By Jon “Stugotz” Weiner
The Grateful Dead is the only band I’ve ever loved. I was introduced to the Dead by my older brother Eric in the mid 80’s, went to my first show in the late 80’s and as was the case for so many others, it was love at first show. People ask me all the time do you listen to any other bands? My response is always the same, “listening to other bands would mean less time spent listening to the Grateful Dead.” When Jerry passed away and the band stopped touring, it left a huge void in my life, one that I never imagined I’d come close to filling again.
Life goes on and eventually I had twin girls with my beautiful wife Abby. Throughout their childhood and into their teens, I would play the Grateful Dead nonstop throughout our house and would always get some variation of, “Dad, what is this garbage?” It made me both happy and incredibly sad at the same time. Sad, because naturally you want your children to enjoy the things you enjoyed growing up but that’s not always possible, especially with music. This music is so special though, you think to yourself, if they just sat down and gave it a try they would love it. Wasn’t happening. Happy, because they are teenage girls, of course they are going to say that and they listen to whatever teenage girls listen to these days, including a guy named John Mayer. I of course knew who John was, listened to some of his music through my daughters but never, in a million years did I think if the Dead ever tried to put something back together that it would include him. Not for any particular reason by the way, just never crossed my mind.
So naturally, when Dead and Company was announced and John Mayer was announced as being the one tasked with filling Jerry’s role, what was once something that was uncool in large part because their dad listened to it, suddenly became the coolest thing on the planet and just like that John Mayer, you closed the loop. I say this with all due respect to Oteil and Jeff because they have been equally as amazing but Dead and Company had me at Bob. They got my daughters with John.
I remember going to my first Dead and Company show and like most, I was skeptical. Can Bob, Mickey and Bill still do this? How will they sound? Will they sing what we want to hear? And most importantly, can John Mayer possibly fill the shoes of one of the great musicians and guitar players of all time? Can he hit the jam on Terrapin, Loser and after each verse of Althea? Sure, I had my questions, but I didn’t care, I was with my daughters and my wife and they were going to a Dead Show with me and that’s all that mattered. A funny thing happened along the way, the answers to all those questions turned out to be a resounding yes, the band got better and better, faster and faster, one show became ten shows, ten shows became multiple trips to Cancun and eventually my daughters started listening to the both the Grateful Dead and Dead and Company throughout the house.
So, thank you John Mayer, I know enough to know that learning that catalog of music was no easy task, that it took a lot of hard work and for that I am Grateful. Thank you for handling his role and the music with the care, the attention to detail and the precision that it deserves. Thank you for singing the lyrics the way he sang the lyrics, the way we sing the lyrics, they make you feel the way they make us feel, the way they made him feel and for that, I am Grateful. Most importantly, thank you, John, for bridging a musical gap in my family, for transporting me back to a better time, for providing us with some of the greatest trips and memories of our lives and for helping me share the music I love most with the people I love most.
Jon “Stugotz” Weiner is the co-host of The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz (check out their instagram and twitter). You can see more on his twitter and instagram.
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