So Many Roads: A Grateful Dead Podcast

Born On The Bus: Katie from Jam Band News

• P.Bouley • Episode 11

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We trace Katie’s path from a childhood steeped in Grateful Dead lore to a career shaping how fans discover shows. Along the way, she shares a tender Fare Thee Well story, the rise of Jam Band News, her JamBase work, and why Westville Music Bowl feels like home.

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SPEAKER_00:

I'm driving through New Haven, Connecticut on my way to talk with Katie, passing the old Coliseum site and the Yale Bowl, places where the Grateful Dad once played. Katie was born into this music. She grew up inside the scene and later helped co-found Jam Band News. Now she's taking that experience into her next chapter, working with Jam Bass. This is a conversation about being born on the bus and where the road leads now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So um it was so cool on the ride here. We're passing all kinds of Grateful Dead history. Dave and I were driving by, you know, Toad's Place, the old New Haven Coliseum, and then the Yale Bowl. And then across the street from the Yale Bowl, we'll talk about it later, is Westville Music Bowl. So I mean, we're just surrounded by music history, and you're just down the street from the Yale Bowl, and you were basically born into the Grateful Dead, born in May 1977. What was the date again?

SPEAKER_03:

May 10th. It was uh yep, the night off.

SPEAKER_00:

So the night off. So you were right after Cornell. Um so you had no chance. You were gonna be a deadhead, right? This is very true, yes. No matter what anyone said. So, but let's talk a little bit about your childhood. Tell me a little bit about what was going on in your house before you became a full-fledged deadhead, which I know is really early, but um, you know, what else was going on musically?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, um, so my mom uh is a musician, and uh so we've always had music playing in the house. Um, but one core memory I had uh probably around eight years old uh was my older brother uh coming home from high school. This was probably around 1984, um, and declaring that Eddie Van Halen was the best guitarist that ever lived. And uh my father, you know, thoughtfully nodded and decided that there needed to be some comparisons to it. He wasn't he wasn't denying the uh the accolade, but he wanted my my brother to have a broader sense. And so exactly. So thus began uh what we called vinyl Tuesday in the Irwin House. And so every Tuesday my father would throw on uh cream, the Who, um Jeff Beck, like uh you know, just guitarist after guitarist to kind of just broaden uh both my brother and myself uh our experience of great guitarists, um, so that we had a bigger pool to choose who the best was. Uh so that's a great story.

SPEAKER_00:

It's amazing. I've only been doing this project for six months. It's it's insane how much uh Eddie Van Halen comes up.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, for real. Like he comes up, and I was such a big Van Halen. I've talked about this before. I was such a big Van Halen shit fan. So um now I was a Van Halen fan before I was a Grateful Dead fan. So uh, but what about you? Let's talk about how you got on the bus like full-fledged.

SPEAKER_03:

The story goes, and my mother loves to tell the story of uh she used to be my father's plus one, and um she decided that uh drumming space was too much, and she passed on her ticket to a 10-year-old Katie. And so my first show was um July 1987 at the Meadowlands, and my father and his college roommate and his daughter, the four of us, went, and my first reaction to all of it was just the colors and the uh just vibrant scene even before we stepped foot inside at 10 years old. Uh it was it was tremendous. Um, my father was always doing things uh when we were kids, um, testing the system, if you will. So one of the things that I can remember about that first show is that he pulled around to the back of the Meadowlands where the ponies were. And I was dying inside because he's about to go ask it. No, he wanted to go get a parking spot away from Shakedown with his 10-year-old daughter. Okay, that makes sense. And I'm dying inside because he's about to go ask someone or say something, and he rolls up and he says, whatever he usually says, Johnny O sent me, and they waved us right through. And so we got to park away from the scene. But he walked me through my first shakedown year in 1987, and it was tremendous. Um, then we get inside, and the show was uh it was everything I could possibly imagine from a live music standpoint. Uh, I'm pretty sure I got a not fade away in that show and hearing, I've never been amongst those that many people to begin with, let alone that many people saying the same words, clapping their hands. It was, it was life-changing. I mean, I I I I it's not an overstatement. It truly was a life-changing experience for me.

SPEAKER_00:

So, unlike many of us where it was, you know, maybe in your teens, you're literally 10. Is that because your dad, who was already in it, like for years and years and years, like literally seriously, when you were born, was your dad on tour or or was that just a joke?

