7 WALKERS return for two nights to the
Great American Music Hall!!
PHISH FANS: These shows will go LATE!!!
If you are looking for a fun place to land post Phish, please shuttle over and join us!!
Help us spread the word about these upcoming GAMH shows by downloading the poster!
Great American Music Hall Poster
Join Bill's Street Team!
Are you going to any of shows listed below? If you would you like to help spread the word
of upcoming shows for Bill, please email us at streetteam@billkreutzmann.com
7/14 Guitar Shorty @ Biscuit and Blues
7/14 Moonalice @ Jewels in the Square (Union Square downtown)
7/16 Afrofunk Experience @ Boom Boom Room
7/16 Antibalas @ GAMH
7/18 Primus @ GAMH
7/21 MGMT @ Fox Theater
7/21 Tracorum, Gaby V and friends @ Hotel Utah
7/22 Alex B, Ott @ Temple
7/23 Play Live Dead, David Gans @ Ashkenaz
7/23 ALBINO! @ Elbo Room
7/23 Dumpstaphunk @ GAMH
7/23 Mark Karan @ Pier 23
7/24 Funk Revival Orchestra @ Boom Boom Room
7/24 Sleepytime Gorilla @ GAMH
7/26 Sly and Robbie @ Yoshis SF
7/27 Sly and Robbie @ Yoshis SF
7/29 Big Head Todd and the Monsters @ Fillmore
8/1 Melvin Seals and JGB @ McLaren Park (Jerry Day)
8/3 Matisyahu @ Regency
8/4 Big Light, Apollo Sunshine @ Indy
Follow Bill on Facebook for the latest news and dialogue.
Thanks to all of you for your interaction, support, and comments.
See you out there!
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June 3, 2010
RHYTHM DEVILS
WITH MICKEY HART AND BILL KREUTZMANN
ANNOUNCE SUMMER TOUR DATES
SIKIRU ADEPOJU, DAVY KNOWLES, ANDY HESS, KELLER WILLIAMS, AND TIM BLUHM AMONG THIS SUMMER’S DEVILS
For nearly three decades they were the two-headed, eight-limbed, polyrhythmic engine that drove the Grateful Dead. Now, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are the Rhythm Devils, and when the veteran percussionists take to the road this summer, even the most Deadicated of fans will be in for some big surprises.
"The music is quite different," says Kreutzmann. "It’s real groove-based. It has lots of percussion and electronics. It’s very danceable. It’s gonna be quite a mix up there."
Hart says, “This music will take you to a very special place, I think. It’s like a super friendly rhythm snake that has wrapped itself around the world a few times and now it’s coming our way. It’s electric; it’s got rhythm, has words and flies. It’s the Rhythm Devils."
Joining Hart and Kreutzmann in the Rhythm Devils for this tour will be Nigerian talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju, returning from the last RD tour in 2006, Back Door Slam’s Davy Knowles (guitar, vocals) and Andy Hess (bass). Plus one-man-band Keller Williams (guitar, vocals) makes his first run as a Devil, joining the band on select dates, as does The Mother Hips' Tim Bluhm (guitar, vocals).
The Rhythm Devils name has its origins in the late ’70s. As Hart explains, "I remember Jerry looking at Bill and I one time. He shook his head and just said, 'You guys are Rhythm Devils.'"
But the 2010 incarnation of the Rhythm Devils is guaranteed to be unlike anything that’s come before—the dynamic mix of the musicians’ individual but complementary styles and approaches is sure to lead to some serious sparks. "It’s a great combination," says Hart. "You have the deep trance music from Nigeria and West Africa that Sikiru brings to us and there’s Davy who at any moment just might rip the sky apart with his guitar and Andy Hess is a real gem of a bass player. Joining us for the first part of the tour is the 'one man band' Keller Williams and on the second part of our tour is Tim Bluhm, who will bring his ferocious California guitar style and beautiful vocals to the mix.
