Loose Leaf Notes

I practically had a conversation with Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. I mean I was that close and he smiled.  And I never stopped smiling.  Or dancing.

In the spirit of Jerry Garcia and the rest of the “7 Walkers looking down from heaven” (taken from one of their new song’s lyrics), the band 7 Walkers put on a smokin’ show at Dogtown’s Sun Hall in Floyd Thursday night.  It was jam sweet, funky and fresh with New Orleans musician Papa Mali, who has said he was inspired by Dr. John and others, whose voice reminds me of early Leon Russell and whose guitar playing can rival that of Garcia. Other band members are bass guitarist George Porter, a founding member of the 60/70’s funk band The Meters, and keyboardist Matt Hubbard, who occasionally pulled out a big old New Orleans horn or a harmonica, and who is best known for his work with Willie Nelson.

Kreutzmann’s mother was born in New Orleans so it’s a fit that works. I think Bill was smart to wait to find the right musical components to create a band that would embody such heart after Jerry died.  It’s like The New Adventures of Old Christine of Seinfield, the one that finally lived up to the original by being its own.

The stage was drenched in tie dye, which made a mind altering backdrop to the surreal light show.  I nearly lost it when they played Dylan’s Positively 4^th Street. I couldn’t hold my camera steady for Sugaree and just had to shout ‘steal your face right off your head’ like a bad ass when Papa sang He’s Gone.  Each band member was compelling in their own right. They made the old songs their own and sang new ones written by Papa and Robert Hunter, who wrote with Garcia before Garcia’s death in 1995.

See what I mean. Watch a video clip HERE and  HERE.