SPEAKER_03:

So he was not on tour.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, but he Because your joke is that was his night off. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So he was not on tour. Um, that being said, he always um went to shows when they came close by.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And uh I didn't always get a plus one. Uh you know, there were some nights where I stood up and waited until he got home and uh asked what they played. And I remember this one show and he just kept saying, Uncle John's band. Uncle John's band. So um, but yes, that was uh quite the experience at 10. Um, and I'm forever grateful.

SPEAKER_00:

That's incredible because it's actually uh my partner here, Dave, behind the camera right now. That was his first show, too.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that's fun. That's wonderful. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh so let's talk a little bit about so you were fully in the music scene right away, born into it. Um, and there were some good openers in those days. So talk to me a little bit about who you saw open for the Grateful Dead. I assume that 87, was that the Dylan?

SPEAKER_03:

That was the Dylan, and and and he wore a pink tuxedo, if I remember. And um, if it wasn't that show, it was a different show on the tour. But um, yes, we got to see Dylan, uh uh Los Lobos, which was a big uh uh uh huge musical influence in my household as well. Um uh Sting, there was a year of Sting, uh Traffic. I got to see uh that. Um so it's funny when I go through um on DeadNet and try to figure out what shows I was at because I was so young.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you weren't writing them down.

SPEAKER_03:

I wasn't writing them down, but it it was usually the opener that clued me in because I really got to see some amazing artists that which one was your favorite? I think Los Lobos. Um yeah, I think that was just uh whether it was a great show from start to finish or whatever, it was um and I'll have to say the difference between an indoor show and an outdoor show also became pretty apparent at a young age as well.

SPEAKER_00:

And what's your opinion on that? Because I got mine.

SPEAKER_03:

The so the Meadowlands was super fun, and I guess if I wasn't a kid, it would be different. But as a kid, being inside Madison Square Garden was there was you know, it was there was nothing like it. And there's still to me nothing like that. I totally agree.

SPEAKER_00:

Like I want the energy trapped. Trapped, yeah. I don't know, I don't know if that makes sense to anybody else, but you you and I are talking about it right now. Maybe you and I are the only ones in the world, but I want it, I want it stuck. Yes, I don't want it to dissipate into the air.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Um well and then back when indoor shows.

SPEAKER_03:

And back when MSG was was great and you can wander and and again I wasn't wander the ring. I wasn't let free. My father was very much a a parental figure, but seeing the twirlers in the hallway in the hallways and the, you know, and growing into that as I became an adult. Um, yeah, there was not much anything that could beat MSG for me.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm with you on that one. Um all right, so talk to me a little bit too about you said your mom was heavily involved in Nassau, uh, a little bit with Jones Beach. So I mean, I can't not ask you about the 1990 Brantford Marsalis shows, which you did clue me in that you as a kid were there. Yes. Talk to me about that. Like, what did you know you were watching like a magical time in Grateful Dead History?

SPEAKER_03:

I yes, I could feel it. Okay. I didn't necessarily know, I could just feel that there was the the people around me. So what's what strikes me um for that show in particular, uh I was a little bit older, and um that was the year that my father decided to sit separate from me. And so he and my aunt Elizabeth That's a big deal. It was a really big deal. And so he and my aunt Elizabeth had floor seats, so he wasn't about to give me his floor ticket. So he and Elizabeth were on the floor, and I was up somewhere in the rafters, and I was surrounded by, you know, just so many fans who were like losing it that the energy, I knew something was was afoot.

SPEAKER_00:

And so again, you could just tell from the energy of the air. And once again, it was trapped.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Yes, it was. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, let's move on a little bit to the more modern era. Um let's talk. I know you got something to say that's very personal about the Fair the Well show. So let's let's get into that. All right, bringing it up to when we're a little bit older now, I'm I'm assuming you just saw all kinds of music uh after those teenage years and the after Jerry passed. But uh a lot of us saw fairly well as a sort of defining moment in our age group, sort of, you know, the Gen X age group, a defining moment of sort of getting to relive a little bit of it. Um but your story is uniquely different and personal. So I know you wanted to share it. So so tell us about your experience there, and I know you have a couple things you want to show us as well.

