Grateful Dead Music Forum

Hey Now,

Since I had reason to stop lurking and ask a question, I thought I might as well introduce myself.

My name is Ben. I live in Cleveland, OH USA. I enjoy music of all kinds (almost), but have a true love for the Dead that goes back to hearing bluegrass in my parents home as a kid. I grew up thinking that Wild Horses was a bluegrass tune covered by the Stones! Anyway, you can see sorta how I navigated to the Dead: simultaneously through Old and In The Way and two albums in particular: American Beauty and Working Man's Dead. I graduated high school in '85 and only then started going to shows--too late. I saw a lot of crappy shows, but it didn't diminish my enthusiam.

I've been playing guitar for about 25 years. And I'm not great, but I don't suck either. I've had a few bands. These days, I don't play out or with others. I spend most of my playing time on a pretty Larivee D-10. My electics don't come out as much, but I've got a tele, a G&L LE and a McInturff Taurus. My amps are a '68 Princeton Reverb and a'76 Deluxe Reverb. I've got way too many other interests to get into here.

And all this is probably more than you wanted to know.

Thanks for the great resource!

Cheers,
Ben

swainsonsthrush wrote: And all this is probably more than you wanted to know.

Never! And welcome! Glad to have you here. Hope to see you contributing and feel free to ask away! Some truly wonderful and great people here.

welcome! fellow Clevelander here. in Berea. i do Bob and Jerry parts. i can play bass and drums also

Welcome fellow Ben...always nice to see a new face. Man this site really has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year...

WELCOME...I really like your Wild Horses story.The first time i saw the Dead the New riders opened for them with jerry on pedal steel...he was the only one that i had heard about at that time in either band and i thought the new riders were the DEAD!...Man...I had no idea what I was in for!...Have you been to the rock n roll hall of fame? Anyway glad you have become part of this extraordinary community

Thanks for the welcome!

LazyLightnin, you must get exhausted running back and forth between rigs to cover both the Bob and Jerry parts. Seriously now, does this mean you play in a group as the only guitarist?

Also, is there a place in Cleveland to hear bands do Dead-style material?

Cheers,
Ben

lol , no i meant that i can play both parts
individually. I play George a Beatles cover band that will never really materalize :(

and yes there is a place to hear people jam out and hang out with a bunch of heads. you could just get up and rock out if you want. it in Vermillion. these guys have a band and do a free jam almost every night of the week.

http://www.adifference.org

Steve the lead guitarist was in Colorwheel for about 10 years.

i put an add on craigslist looking for people to jam Dead with and i got too many responses to answer them all. i ooked up with a few peole and it just turned into a long guitar lesson.

you wouldnt be the Ben that played guitar for "Corrisa" would you? the dude that looks like John Lennon?

Thanks for the link. The place in Vermillion sounds great. Too bad it's on the west side. I'm in the Heights and it is a 45 minute haul out that way for me.

No, not the Ben you're thinking of. I've been in Cleveland for just six years and not played any music here outside of my house! Interesting idea about the Craig's List. I might give that shot. I'd love to do some local jamming with friendly, easy-going, like-minded adults. And I could use a few guitar lessons. I'll let you know if I go over for a jam.

Cheers,
Ben

the East side!? - yuck! you just stay on your side of the Cuyahoga buddy

swainsonsthrush wrote:Hey Now,

I graduated high school in '85 and only then started going to shows--too late. I saw a lot of crappy shows, but it didn't diminish my enthusiam.

Hush..lol I only started a year earlier.. So, the 84-93 era is my baby.. I always saw it as an ever evolving sound. In their attempt to always explore new directions they semed to refuse to do what came easiest or best. For the most part. Other times I think problems caused them to simply "mail it in".

I'm a big larivee fan.. I currently play a Taylor 710ce but am looking for a different body size to try new sounds..