Calling all Deadheads: There’s a new music festival in Central New York for you. “Grateful Getaway: An Enchanting Cosmic Odyssey Through the Grateful Dead’s Musical Wonderland,” is an 11-day event set to take place Aug. 1-11 at Wonderland Forest near LaFayette, N.
Y. Each night will feature performances of the Grateful Dead’s music by tribute bands and artists with ties to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, including the Sam Grisman Project and Melvin Seals & JGB. Sam Grisman is the son of bluegrass musician David Grisman, also known as “Dawg,” who played mandolin on Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” album and collaborated with bandleader Jerry Garcia many times.
Seals was a longtime member of the Jerry Garcia Band and kept the music going as “JGB” after the death of Garcia in 1995 and bandmate John Kahn in 1996. Other performers include Dark Star Orchestra, which has performed as a Grateful Dead tribute band for more than 25 years; Pink Talking Fish Are Dead, a “fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish”; Steely Dead, which combines Steely Dan’s musical precision with the Grateful Dead’s free-flowing improvisation; and Grateful For Biggie, a live hip-hop mashup of the Grateful Dead’s music with Notorious B.I.
G.’s raps. “This captivating event promises to be a euphoric celebration of the band’s timeless tunes, where the melodies of the past intertwine with the boundless energy of the present,” an event description says.
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