SPEAKER_03:

Sure, yeah. Um so in 2015, in July, I was pregnant with um a child. We did not know if it was a boy or a girl, but we were very excited. So we um scored tickets actually in the on sale, which was awesome, really, really awesome. And so we decided to go for it, and uh it was like our baby moon. And literally the morning we were leaving, we got a phone call from our dear friend Maddie Barca, who asked us if we were going and asked us if we can pick them up in Yonkers on the way. So it was That's a little out of the way. So we drove, we picked up Maddie, he was right on the side of the road, and we decided to charge ahead to Chicago. Uh, along the way, we decided to um name the baby. Maddie helped name the baby. Again, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but we were going with Forbin for a boy and Scarlet for a girl. Um flash forward to getting to Chicago. Uh it was my first time in Chicago in the city itself. So um it's just really uh enjoying the sights and the scenes. And the one wish that I had going into it was that Trey sang Standing on the Moon. And um, I don't remember which night it was, but it came out and it was just beautiful. Um, as well as when Trey got to sing Scarlet again, knowing that um this little baby could have been a Scarlet. And so uh the weekend was just tremendous. I mean, I think anyone who was there could share in just how much that old school vibe felt and just walking around the city. We went to the fan art show and and uh it was just wonderful. Um we tried to get the the Mass Day prints while we were there, but uh unfortunately it was sold out very quickly. Um we settled upon another poster to commemorate the wonderful weekend. Um and uh on our drive home, I started to not feel so good and had a headache. And again, it's a lot. Uh, you know, it was a long drive, and there was it wasn't tremendously hot, but there was definitely some some heat going on. It was July. And so uh a couple weeks later, um, I was very sick and they were you know trying to diagnose what was happening, and um, unfortunately, it ended with my daughter, uh Scarlett, uh, being born still. So uh that you know, that experience that I had while I am grateful that we were able to get there and be a part of all of it, has been a difficult listen back for me. Um there's been times where you know it's come up on the radio or in my shuffle, and uh, you know, I still haven't 10 years later had the first board. Yeah, I can't, I can't do it. But um, but uh, you know, as kismet and and wonderful as this community is, there was uh right after, a week after she passed away, there was a gentleman online who was offering up the Mast Days for face value. And even if you remember, right then and there they were going for Yeah, I'm not I'm I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not big into art.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, uh the in the jam ban world. Like I'm starting to appreciate it more, but can you just explain a little bit more what do you mean by that? Like the Mast days, that's sure that's the print of the day, is that is I'm assuming right?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so that was one of the official prints. So typically in a in a weekend, like fairly well, you would have a couple of artists that would have official prints. Okay. Um, and so AJ Masday um is uh an artist out of Hartford uh who had always been a lot artist, actually, for fish. And for one reason or another, uh fish always passed him up and he always had the best art. And everybody was wondering when AJ's turn was is to do the official art for fish, and for one reason or another, it never happened. And so we were all very excited for him to be the official artist.

SPEAKER_00:

Plus, he's kind of local to us.

SPEAKER_03:

He's local to us.

SPEAKER_00:

Now that you're talking about it, I know who he is.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, an open studio tremendous guy. So his prints, which ran for$60 per print at the show itself, were immediately over$1,000 per print um after the run. And so for this gentleman to be offering me the three prints at$180 was uh I I thought they were fake. I didn't know what was happening. And he didn't know our story. Oh, he didn't know your story. He did not know our story. That's what it that's what was so incredible. It was just so that's a miracle. It really was. And so we already had our nursery set up, and so we hung the prints in my daughter Scarlett's nursery until it was time to redo the nursery, and then we hung them in my daughter Althea's room after she was born.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah. You have them right behind. I do, I do, and um get we'll get better shots for YouTube and everything.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so here's just an example of one of them. So uh we had a local artist, so as you could see, um, each one is a different color, and this one I can't oh, this is July 4th. So um, but yes, these these are a um very, very special reminder of what was a bittersweet uh baby moon.

SPEAKER_00:

And and it it really does bring everything together is that how emotionally connected, and most of us don't have a story like you, right? But how emotionally connected we are to this music.

