, and everything was really tight. And so I I think, you know, my opinion is that the whole tour is so good that you could potentially pick several shows from that tour and say they're the best show. Um, and as somebody myself who's chasing songs, you know, I'm looking for the songs that I want. It's not always my most favorite songs in that Cornell show.

SPEAKER_06: 9:00

Yeah, my I have a couple opinions about it. It's first of all, it's a fantastic show. Anyone who says it isn't is crazy. Um, but it's there's uh song selection is big for me too. Like I personally have a really hard time. My ears don't like Lazy Lightning, and that's part of that show. And I think you were mentioning you don't really like Road Ginny and part of that show. So I I've I've I haven't gone on the hunt for the perfect show for my personal songs, but um Cornell Barton Hall is not it for 77. Right. Um, but it's so clean. The Betty Board is so good, and you know, unlike you, I had that tape when I was in high school, and that tape was like cream of the crop tape in your collection. So I think the sound played a really big part in it. Definitely, it's pretty balanced, even though I think Phil's maybe a little high in the mix.

SPEAKER_03: 9:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 9:46

Um, that's maybe a controversial statement, but I think that. Uh, but the songs are clean, they're tight. Donna, Donna's in key.

SPEAKER_00: 9:53

Donna's Donna's great all through again, all through 77. I think Donna's great.

SPEAKER_06: 9:57

So um a great show. You know, and again, it's so cool to be here in this iconic spot right behind us with the Cornell University Barn Windows. Yep. So this is fun for me. I hope you're liking it. Uh but what I wanted to run by you is people don't talk about the other two shows as much. Um, I think we're gonna kind of skip over the 1981, even though it's got the fun playing in the barn line, playing in the band. And there's a couple cool little segments in that show, particularly in the second set. But that 1981 show I've listened to a couple times because I knew we were coming up here. Yeah, and I know you're a big fan. I am so let's talk about that 1981 show because I think it's punchy as hell. Barton Hall, I forget the date. Um, shoot, I should have written that.

SPEAKER_00: 10:40

1981.

SPEAKER_06: 10:41

I know it's 1981, but sometime in 1981.

SPEAKER_00: 10:43

I forget the the actual date, but um well, you're still learning, and I don't keep track of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 10:48

Tell me about that show. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00: 10:50

So uh it has some of my most favorite songs. I you know I'm a huge weather report suite fan, um, and they had pared it down to let it grow by then. Um, and I also love Saint of Circumstance, Lost Sailor Saint of Circumstance, and that show has both of them. So it's checking a lot of boxes for you. It's checking a lot of boxes for me, and it's really, really jazzy and really, really fun. Uh, and you've got Brent at this point now. So you you can't always you can't really compare apples to apples because it's totally different. Uh, you know, selection. Yeah. Um, but nonetheless, um, there's just a lot in there that's just all just super fun.

SPEAKER_06: 11:32

And if you're a Brent fan, he's really high in the mix in that 1981 show, at least the Charlie Miller one that I I listened to. Um, and they come out on fire. They do. The songs are fast. They are that that let it grow that you were talking about, Jerry's just going bananas up and down the fretboard. And the Saint, uh the the uh Lost Sailor Saint is also pretty peppy.

SPEAKER_00: 11:53

It is, it is peppy. That's you know, so you can't go wrong for those.

SPEAKER_06: 11:57

So, yeah, I think it it's a little bit of an underrated show. Whereas 77 might be a little bit of an overrated show, but nonetheless, um, Cornell is steeped in Grateful Dead history, and uh it's just so cool that we spent a little portion of our lives here in the town that's uh so famous for the Grateful Dead. Um and it's such a beautiful place if you've never been to Ithaca. Yeah, you must come. It's gorgeous. Yeah, it is gorgeous, yes. All right, Seth. Um, despite being here in this amazing place, uh one of the main reasons why I wanted to talk to you is I know that you actually did a little work with members of The Grateful Dead. True. Um, so tell us just real quick, give a plug to your company and kind of what you do.

SPEAKER_00: 12:48

Sure. Yeah, so uh we are a brand marketing agency uh we do a lot of uh branded items for special events and all sorts of different needs. And uh for a number of years, we were involved with a lot of political fundraisers, and we were approached for two years uh to do some t-shirts for uh deadheads for Leahy for Senator Patrick Leahy for from the state of Vermont. And so in 2004, it's pretty low-key. We just uh just give the shirts and sent them to them.

SPEAKER_06: 13:18

So you make so your company, which is called Sonic.

