Orange County Jam Band Society

07/29/2023

07/27/2023

Wheeland Brothers flags are back!!! Hoist the shakas high! Get yours at store.wheelandbrothers.com or at our upcoming show at Big Chill Beach Club in Delaware on August 9th. 🤙😎🤙

07/24/2023

https://fb.watch/l_mMCzGiCH/?mibextid=871sk5

07/20/2023

Remembering a local legend thank you for a real good time and the musical community you helped build. NFA 💫
https://legendsandidols.com/willardsnow/product/craig-marshall-tshirt/

07/18/2023

Welcome home Deadheads!!
Have a great summer
& get back to supporting local music!
(Pic credit Kate Mitchel Pharis)

07/14/2023

Jerry Garcia. Probably The Most Generous Musician To Ever Live :

His last show with The Grateful Dead may have been 28 years ago today at Soldier Field in Chicago, but as the last few years have proved, Jerry Garcia is more alive than ever!

With five sold out Anniversary shows in both California and again at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2015, hundreds of thousands people showed up to show respect to not only one of the greatest musicians to ever walk the planet, but also one of the most generous in all of music history.

There was nothing fake about Jerry, what you saw is what you got. He never looked at himself as a superstar. He split all profits and royalties equally with his bandmates, even with members that came later like Brent Mydland. Each member of The Grateful Dead made the same amount of money. And even though he could’ve made the argument that a Grateful Dead Show could take place without any member of the band with the exception of him, he even kept his end of the tour bonuses at the same amount as his other bandmates. How many band leaders or superstar members of a group do you think would do that?

Gene Simmons of the band KISS states they put all of their money into their live shows, which may have been true. The Grateful Dead definitely did that but not for theatrics, it was for the sound. The legendary Grateful Dead PA system known as “The Wall Of Sound” was created because Jerry Garcia wanted fans even in the back of the crowd to experience the crystal clear sound that fans in the front were hearing. Especially at their concerts that were drawing over 100,000 people. It was the sound of the music that was the most important thing to Jerry Garcia. And let’s also not forget that once the band retired that sound system in 1974 they gave much of that equipment to smaller bands who couldn’t afford a high quality PA. Just another example of the generosity of Jerry and The Grateful Dead.

Garcia allowed fans to record his music at concerts, even having a special “tapers section”, when other bands would never allow it. At the time many other bands and artists called him and his band crazy for agreeing to it. Saying they would live to regret it. Well history proves it actually was the opposite. The Grateful Dead have made a very lucrative business now being able to sell recordings of their thousands of shows both in audio and video. Other bands from the same era now wish they had that same way of thinking, especially groups who tried so hard to fight the bootleggers that they hardly have any high quality video or audio documentation of their historical past.

Of course that idea also proved very successful because every single Grateful Dead concert was unique in its own way. Earlier this year the band Metallica made news and was praised for doing two night concerts without repeating a song. The Grateful Dead did that at every show for almost 30 years. You could go to a show in Philadelphia on a Tuesday and another show two nights later in Buffalo and see a completely different setlist. And the band NEVER played any of their songs the same way twice. For instance my all time favorite Grateful Dead song is “Eyes Of The World” and have at least 10 totally different live versions of the track that I can’t decide which is my favorite one. That’s a perfect example of what sets Jerry and The Grateful Dead apart from any other band.

In the last years of his life Jerry should've been home resting as he was in poor health, but he stayed on the road to support everyone that was a part of Grateful Dead productions. Everyone from his bandmates to the person who swept his stage every show.

Even giving all of his employees health insurance and 401K benefits before any other band every envisioned that. The Grateful Dead paid their crew much more money than what was the going rate at the time. When Garcia died he left financial security for his three ex-wives, and even ex-girlfriends. He even gave his legendary guitars back to the man that originally made them so he could sell for them a huge profit (which he did).

In the end it was the one major vice he had throughout his life that definitely contributed to the poor health he was in his final days. Jerry was proof that intelligent people do get addicted to bad drugs too. He died of a heart attack just over a month after his last show in a drug rehabilitation clinic. Such a huge loss to the music world but his legacy and legendary status is more alive and relevant now than ever.

Jerry Garcia will always be one of my personal heroes. Imperfections and all.

07/14/2023

A huge thank you to all of the beautiful souls that came out to honor and celebrate our brother Bob “BC” Campion! A special thanks to Bob’s brother from NY, Kevin Campion for beautifully channeling BC’s spirit through his vocals. Also lending their talents were Chris, Billy, Eileen and Donna Campion. Lastly, thanks to our great friends and .holland.bass. This was truly a night of celebration and love!

07/12/2023

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