SPEAKER_03:

It it yeah, a time and place, set and setting, all of it. It's like you hear a song and you could go back and and and relive those times, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. It's uh that's what music is, it's storytelling, and it's uh it it runs deep and it's tremendous.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh okay, Katie, let's explore further. You've had basically your whole life in the jam ban world.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

But you decided a couple years ago to spin that more into uh a hobby, social media, kind of like I've been doing. Yeah. Maybe for the same reasons that, you know, you needed some other stimulation besides your profession, right? And then you seem to have now spun it into a profession. So I'm so you know, let's talk a little bit about, you know, you're pretty pretty known in the in the social media circles for jam-ban news.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So how did that start? Just tell me where the idea came from. Uh, what were you thinking? Like, how did this come down?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh so it actually was the idea of my ex-husband, um, Jim McGonagall. Um, he uh approached my partner Kevin and I and noticed that there was kind of a void in uh the news reporting of jam bands online. Um he uh is a graphic artist uh profession and but doesn't really go out to like shows and stuff. And knowing that Kevin and I were going out a lot and we were involved in a lot of things, uh he asked us if we wanted to kind of just do like a short version of a podcast about going to shows. And so we thought, sure, that's fun. Yeah, exactly. And so um it started out, you know, just kind of the three of us, and it it was a really good way to bring the three of us together. It was a um great, it still is great for my daughter to see. Blended family clubs while I was working. Yeah. And uh and so we immediately got approached by the Westville Music Bowl to ask if we wanted to do a ticket giveaway.

SPEAKER_00:

So this was so like is this is like within moments of you starting to put stuff up?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, pretty much. Um uh they recognized uh that this was a free way to advertise their shows, and all it was going to cost them was two tickets. And uh so we obviously were all on board. Of course. Um and then uh uh a year or two after that relationship, or I should probably about a year into that relationship, Westville Bowl was um taken over by AEG and Bowery Presents. So then all of a sudden it became uh their other venues like Brooklyn Steel and other places like that, asking if we want to do a ticket giveaway. And again, from a business point of view, it's it's free advertising. We don't we don't make any money, we don't charge any money, we just do it for the fun. And it also kind of helped uh at the same time, I was doing an internship at Jam Base, and I was becoming a lot more aware of shows and events that were happening that weren't just in a narrow focus. Uh they weren't just fish or Twiddle or you know, JRAD.

SPEAKER_00:

How did you get how'd you get involved with that?

SPEAKER_03:

So they posted uh an internship opportunity online.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And I knew that I was years away from leaving the teaching profession and thought, uh, you know, how arrogant am I that I'm gonna leave teaching and just think that I'm gonna get a job somewhere. Exactly. He was uh so uh so I started uh my internship with them um doing uh like data management, um, what most people would say like nerd stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so like what?

SPEAKER_03:

So Um for example, uh I started out with festivals and so we would get uh the you know, Coachella just dropped, and we have to now build that festival in the back end for Jambase to then uh show, you know, the f uh the lineup, the ticket links, the dates, uh, an image, that kind of stuff. So just you know, working off of that, and then from there it became more of a data quality. So, like Jambase, in my opinion, I've been using it since the early 2000s, and they are the most trusted source for their information to be correct. And so part of that, now that I know under the hood, is that they have people looking at their their imports coming in. Doing the work, doing the work. And so, regardless of AI or regardless of all of the information that we get from these from these ticket feeds, there's bad data out there.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure.

SPEAKER_03:

And so one of the things I'm charged with is looking over that data and is John Legend really playing in Venice, Italy on New Year's Eve? And if he's not, then we're not listing that show, and um that maintains our data quality.

SPEAKER_00:

It sure is. Um so okay, so that's so I I find this really neat because maybe it's just coincidence you were doing Jam Ban News and the internship at the same time, because I always felt like Jam Bang Jam Base, for those of you guys don't know, is a go-to and it was a lacking part of the internet. Where where can I type in where I live and see everything? Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, or I'm visiting a family member in Sheboygan and I need to get away from my parents right now. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And so I I always thought they found a nice pocket of the internet that wasn't there.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And then your ex-husband and you and and Kevin found a pocket on social media that wasn't there. Right. And so it really is serendipitous that you're you're now now gonna actually leave teaching and work for Jam Base.

SPEAKER_03:

I I am. I officially retired as of January 9th, and uh it is very exciting. And again, it's it's brought in my um musical experience as well. I mean, I I'm I'm Jam Base is is very proud that we have really gone global. Um, and so I'm learning about these K-pop artists and that's cool. Yeah, so it's it it's really cool because there's a lot of music outside of the jam band world that, you know, if you don't have the bandwidth to listen to, or you know, like I did, I did not have the bandwidth.