SPEAKER_00: 13:21

Yep, Sonic Promos. Yep.

SPEAKER_06: 13:22

You make merch.

SPEAKER_00: 13:23

We do, we make branded merch. We do. Thanks for the plug, Pete. You got it. Um, but yeah, uh, we do that kind of stuff, super fun. Um, and I've been doing it, I've been doing it since I was in college, right? I was selling fraternity and sorority stuff. Yeah, so now that's yeah, that's what I've been doing. And anyway, um, in 2006, we were brought in to do the shirts, uh, design the shirts, and sell them at a merch table at the actual show. And what this was was where was the show? So the show was, I have to remind myself here, it was at the Renaissance Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. DC of the club. Right. So it was in a, I mean, it was just imagine you're at somebody's wedding or bar mitzvah in a hotel, and uh the you know, Grateful Dead members were playing the band. And there's probably about, I don't know, 500 people that were inside of this little. So you had a little booth with the t-shirts. We had a booth outside, and then once we sold all the t-shirts, we were able to come in and we mean me at the time. Because you were the boss the boss and the deadhead uh to come in and uh enjoy the rest of the show. Um, and so from there, um, it was like, I don't know, three or three hours, three, four hours of music because it started at seven. Um, and when it was over, um, there was a VIP uh experience at the end, uh, which included a back room with Magic Hat, a beer, uh, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and an opportunity to get your photo taken with all the bands, all the members, and the and Patrick Leahy and his wife. Okay. And so I was invited to be able to do that. Invited slash pushed my way in. Nudge nudge. Nudge, nudge, nudge. Didn't make a uh major investment uh to the to the campaign. But um, and so uh when I we did it and it was great, and I got a couple of shirts and brought the shirt, well, here's the shirt. Yeah, show us the shirts and yeah, we we designed the whole shirt. Um, and uh it's got uh the drum, you know, the drum design on the front, yeah, for Mickey, because it was Bobby and Mickey. Um, and then on the back, you've got featuring uh Mickey Hart and Bob Weir, New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Flying Other Brothers, Washington, DC, uh, May 23rd, 2006. So coming up on uh 20 anniversary.

SPEAKER_06: 15:45

Cool. And you and you got a picture with that?

SPEAKER_00: 15:47

And so yeah, so then I they uh took a picture with me, um, sent me the picture, um, signed picture um from Senator Leahy, um which says uh two Seth, uh great t-shirts, Senator Leahy. Um, and then there's Bobby right there, there's Mickey right there, there's the senator, there's Seth with his baby face, short hair. There's the senator's wife wearing. That's me in the middle. Um, and then all the members of the band. Very cool. Um and so I uh poster's oh and the poster, yes. So the poster is awesome. That poster's awesome. Yeah, it's great. It's got all the stuff in there. The Capitol building. Yep, it's really cool.

SPEAKER_06: 16:24

Bobby's name, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 16:25

Big letters that got sent to me, and I we got it all framed and everything, and it was it was a great experience.

SPEAKER_06: 16:32

So you were heavily involved with that. Yeah, really, really cool. Um, and so did you get to chat with Bobby or me?

SPEAKER_00: 16:37

Not really, just like a hello. I mean, there is a line. Come in, grab your beer, grab your ice cream, wait in line. You probably waited an hour or so because that spot is the open spot, and you just sit there, get up, sit there, get up.

SPEAKER_06: 16:52

But so you didn't really get to chat with them, but you got to take a full picture with them?

SPEAKER_00: 16:55

I did, yeah. How'd that happen? That is that was part of the experience. So they were all sitting there. Yeah, it was like a class photo thing. Oh. And they say, hey, Seth, sit here.

SPEAKER_06: 17:04

So it literally was like a VIP experience.

SPEAKER_00: 17:06

It was, it was a very much a meeting, but not like a hey, you know, let's, you know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_06: 17:11

You know, I wonder, I don't know enough about it, but I wonder how common it is to have met members of Grateful Dad at a political event. Because we know they're known as sort of apolitical, but wink wink, yeah, they did some stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 17:25

They did, yeah. And they definitely are big supporters of Senator DeLahy for, you know, for several, well, at least a couple times. Um, but they're always been involved in, you know, usually good, good what they think are good related things, you know, rainforest. Rainforest, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_06: 17:40

Yeah. Um, how was the music?

