Playing Grateful Dead Songs With Bob Weir: Don Was Remembers

"What I learned was to approach both music and life without fear. I'm not saying that I mastered it, but he set me on a course of obliterating self-consciousness and regret and fear about the future when you're playing music. Just be in the present and trust your instincts, and don't be afraid to do something that's going to be perceived as being a mistake."

"I understood that they were a jazz group, essentially, an improvisation group, and they did employ some of the same rhythms and the same harmonic modes as the jazz musicians were doing - but there was something else going on, and it was a rock and roll band above all else. I dug where they were coming from, but I was not what you would call a Deadhead."

Don Was learned from Bob Weir to approach music and life without fear, to erase self-consciousness, regret, and fear about the future while playing. He emphasizes being present, trusting instincts, and not fearing perceived mistakes because audiences appreciate attempts at originality. Weir aimed to make each performance fresh and adventurous, treating songs as brand-new experiences. Don Was saw the Grateful Dead in 1972 and recognized them as essentially a jazz improvisation group that nonetheless remained a rock and roll band. He appreciated their rhythmic and harmonic approaches but did not follow them obsessively as a Deadhead.

Read at Kqed