SPEAKER_00:

A lot of my friends don't have the bandwidth, they're not willing to listen to it. No, not willing to listen to they don't even want to look at goose.

SPEAKER_03:

No, yeah, that's right. It's it's time, it's energy, and it's the willingness to kind of step out uh a little bit. And uh not everything is, you know, I I love, but I I've discovered some really it's nice to know what's out there, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so um jam band news um still is going on. We kind of slowed down a little bit. We used to do a lot more like tour announcements and things like that. Um, um, but we've kind of just taken a little step back just because we all got busy and you know, hobbies sometimes get pushed aside. But uh we are still out there giving away tickets and uh having a great time and and enjoying the music.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's super fun. And I I wanted to thank you because you uh got me in touch with the Capitol Theater after our one of our episodes, and we're gonna do a little work for them.

SPEAKER_03:

So it's well deserved.

SPEAKER_00:

It's also fun, you know, like just to be a little part of the world um that makes a lot of magic for a lot of people and and and and online is part of it these days. So absolutely here we are. Uh what what have been some of your biggest challenges before we uh we move forward here?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh with jam band news.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, with jam band news, what do you find is hard about the internet world? Um social media world.

SPEAKER_03:

The social media world, I mean, you know, you have you you can have people who are being mean, and when you're when you're not someone who um, you know, we're just coming at this with kindness and you know, and so to get a pushback when we post, you know, Bertha, the the dead the drag, it's like it's so hard to, you know, to not feed the trolls.

SPEAKER_00:

It's hard not to snap back.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, because it's it's like dude, we're just we're we're in this for for the good of the community and this is it's supposed to be fun. So I feel like that's been the biggest drawback. But luckily it hasn't been all that bad. It's you know, they're pockets at times.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, like the guy who called me a 50-year-old loser the other day.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know how hard it was not to be like, yes, I don't think I'm a loser, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, and maybe I am.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, it's interesting too, being a female um is you know is also an interesting um dynamic.

SPEAKER_00:

I've noticed that in some of my clips.

SPEAKER_03:

It's it's like when Kevin does it versus when I do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It can be very disturbing in some ways, and it's sad, but you do have to realize most people are good people and exactly and there's always gonna be those.

SPEAKER_03:

They're idiots.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, they are so trying to make trouble. Yeah, which is not anything we want in this music world. So bye bye.

SPEAKER_03:

Bye-bye. We don't need it. Carry on.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. All right, let's quickly talk about Westville to bring it all together. Uh passing all these, I mean, literally on the 10-minute drive to your house, I passed uh many Grateful Dead spots and coming around to the modern world and the social media world and your business, and and we passed the Westville Music Bowl, which you know really started you in jam-band news with the free tickets and the promotion, everything. And I just wanted to talk about living near there and what it's meant to you. It's it's a really special place for me. So, what are your thoughts on Westville?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh so we New Haven, Connecticut. Yes, in New Haven, Connecticut. And uh so we used to live on West Rock right down the road uh when it was a pilot pen. So it was an all-female tennis center.

SPEAKER_00:

Tennis center, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And it was a nice um, we got uh so it was between the US Open and I believe the French Open.

SPEAKER_00:

But I think it was like a warm-up for the the US Open. Correct.

SPEAKER_03:

And so we wouldn't get everybody, but we would get some good names. Jennifer Capriati, I remember. And um, and so we always thought, you know, so I I actually worked there as a parking attendant for a brief stint, but um we always thought that it was such a shame that such a cool venue, regardless of what it was, was only being used for one weekend a year. And so by the time uh they brought it up to the town to create the Westville Music Bowl, I had already moved a little bit outside of the of the outskirts. But um I was thrilled and I still have very good friends. My son's father lives uh down there, and and you know, one of my favorite parts that might be a little controversial is how early the shows are. Because I mean controversial. You lose a little on the light show. So if you go and try to see, you know, flaming lips last year and you lose a little on the light show or the theatrics, but to be home in bed by 10:30 is um well, and again, as a mom of a young child, to be able to bring my children to a place that is so safe and warm and welcoming, open, it's open and friendly. Open and friendly, and no one's saying, I'm sitting there, it's incredible. It's my favorite outdoor venue by far. Um, and uh I am just thrilled. I'm I'm also really happy that last year they were able to step up um with the new partnership and bringing back because of the competition that's happening in the state, um, it's nice that we got some of those bands back to Westville.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I don't want to be controversial, but a lot of people say Denver is the center of the jam bo jam band world, and I'll I'll make the argument it's New Haven.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, I think so. I think so.