While both Hart and Kreutzmann promise that the music will be percussion-driven, another factor contributing to the Rhythm Devils’ special mojo is the troupe’s repertoire: Not only will they be reconstituting some familiar Grateful Dead tunes in their unique way, but the Devils will also be performing numerous tunes written exclusively for them by Robert Hunter, the legendary songwriter whose collaborations with the late Jerry Garcia provided the Dead with their most beloved and durable material.
"Robert Hunter is a major force in all of this. He has written his heart out in these new songs," says Hart. "There will also be enormous, exciting electronic sections of pulsing, throbbing, beautiful zones. There are places and sounds still unknown and unborn that we will no doubt visit."
Kreutzmann and Hart have been inextricably entwined as partners since they first met in 1967, two years after the formation of the Grateful Dead with Kreutzmann the sole drummer. On that first night, they literally "played the city," walking around San Francisco with drumsticks banging on everything in sight. Hart joined them immediately and except for a brief hiatus in the ’70s, the pair remained with the Dead until 1995, when Garcia’s death signaled the end of an era. Since then, Kreutzmann and Hart have continued to make music both together (most recently in The Dead) and apart, but they both agree that a special chemistry takes place when their percussive minds are in sync.
"When we get together and we’re in the groove it’s a tractor beam," says Hart. "Anyone around that will be drawn in. But we always thought of the Grateful Dead, and anything that we did together, as a work in progress. This too is a work in progress and that’s the best thing you could say. We’re looking to the future with this kind of music. In the Grateful Dead we created a body of work that we’ll not leave behind. But we also have an identity as the Rhythm Devils, and that’s who we’ll be."
When they’re not working together as the Rhythm Devils, both Hart and Kreutzmann are involved in other projects. Kreutzmann plans to release a new album later this year with his other band, 7 Walkers, which features singer-songwriter Papa Mali (who has also been collaborating with Hunter on new material), multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard, and George Porter Jr. on bass.
Among Hart’s recent endeavors is the tentatively titled Rhythms of the Universe, a project of enormous scope. Hart is currently working with leading scientists to capture raw light waves from Space and then transform those light waves into sound waves. Hart then uses those sounds to compose Universal music. Hart's goal is nothing less than exploring what the universe really sounds like, from the Big Bang to the galaxies, to the stars and planets and beyond.
But for both Kreutzmann and Hart, it’s the upcoming Rhythm Devils tour that’s got them most excited. "It’s part of my lifelong partnership, my 40-year rhythmic experience, with Bill Kreutzmann," says Hart. "It’s time for Bill and me to get together and explore new rhythms and take it to the next level. We share a unique rhythm and we’ve got some great guys with us who we’re going to explore what it sounds like on this planet…star date; 2010."
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April 27, 2010
Houston KPFT Radio Interview
Deadbeat April 24, -2010
Bill and Papa Mali talk about 7 Walkers and working with Robert Hunter. Listen Here
Hawaii Public Radio Interview
by Dave Lawrence
Kaua`i resident Bill Kreutzmann of Grateful Dead fame performs tonight, and March 25, in Kapa`a. He's looking forward to the shows, though when HPR called him after last weekend's trio of dates on Maui, O`ahu, and Kaua`i, he was still glowing from the concert on O`ahu's North Shore. Listen Here
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April 18, 2010
7 WALKERS ~ Review, Interview & Music
The Dead Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann debuts new band at Big Room
By Alan Sheckter
Review: 7 Walkers Tuesday, April 6 Sierra Nevada Big Room Related stories this week: CAMMIES: Week One The first week of showcases for the 2010 Chico Area Music Awards. Rather than make its debut in San Francisco, the hometown of The Grateful Dead, Bill Kreutzmann’s new band, 7 Walkers, took its first flight at the Sierra Nevada Big Room last week (April 6). The new crew’s first performance, featuring the drummer who set the beat for every one of the Grateful Dead’s storied concerts over 30 years and the guitar and vocals of wild and woolly Louisiana native Papa Mali, came off without a hitch. Read More...
