Grateful Dead musicians serve food, music at new clubs

Grateful Dead musicians serve food, music at new clubs Image

SAN FRANCISCO – Rock's roots run deep here, with storied venues such as The Stone and The Warfield giving voice to bands as sonically diverse as Journey and Green Day. Now add two new destinations to the set list, each spearheaded by a member of another iconic Bay Area band, the Grateful Dead.

Guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh are opening clubs within a few miles of each other and near their respective homes in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. While both locales will spotlight state-of-the-art technology and farm-to-table organic food, Weir's Sweetwater Music Hall and Lesh's Terrapin Crossroads were born of different dreams.

"When the old Sweetwater closed down (in 2007), a number of us thought we should bring it back," says Weir, 64, referring to a small saloon that opened in 1972 and hosted legends ranging from John Lee Hooker to Elvis Costello. One night at the Sweetwater, Weir kindled a friendship with Willie Dixon that lasted until the blues great's death in 1992. "A club is a playpen, a place to try music and hear music."

In search of a new playpen, Weir and a few dozen investors had Mill Valley's 107-year-old Masonic Hall renovated for the reincarnated Sweetwater. The 300-person room opens Friday with a performance by Florida Southern rockers The Outlaws (sweetwatermusichall.com).

Sweetwater investor Michael Klein says the intention "from the beginning was to get the music out there, so we will live stream 100 shows our first year."

For those fortunate enough to hit Sweetwater in person, organic food will be served up by Bay Area chef Gordon Drysdale, with Klein's raw-food pioneer wife, Roxanne, adding a few of her uncooked specialties to the menu.

"In the old days, music was enough, but these days, good food is integral to economic success," says Klein.

Lesh's Terrapin Crossroads (terrapincrossroads.net) — a wink to the Dead's symphonic album Terrapin Station— has yet to select its chef, but the plan is to have one in place by February and have live shows begin in March.

Crossroads is taking over an old seafood restaurant in San Rafael, which served as the Grateful Dead's headquarters for decades until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. Not far away is Club Front, where the Dead engineered many of its last albums.

"This place being available was almost like it was meant to be," says Lesh, 71, who started looking for a location after being invited in 2010 to attend Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble jam session in Woodstock, N.Y.

"Levon's rambles are like church for American music, full of such respect for the musicians and the songs, and I thought, 'Wow, it'd be great to do that close to home,' " says Lesh.

Although Weir says he wasn't aware of Lesh's percolating club plans, he welcomes the addition. "The more music gets out there, the better," he says.

Musicians opening nightclubs is a familiar theme: Sammy Hagar has his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico, and Buddy Guy shreds at his spiffed-up Chicago club Legends. But these Dead productions have a decidedly community bent. "We want young musicians to take the stage and see what it feels like," says Weir, adding that Sweetwater will host open-mike afternoons for school-age talents.

No word on whether drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, Weir and Lesh's surviving Grateful Dead bandmates from the core '60s lineup, have plans to open clubs; Kreutzmann spends much of his time in Hawaii, while Hart is busy with various ethnomusicology projects.

But the four have remained in touch. Lesh and Weir formed the Dead-like band Furthur, and all weigh in on matters concerning the band's legacy. There are plans to release more archival material on Rhino (online orders for Dave's Picks concert CDs, curated by archivist David Lemieux, begin shipping next month), and a new online video game, Grateful Dead Game — The Epic Tour, debuts in April (at gratefuldeadgame.com).

Such ongoing collaboration may even lead the quartet to one day play at the new establishments, called by both the music and a vibe from the past.

"In the mid-'60s, bands would show up at each other's gigs and cross-fertilize," says Lesh. "We can have that again.

"I'll be at Bobby's club and he can come to mine. Our new places are just two sides of the same coin."

Grateful Dead musicians serve food, music at new clubs