SPEAKER_00:

We are uh so uh just to wind up the Westville conversation, like as a as Deadheads and uh Grateful Dead Adjacent podcast, I think for a lot of us, J. Rad at Westville was the first coming out after quarantine to go see shows. Yeah. And J. Rad did, I believe, nine shows at Westville that spring and summer 2021.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And then followed up with Bobby and Wolf Brothers coming in 2022, and then Phil came in 2023. So the fact that we've been able to see Grateful Dead related bands uh within, you know, earshot of our of our homes, um, and like you said, be in bed by midnight, it's been an amazing place to live. And so I just brought a couple things to show you.

SPEAKER_03:

I know you love Westville, so I grabbed the the penny, the pennant of J.

SPEAKER_00:

Rad at Westville.

SPEAKER_03:

I have a shirt.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a great, that's a great uh, you know, they gave these out, they're just like thin paper, but yeah, um, I've always kept this on my wall. The nine shows again, coming out of COVID, how happy was I to just go see J. Rad nine times.

SPEAKER_03:

It was oh, so great amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

And I have a poster my buddy bought me because I encouraged him to come out and see the shows, and he was so stoked that he he bought me a J Rad uh poster from the first night, all signed by those guys.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So what a great place. I'm so happy that we have it. Um, so shout out to Westville Music Bowl.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, Katie, thanks for um coming here with all your jam band news expertise and stories. Yes, uh fantastic stuff. I look forward to seeing you out there on the road.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so this is called rapid fire. This is just random questions that I shoot my guests. No thinking. Just spit it out. It's like, you know, I tell them it's like a Rorschach test. Yeah. What are you what are you hearing? Tell me what you're hearing. Um, so let's get to it. Okay, real quick. Boom, boom, boom, rapid fire. What's an underrated Grateful Dead song?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh um France.

SPEAKER_00:

Really? Oh, that's hysterical. You like it. I do. You like it?

SPEAKER_03:

I do.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. I've got wow. I've got a whole social media clip about how I that people don't like that song.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh how I like it.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_00:

I like it too. I like it. The recorded version, like it just works for me.

SPEAKER_03:

Same.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, I would have said foolish heart, but here we go. All right, here we go. Um, what's your favorite post-grateful dead, post-Jerry project with members of all the bands? What what was your favorite?

SPEAKER_03:

The dead.

SPEAKER_00:

You liked the dead.

SPEAKER_03:

I did. I did.

SPEAKER_00:

What was that about?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh it was heavy. It was a little darker, and I I kind of liked the the darkness of it.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, I never thought of it like that. But I guess you're right.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it was a little, it was, I mean, it was a it and to me, it was a dark time, so it kind of matched my how I was feeling about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I never really thought about that, but when I just in my memory, as soon as you said that, I'm like, oh yeah, it was a little, those shows were a little dark.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I wasn't ready to hear a you know, a China cat.

SPEAKER_00:

I was ready to dig in with a deep do. And sometimes I like that, you know, like I like, I like scary fish.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh yeah. Red red lights. Yeah. Red lights.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um, what um what in your opinion? I mean, obviously you're in the business now, you're gonna work for Jam Base, you've got the thriving social media, jam base news. I'm sorry, jam uh jam band news. Why does this jam scene continue to thrive? What are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_03:

I um I I I think it's about the community and the like-mindedness of of of the members of said community. And uh I think it's generational. I think, you know, I grew up with a with parents who, you know, always had music playing and people over. And uh I think that there's, you know, I I'm doing the same for my children. So I think it's just about the community, um, the empathy and kindness and compassion that seems to be missing in a lot of places. Uh whether it's the music that's bringing people together or it's the people who are are, you know, creating the vibe around the music. Uh, I just think it's uh it's it's the community for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so real quick, yes. What's your favorite sort of off-the-cuff jam band that people may not know about that you love?

SPEAKER_03:

Annie in the Water.

