[.ca] Dead Grass Feat: Vassar Clements

new American standards:
This is a wonderful album. I will admit to bias however as I have been a Dead Head for two decades now. Jerry Garcia was in a bluegrass band called Old & In the Way which was my first introduction to this classic American music style. (First fully conscious intro to the music. I was familiar with the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies even before then.) One member of Old & In the Way is fiddler extraordinaire Vassar Clements. This is an amazing musician that has played with Stephane Grappeli, Bill Monroe, David Bromberg and many other musical greats. He is a musician's musician who transcends generations with ease. Now he has decided to record an album of Grateful Dead songs in a bluegrass style. There is already and album called "Picking on the Dead" which is the same concept but this one is better. The bluegrass treatment allows one to hear nuances in the songwriting that often got lost in the extended jams of a live Dead show. Dead Grass makes these songs seem like old standards from a bygone era while still retaining a freshness. (This, of course, was a trick the Dead themselves often executed when they delved into old traditional songs.) Many rock songs are finding their way into the American canon and some of the new standards will be songs from the Grateful Dead catalogue. Listen to songs like "Ripple" and "Attics of My Life" and you will hear beautiful lyrics and melodies. Songs like "Dire Wolf" and "Friend of the Devil" sound like old traditional standards already. This is a great tribute to a legendary musical institution called the Grateful Dead.

Really pickin' on the Dead:
While I enjoyed the Pickin' On offerings, this one is more satifying. Vassar provides authenticity and the young folks in the band provide some solid picking and vocals. I'd suggest this one strongly for any fan of acoustic music deadhead or not.

• Brown Eyed Woman
• Casey Jones
• Attics of My Life
• Broke-Down Place
• Alabama Getaway
• Ripple
• U.S. Blues
• Dire Wolf
• Friend of the Devil
• It Must Have Been the Roses
• Mexicali Blues