Doin' the New Orleans Crawl: Bill Kreutzmann Talks About 7 Walkers, GD Archives and More
By Blair Jackson
Interview: I showed up at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on April 9 to see Bill Kreutzmann’s new band—7 Walkers—with limited expectations. I had heard a snippet of one song on David Gans’ radio show, I believe, but somehow singer/guitarist Papa Mali (real name: Malcolm Welbourne) had eluded me though the years, and I didn’t really know much about him other than that he was from Louisiana originally. Photos depicted a large white guy with long dreadlocks and big sunglasses; sort of a cross between George Clinton and Dr. John! Throw in George Porter Jr. on bass and I thought we had the makings for a pretty good show of New Orleans funk; always a good time! Read More...
Great American Music Hall 4-9-2010
Music: Sound Board Matrix on Archive.org
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April 13, 2010
Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie
Hi friends!
We are getting closer to our goal on our kickstarter.com project! As of today we are up to 11,439! We have 25 days to go to reach our goal of 25,000! We cannot collect your pledges unless we reach our goal. If 450 people give $30.00 we will reach our goal! - WE can make this happen! Thank you for helping us pour Gravy on your town! Click Here to Donate
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March 17, 2010
BILL KREUTZMANN SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF PRESERVING THE GRATEFUL DEAD ARCHIVES
Bill Kreutzmann is also working to support the efforts of University of California at Santa Cruz, who has committed to helping to archive all things Grateful Dead. As Kreutzmann explains, "I am incredibly happy that the kind archivists at UC Santa Cruz understand the social value of [the Grateful Dead’s] priceless archive, and its hallowed meaning to our most beloved ‘Dead Heads.’ Without the care it is now going to receive, these treasures would be lost."
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March 17, 2010
7 WALKERS, FEATURING BILL KREUTZMANN AND PAPA MALI,
ANNOUNCE SPRING TOUR DATES (Click Here for Dates)
LOOK FOR 7 WALKERS’ NEW STUDIO ALBUM TO BE RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR.
Legendary drummer and co-founder of the Grateful Dead, Bill Kreutzmann, together with funky bluesman and voodoo electronic pioneer Papa Mali, officially unveil 7 Walkers’ spring plans. 7 Walkers, which also features bass virtuoso Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green, JFJO) and multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard (Willie Nelson and Friends), will stop at select markets and festivals through out the country, all in anticipation of a new album release. The complete list of currently confirmed tour dates is included below.
7 Walkers recently spent time at an Austin, Texas studio, recording an album to be released later this year. In addition to a brand-new batch of Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan lyricist) originals that were co-written with the band, the new album offers up favorites from the Grateful Dead repertoire, Papa Mali originals, and some New Orleans and Southern songbook interpretations. Overall, the result is a fiery and funky collection of tunes that quite brilliantly capture the unique collaboration between these two very different musical shamans.
Bill Kreutzmann (who played every show in the Grateful Dead’s illustrious 30 year career as well as The Dead incarnations since), first met funky Papa Mali at a festival in 2008. Bill recalls in a recent interview, "We first met at the Oregon Country Fair last year. He was the headliner on the main stage, and I sat there and watched him and went, ‘This guy's for real man, I like this guy.' Then we met, after that he came over to my trailer that I was staying in and you couldn't separate us, we talked for hours. It was just one of those natural things, you know? You can't plan it; You can't make it happen. And then we started playing together."
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February 12, 2010
BK3 Music Available for Download on Nugs.net
Meanwhile, at nugs.net, fans can now download live BK3 recordings from their 2009 Colorado shows. Another potent Kreutzmann musical project, BK3 first toured in 2008 and featured a rotating lineup including such players as guitarist Scott Murawski (Max Creek) and bassists James "Hutch" Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt), Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers), and Mike Gordon (Phish).
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