SPEAKER_00:

I've never heard of them. Tell me all about this.

SPEAKER_03:

So Annie in the Water are from uh upstate New York, like Watertown, New York, and they, in my opinion, encapsulate this uh community idea in their music. They are upbeat, they are fun, they are accessible and kind dudes who are have been um in different bands themselves, uh, but they there's something about their music that that makes me tingle inside. And uh there's certain bands that everybody loves that do not do that for me. And it's not that I think that they're bad bands or they it's bad music. I don't think any music is bad music, but something about Annie in the Water that just makes me super happy when I hear it. Kind of like when I hear the beginning notes of an eyes, or uh it gives me that same giggly feeling.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, well, I'm gonna go home today and check that out, and then I'm gonna link it.

SPEAKER_03:

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

We're gonna link that band. Yeah, yeah, that sounds great. I'm I'm excited.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Um now, maybe that's the same answer, but I hope it isn't. Another thing I wrote down because you're so inverse now um and you're seeing all kinds of music with your with your jam-based connection. What's a band that you think's about to break out? What's like if you had to pick, let me restate that. If you had to pick a band that's gonna be like Goose or Billy Strings, what's the next one that's gonna really break in your opinion?

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, I gotta give it to my Egggy boys, you know, they're uh they're from they're from here. Uh we've watched them. In my opinion, they have a really cool story. So we were talking earlier about breaking out from COVID. These dudes got the afternoon set at the Peach Fest. That first show, that first moment where anyone and everyone is crawling out of their COVID holes, and the noon slot is never the slot you want at a festival except that year and that festival. And it it their set was so packed with people who were just jonesing for live music. And ever since then, they've been on this trajectory. Not only that, but I will say these dudes are serious. They are not they are not partying with the crowd after the shows, they're not being um silly boys, they are they are very determined and very serious, and I think that they absolutely are the next big thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, we're gonna link Egggy. Everybody go check out Egggy. All right, Katie, thanks so much. Really appreciate you having us into your home. I know that you're not gonna be here for very much longer, but um thanks for having us stop by and talk to you about all your great experiences. Send us out with your favorite Grateful Dead show. I'm excuse me, Grateful Dead song. Tell us a little bit why it's your favorite song. You only get to pick one.

SPEAKER_03:

I only get to pick one.

SPEAKER_00:

You probably have more than one, but what's the one absolute you're on a desert island, this is the only song the rest of your life. What is it?

SPEAKER_03:

So it is Terrapin Station. And the reason why is because I was fortunate enough to catch a live terrapin at a Nassau Coliseum show. And although I had listened to it prior and I had heard it, I had never been among people who were so psyched to hear it. Um, I actually have the tattoo right here because show the camera. Inspiration moved me brightly is um my mantra, and this is Forever Living with Me. And the composition, the different parts, the non-straightforward, all of it. Uh it is Terrapin Station, it's my end-all, be all song, and not even just Grateful Dead of any ever. All of it.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's their masterpiece.

SPEAKER_03:

It it truly is. I really do. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. Well, thanks again. Let's sign off and let you sign off for yourself.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you. Thank you. Uh thank you so much for having me. Um, I am Katie, and I am a huge Grateful Dead fan.

SPEAKER_00:

Katie from Jam Band News. Until next time, peace. Thanks.

SPEAKER_02:

Today you decide he was wise. Storyteller makes no choice. Soon you will not hear his voice. His job is to shed light and not to master the bigger. Often gold in hopes he will come back, but he cannot be hold of soul. Light song with sense and color. Hopefully, despair more than this I wheel artist. Faced with mysteries that conveys statements just seem faded last. Some lies, some claw, some cry to get a terrible Counting stars by candlelight on a hill when one is bright. The spiral light of Venus writing first shining best from the northwest coast of a brand new crescent. Crickets and cuts in a real different two terrace in the shadow of a turban's day. And I know you'll be there soon.

unknown:

I can't figure out if it's the end or begin to like the tree's woods breaks on tool. And the listener, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Dave Simon is our show's technical director. Original artwork by Ashley Hartman. You can find us on YouTube and our website, SonyRoadspodcast.com. If you have a unique story or feel free to make a comment on any podcast.com. Thanks for listening.

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Pete

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Dave

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Ashley

Editor
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Sawyer

Editor

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