SPEAKER_00: 17:42

It was great. And so when we were talking about this, it was 20 years ago. I didn't know if I could find it. And I looked online, and you can find a couple of uh videos on the YouTube. And so it's funny to see them playing and then seeing the the same guys in this picture. I was like, oh, there's the guy. He was there. He was on that. Um, but yeah, Bobby came out. Um, you know, it was it was like what, 11 years after Jerry had died. They were all doing, you know, there was further and there's a whole bunch of stuff. Dead and Company hadn't happened yet. It was like this what do we do kind of you know, middle part kind of thing.

SPEAKER_06: 18:16

And I think they've exploded since I don't know, I don't know my further history well enough. I should. I don't know exactly when that started.

SPEAKER_00: 18:23

Yeah, I went to further. It wasn't soon after it, it felt like it was 1998 or something.

SPEAKER_06: 18:28

I think it was probably like the other ones.

SPEAKER_00: 18:30

Oh, right, the other ones. Right, right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_06: 18:32

I feel like further might have been around that time that you had the fundraiser, but I'd have to double check that. I'm not knowledgeable enough about it to kind of memorized.

SPEAKER_03: 18:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_06: 18:38

Uh, but we had to come to Barton Hall. We had to do it, Seth. Definitely. Um, I'm thrilled to be here. Like in in uh you get you really get the sense of well, it's the ROTC building as well.

SPEAKER_00: 18:49

So if you look around, you'll see you've got the army and you've got the navy, air force, marines. So we're up here in the bleachers. What a great place. It's a great place to start.

SPEAKER_06: 19:02

Yeah, man, it's cool. So yeah, you got to meet the members of the Great Did.

SPEAKER_00: 19:06

Not everybody can say they did not everybody can say they did. All right, that's very cool, man.

SPEAKER_06: 19:09

Thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00: 19:10

Sure.

SPEAKER_06: 19:17

Thanks again for sharing everything. Absolutely. For being here at Barton. We'll remember it. Uh, we'll figure it out. Uh, being here in Barton Hall on this hot summer day in Ithaca, New York. So the thing I always do to end the show, Seth, is uh this thing called Rapid Fire. It's like a little game show. It's part Rorschach test. Um and I'm just gonna throw some stuff at you and see what you come up with just for fun. We'll have some fun with the Grateful Dead and its surrounding world. So uh you're you know, you're a pretty unique guy, you're a pretty original guy. Um so I came up with this one that I thought might be kind of fun for you is that if the Grateful Dead was an animal, it can't be a bear or a turtle. Okay. What would it be and why?

SPEAKER_00: 20:02

Oh, they probably would be a chameleon. Oh, fancy pants.

SPEAKER_06: 20:06

All right, talk to me about this.

SPEAKER_00: 20:08

Because they can, you know, sort of be whatever they want to be. They can they can uh sing whatever they want to sing, they can really change the complete atmosphere, you know. Uh, and to be able to do that, I think is really part of the enduring spirit, is it's not just like uh one thing over and over and over again. So they they're able to also evolve, you know. I mean, that's why you've lasted for 60 plus years, you know, the at least the whole, you know, aura of the dead. Um, and I think I think that that would be my my answer, Alex.

SPEAKER_06: 20:43

Man, that's a hell of an answer. Thank you. And I did you get these questions, that's a good answer. Thank you. You know, one of my favorite shows, I've said it a couple times already, probably on this podcast, is I really love the day after Cornell. I think it's a little bit slightly more experimental, but still super tight. Buffalo. Yeah, Buffalo. And I just to go from the help slip Frank into the whole like Western Southern vibe.

SPEAKER_00: 21:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_06: 21:07

Again, it's it's chameleon stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 21:09

Yeah, exactly. And I love a good cowboy jam, promised land.

SPEAKER_06: 21:12

But you're going, you're doing a cowboy jam that's sandwiched by help slip Frank, and then uh music never stops. Like you know, and then the next set you get an estimate. Well, you know, it's like it's they really are for that's the thing that sort of aggravates me about people when they're anti-Grateful Dead, is you don't realize how eclectic the music truly is.

SPEAKER_00: 21:31

Because they think they're just jam band.

SPEAKER_06: 21:33

It's just the 15-minute jam with you know the same notes over and over again. A lot of goose. Yeah, yeah. Oh boy, we got goose H. All right. Next question before we get into that. Uh I'm not gonna give you a goose.

SPEAKER_00: 21:44

No, please no.

SPEAKER_06: 21:46

Um, all right, so what is and again, we talked about this earlier today. You just love all kinds of music, but as a deadhead, who is a musician that people would be surprised that you highly respect and you listen to a lot. It would be a surprise.

