Virtual Jerry Bash 2020 | The Deadbeats

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On Jerry Garcia’s birthday, Saturday, August 1, the Miners Foundry will present a live-stream of the 2019 Jerry Bash featuring the music of the Grateful Dead as performed by Nevada County’s 26-year favorites – the Deadbeats.  The live stream will also air at the Miners Foundry Bar.

While the live stream event is free, donations to the Miners Foundry are lovingly appreciated.

Across the country, the first weekend in August has become a time when fans of the Grateful Dead gather to celebrate band co-founder Jerry Garcia’s birthday.  In Nevada County, that tradition has been celebrated with the annual Jerry Bash at Pioneer Park.  With group gatherings called off for the summer, the Deadbeats and Miners Foundry decided to mark the occasion with a video premiere of the complete 2019 concert.  The 2019 Jerry Bash was captured with multi-track recording and a 4-camera video shoot.  It will be live-streamed on the Foundry’s Facebook and Youtube channels with an opportunity to donate to help keep the Foundry’s operations going during the current shutdown.

The Miners Foundry has been presenting Jerry Bash in Pioneer Park since 2015.  The Foundry is the beloved community cultural center in the heart of downtown Nevada City.  A nonprofit cultural center, the Foundry’s response to COVID19 is to remain open as a bar with entertainment and food available outside on the patio.

The Grateful Dead played over 2300 live shows in their thirty-year history with spin-offs – The Other Ones, Dead and Company – still drawing big crowds.  The Guinness Book of World Records recognized them with a listing under the heading, “most rock concerts performed.”  They played to an estimated 25 million people, more than any other band, with audiences of up to 600,000 attending a single show and most of these concerts are preserved in the band’s tape vault.  August 1 would have been Jerry Garcia’s 78th birthday. Rolling Stone said Jerry Garcia was “..the unlikeliest of pop stars and the most reticent of cultural icons.”

The Deadbeats get that the music is best live. The band made their debut at Nevada City’s renowned Mad Dogs and Englishmen Pub on August 4, 1994 – twenty-five years ago. Filled to capacity with crowds lining up outside they knew they were on to something – a certain indefinable sound and feel that captures the essence of a Grateful Dead concert. They started Jerry Bash in 1996 as a free concert in Pioneer Park.  Over the years band members have rotated but the core group continues with great shows and big crowds. The 2019 lineup includes Tom Menig, Eric Menig, Rob Kopp, Glenn Tucker, Peter Wilson, Jenn Knapp and Darby McConnell.  Special guest appearances for 2019 included former Deadbeat and bassist Rich Stanam

The Deadbeats play the Dead’s songbook with a balance of improvisation and honoring the song.  Guitarist Peter Wilson says, “The songs have taken on a life of their own – they still go deep.  When you start in to ‘Sugar Magnolia’ or ‘Truckin’ there’s a joy that comes off the crowd that just lifts up the room.  We’re right there with them.”  Guitarist Tom Menig adds, “We just love to jam…”