Kadlicek article in Rolling Stone

[DesertDead]

Great interview of John in Rolling Stone. 

[Tea]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/john-kadleciks-journey-grateful-dead-fan-bandmate-bob-weir-phil-lesh-1234611559/

[John A]

Pretty solid wide ranging interview.  Even my beloved Styx got a shout out! (Everybody needs some guilty pleasures)

 

Surprised there was no overt mention of Eaton, especially because there was banter about how folks JK was playing with had in some cases seen only a few Dead shows, and that JK has only gotten on the bus in '89. Then in comes Eaton, who was essentially royalty in the world of Grateful Dead scholars. 

 

Or Scott Larned for that matter.  I thought Scott was a driving force for getting DSO happening, but his name I don't believe so even spoken.

 

And speaking of the tradition to Eaton, I'd never seen video of Mike Maraat, and thereby didn't quite understand the degree to which Eaton took the band to a new level.  Hell, that upgrade makes the Kevin to Skip transition seem like only a subtle bump. 😆

 

But I suppose the real point being made was that JK played with Phil and Bobby, and what that was like.  And that conversation was quality. JK even claimed to have liked Jill Lesh! 😜

 

The revelation that his first shout out to the question about the "Grateful Dead peak" was '88 to '90 was hilarious - although he did then mention '73/'74 and '77/'78.  I can see how Jeff coming on would have been a breathe of fresh air to the likes of Rob B.  😂

[2muchfun]

The article was about JK and that’s the way he likes it. He thinks he is too important regarding mentioning Eaton or signing hats.

To be fair his singing of Loser brought me to tears and began my DSO bus ride in 1999.

Lisa is the lone band member remaining from that show.

[Greg from Chestertown]

Wow! I started in 2001 , didn’t realize that line up had just gelled up. I saw dark Star shows for a while before I caught  get one with Lisa on Stage. Yea, JK sold me on Dark Star at first. I always said he needed to go with Phil And Bobby. I went too. Caught some shows. Enjoying the vibe at Dark Star shows much better after Jeff Joined up. It’s just chill. 

[bs69]

On 10/24/2022 at 1:23 PM, John A said:

Pretty solid wide ranging interview.  Even my beloved Styx got a shout out! (Everybody needs some guilty pleasures)

 

Surprised there was no overt mention of Eaton, especially because there was banter about how folks JK was playing with had in some cases seen only a few Dead shows, and that JK has only gotten on the bus in '89. Then in comes Eaton, who was essentially royalty in the world of Grateful Dead scholars. 

 

Or Scott Larned for that matter.  I thought Scott was a driving force for getting DSO happening, but his name I don't believe so even spoken.

 

And speaking of the tradition to Eaton, I'd never seen video of Mike Maraat, and thereby didn't quite understand the degree to which Eaton took the band to a new level.  Hell, that upgrade makes the Kevin to Skip transition seem like only a subtle bump. 😆

 

But I suppose the real point being made was that JK played with Phil and Bobby, and what that was like.  And that conversation was quality. JK even claimed to have liked Jill Lesh! 😜

 

The revelation that his first shout out to the question about the "Grateful Dead peak" was '88 to '90 was hilarious - although he did then mention '73/'74 and '77/'78.  I can see how Jeff coming on would have been a breathe of fresh air to the likes of Rob B.  😂

Hopefully he was referring to the 88-90 period because he saw shows at that time and wasn't old enough in the 70's. I saw shows from 85-95 and 88-90 would definitely be the peak for me for shows I saw. And you have to admit that John gave good Stella

[Ammagamalin Crew]

Mattson's the real deal, Eaton IS royalty, Barraco does the deed and has a lot of fun with everyone, Skip steps up, Lisa keeps on keeping on, Dino thinks and approaches professionally, Koritz completes the scene. I admit that I don't get to too many shows but when I do , it's not a cocktail party for me. Although I will admit before and after I've really enjoy the company of many new friends.  After about 25 shows with JK, it appeared that he didn't have the unlimited vault of licks Jerry always presented as a song ended. It seemed like Jerry had more music in him than the band could handle. Not so with JK, loved his ballad singing, but Jeff steps up with interesting tricks and shreds. 

[John A]

As far as JK & Jeff are concerned, and sure this is admittedly a blunt assessment, but I don't know that it could be argued otherwise. What I'm saying is there's room for personal preference, but ultimately there is a pith to the "debate".  To wit, these are my two basic points...

 

#1 On a surface level, we have a number of subjective categories: their tone, chops, musicianship, configuration of gear to channel Jerry's "sound", vocal abilities, and whatever other list of parameters one wants to include, which all meld into a calculus that I honestly feel equally "serious" Deadheads / Starheads can debate, argue either mild or strong opinions each way, and everybody can be right.

 

#2 On a deeper, more meaningful level, and acknowledging I personally know neither of these men beyond watching them perform Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia music on stage, I have a palpable sense Jeff more deeply understands the "soul" of what Jerry conveyed through his musical presence; and thereby he's better able to convey it himself.  And folks disagreeing with my #2 are wrong. Hey, everybody can't always be right. 😆