SPEAKER_00: 22:09

Um way out of the box. Way out of the box. Um, I'm a huge Luther Vandros fan. Okay, all right. Love Luther. I'm a huge, I'm a huge Marvin Gay fan. Love Marvin Gay, I love uh soul music, I love a lot of RB. I listen to the spinners a lot, you know, and um I like Tina Turner, right? So I just it's not even close to Deadhead stuff. I just have a you know, really wide variety of music that I like. Um the stuff is great. Yeah.

unknown: 22:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 22:43

You know, did you listen to that growing up?

SPEAKER_00: 22:45

Yes, yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_06: 22:46

Yes, yeah. You like Animal House? I do love Animal House, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 22:50

Right. I mean, I'm a comedian. What's the name of the band? Which band? Uh O to Stay in the Night. Oh, to stay in the nights. Yeah, Otis Stay in the Nights. Yeah. My man. My man. Yeah, it's so good. Yeah, I do like that. And I like I like Celine Dion as well. Oh, there's a that's a good answer. So I don't have any problem with that. Um, I like listening to musical divas. I was listening to some Adele yesterday. So I just like good music.

SPEAKER_06: 23:16

I thought we would get to the divas.

SPEAKER_00: 23:18

Yeah, oh, I'm all about the divas. You know I like the divas.

SPEAKER_06: 23:21

I was actually secretly hoping, hope, excuse me.

SPEAKER_00: 23:24

That I would say Peter Satara and Amy Grant. All right, there it is. I was out there.

SPEAKER_06: 23:27

I was secretly sorry, I have a cold. So if I was uh I'm having trouble getting the words out, um secretly hoping you'd say Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_00: 23:34

Oh, yeah, I mean I am somewhat of a Swifty, um, but not like to the full max. Like, yeah, I totally appreciate her a lot.

SPEAKER_06: 23:42

Yeah, I I know a few deadheads and how they usually are women, but they're full Swifties. Yeah. I I find the parallels really fun to talk about. Yeah, yeah. It is. All right, uh, a couple more questions. Sure. This one I thought was really fitting for you as well is that if you could steal one musician's wardrobe, who would it be?

SPEAKER_00: 24:03

Steal one musician's wardrobe? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 24:07

There's some good ones out there.

SPEAKER_00: 24:09

There are. But you only get one. I only get one. Jeez. I didn't think this one would stump you. Yeah, I'd be a stumper. Um yeah, I don't really focus that much on the uh on, you know, like you want something obscure?

SPEAKER_06: 24:26

No, I just what pops into your head, first thing.

SPEAKER_00: 24:29

I don't you know what? I don't actually you like you're talking musicians who have like a specific style. The first style that pops out to me would be Johnny Cash, but that's just a style. That's fair, right? So I mean that would be the one I would go for. I'm I'm pretty much a t-shirt and shorts and jeans guy. So, you know, like if it's obscure, like if you want me to put on a Prince Purple suit, I'll put on a Prince Purple suit. Yeah, you definitely would, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 24:53

Um the Elton John.

SPEAKER_00: 24:55

Well that one felt like a softball if I said Elton John. If you were liberal, if you were yeah, if you were searching for those, you know. Oh, I like your answer. Okay, I like your answer. Jackie Rogers Jr.

SPEAKER_06: 25:04

I like your answer. Yeah, Johnny Trash is a great answer. Okay. All right, so we we end always with uh the classic like, what are your favorite songs? All right, so we you know we do like a Mount Rushmore thing. Okay. So you get four songs. Okay. There's the only Grateful Dead songs you're gonna listen to for the rest of your life. Okay. Okay. You only get four, but the fourth is the pinnacle. The fourth is the top of the mountain. What is your absolute number one Grateful Dead song? Hit me. You only get four. Okay. You're on a desert island rest of your life. What do you got?

SPEAKER_00: 25:32

Okay. I have I always have Jack Straw in my in my arsenal. It's just a great song. You've got Jerry and Bobby singing together, you know, playing off each other, playing off each other, both both part of that. So that's definitely for me. Um, I need a weather report suite. I just I need the full suite. I need like, you know, 1974-ish, um, everything, all the parts. Um, that's definitely because I need one like pretty long song. Um, I think that's a good one for me. Um, and two more. I know. Um, so now here's just a question before I'm not uh is a help slip frank one?

SPEAKER_06: 26:18

Or is that you're the first person to ask me this. Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 26:20

Um like is a lost sailor saint of circumstance.

