Born August 1st 1942, Jerry Garcia would have been 68 were he still alive today.
If you don’t know who he is - take a listen .
He has become an icon, and was (actually still is) a musical revolutionary…..both in spirit, and in the music he made.
No or has ever played like Jerry (some have tried) – and no one ever will. As soon as a song he’s playing is heard, there’s no mistaking that it’s Jerry. Even if you don’t hear his voice, his guitar sounds like none other. That’s quite an accomplishment for any musician.
And now, today, he is inspiring others to follow their own “music” through keeping old traditional songs and forms/styles of music alive by tweaking them to fit today. I think he’d be proud! After all, that’s how he came up. Playing acoustic guitar and banjo with the bluegrass bands in the early 60s. Playing those old traditional songs that his own mentor, Bill Monroe was keeping alive. I guess you’d call it the “audio tradition”.
Its fitting he, even after his passing, is the inspiration to so many.
“Let There be Songs – to Fill the Air!”
Jerry Garcia – 8/1/42 – 8/9/95