Phish, Dead Meet at the Jammys
Phish bassist Mike Gordon and former Grateful Dead guitarist/Ratdog
frontman Bob Weir are among the artists scheduled to perform at the
third annual Jammy Awards, to be held at New York’s Roseland
Ballroom on October 2nd. “We wanted to go a week or so without
announcing the lineup and not advertising it publicly, just within
the community’s email lists,” says the show’s co-producer Pete
Shapiro. “We sold 500 tickets in twenty-four hours just saying ‘The
Jammys are coming.’ It says a lot about the scene.”
Weir, who recently performed with the remaining members of the
Grateful Dead and will soon reunite with them once again for a full
tour, will accept the Lifetime Achievement award on the band’s
behalf. Gordon will perform with guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke — the
duo recently recorded a collaborative album and plan to tour
together.
West Coast techno-funk troop Particle will be joined by Fred
Schneider and Kate Pierson of the B-52’s. New Orleans’ Dirty Dozen
Brass Band will act as the house band for the night, along with the
Tom Tom Club, who also performed at last year’s event.
While additions to the lineup are still in progress and more
combinations are anticipated, other confirmed acts include Rusted
Root, Moe., Gov’t Mule, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Robert Randolph
and the Family Band.
Organizers indicate that the show and awards ceremony will move
to San Francisco next year, where Santana is likely to be the
Lifetime Achievement recipient. The show has also attracted the
attention of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and may move to
Cleveland in 2004. In fact Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and
CEO Terry Stewart (as well as Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry
Barlow and Rolling Stone‘s own Anthony DeCurtis) will act
as a presenter this year.
Voting for the Jammys continues through September 25th on
www.jammys.com. Tickets, priced at $40, are available at
the site, through Ticketmaster, and at the Roseland Ballroom ticket
office.