SPEAKER_06: 26:25

You know what? Let's let's bend the rules a little bit because we are at Barton Hall in New York. Okay. Um Cornell University. Let's bend the rules a little bit. If they don't stop playing, it counts as one song.

SPEAKER_00: 26:35

Okay. So it's help select Frank into Wharf Rat, into good loving. Oh, get out of here. Into that. Good loving can I know you don't, but I know you don't like good loving. Um, you know what? I've really been getting into uh a sugary. So I'm gonna put sugary on there. Not everybody's favorite song.

SPEAKER_06: 26:53

What's the top of your mountain? And if it works out, if we find a version that doesn't get copyright strike, we might end the podcast with it in tribute to you being my guest. What's the song? Thank you. What's the main song? Rest of your life, number one.

SPEAKER_00: 27:10

I am going to say I got it.

SPEAKER_06: 27:16

Throwing stones. Yeah, really? Yeah. I love see this is why I love this question. It's such a like simplistic question. Yeah, it took me a little while to get there, but I I've gotten so many different answers just in five episodes. It's incredible the the variety.

SPEAKER_00: 27:30

Throwing stones, uh only because I just think it complete continues to apply time and time again. Sure. Uh to wherever, whenever it was playing sung, it was always applicable. And um, it's not too long, but it's got some long and it's got some buildup, and there's got some um jam in there, and it's Bobby. I love Bobby, I think he's great. And you can always transition into the not fadeaway. Oh, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, that's right. Well, that is actually, it was a throwing stones into not fade away, was my my fourth. Um, but yeah, those would be my fourth.

SPEAKER_06: 28:03

Just as a side note, um, you know, at my uh the school I teach at, they do morning announcements, but they do it with a green screen, you know, they have like a video production thing, and teachers are allowed to uh request songs for the for the closing credits.

SPEAKER_00: 28:17

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_06: 28:18

And uh my pick this year was throwing stones. You wouldn't believe how many compliments I got, like walking down the hallway that afternoon, like mostly from other teachers, but also from a couple kids. Like, yeah, I really dug that song. Like it's one of those songs that I think can reach people that aren't deadheads as well, which is pretty neat. So all right, Seth, thanks again for coming with me here. We're sweating. We are. We literally turned out.

SPEAKER_00: 28:41

Could you imagine how hot it would have been in at a concert in May?

SPEAKER_06: 28:44

And the other thing I wanted to mention real quick before we leave uh Barton Hall just crossed my mind looking at this. There must have been a lot of people in here to for them to feel like people were getting crushed. Because it's actually a little bit bigger than I remember it.

SPEAKER_03: 28:56

Yeah, it's pretty big.

SPEAKER_06: 28:58

All three uh Barton Hall shows from Cornell, they do the step back thing. Okay, apparently that was a thing here being up front and getting crushed. And I actually read a couple like little blogs. People were like, Yeah, man, like I was scared. Like I grabbed my girlfriend and ran out of that front because it was scary. So that's a neat little piece of trivia, too. That you know, there was always a step back. Yeah, for sure. So all right, man, thanks again. Appreciate it. And uh, we'll see you on the road.

SPEAKER_02: 30:01

Painted with a skin and sky. We all hope for you and me.

SPEAKER_01: 30:11

Peace for place. Burzoy looks for space.

SPEAKER_02: 30:16

A closer look reveals the human race.

SPEAKER_01: 30:21

Full of hope, full of grace is the human face. We're free. We are all to win this.

SPEAKER_02: 30:33

There's a beautiful we can't forget.

SPEAKER_01: 30:43

Always a wake always around. See ashes, ashes off, all out in ashes, ashes.

SPEAKER_02: 31:05

The man's on the eyes. But the darkness never goes from sunfly. What the bell of the sidewalks in the road street. Stay tuned, dividing our feet. Nightmares food, decent feet. Oh, big flash we need in the ghetto night. Right, cat and roll and bow. Singing ashes ash from the stars and pins, drop boxes, roll the dice. Anyway, they follow this groups to pay the price. Funny green, control. Selling guns. Still a food to be. So we can make a shape, the bones and the politicians. So it's gonna be singing ashes, ashes all but Thanks for joining me on the So Many Roads Podcast.

SPEAKER_06: 32:36

I'm your host, Pete Bouley. Dave Steinman is our show's technical director. Theme music by Sawyer Bouley. Original artwork by Ashley Hodson. You can find us on YouTube, Meta, or our website, so manyroadspodcast@buzzsprout.com. If you have a unique story or perspective, feel free to make a comment on any platform. Or hit me up at somanyroadspodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening.