The Season Opens With A Two-Part Episode Devoted To The
50th Anniversary Of The Beloved Sunshine Daydream Concert
In Veneta, Oregon From August 27, 1972
LISTEN TO THE FIRST EPISODE OF SEASON SIX NOW
LOS ANGELES – “The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast,” the official podcast of the Grateful Dead, begins its sixth season today. Author and WFMU DJ Jesse Jarnow and singer-songwriter and producer Rich Mahan will once again host and produce ten new Deadcast episodes, which drop on Thursdays through November. The acclaimed documentary-style podcast, which Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge called “the Dead Head’s Ken Burns,” weaves together stories from Grateful Dead family members, Dead Heads, surprise guests, and historians with rare audio from the band. This season will find Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux featuring on every episode, after being a regular guest since the Deadcast launched in 2020.
After exploring each stop of the Grateful Dead’s historic 1972 European tour in season five, the Deadcast returns today with the first half of a two-part episode that focuses on the 50th anniversary of the beloved Sunshine Daydream concert, which took place on August 27, 1972, in Veneta, Oregon. One of the most extraordinary Dead shows of all time, it was an off-the-grid benefit played in record-breaking heat that saved the Springfield Creamery, one of the most pioneering and enduring institutions in the organic food movement.
In this two-part episode, the Deadcast will look at how the Dead were not just a rock band, but instead a powerful cultural force connecting alternative America in 1972. Guests include Springfield Creamery founders Chuck and Sue Kesey (Chuck’s brother was celebrated author Merry Prankster Ken Kesey); singer-songwriter Huey Lewis, who personally trucked the Creamery's yogurt from Oregon to San Francisco as co-owner of his own organic foods start-up; members of local communes that attended the concert including actor Al Strobel (Twin Peaks); and the late Sam Field, of the original Sunshine Daydream concert film, and Adrian Marin, co-producer of the film's archival reconstruction and completion when it made it long-awaited commercial debut in 2013 as part of the beloved audio and video set of same name.
Looking further into season six of Deadcast, an upcoming episode will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mickey Hart’s 1972 solo debut, Rolling Thunder. The album’s all-star cast included most of his bandmates from the Dead, plus the cream of the San Francisco scene, tabla masters Alla Rahka and Zakir Hussain, the Tower of Power horns and more. Hart will return to the Deadcast in this episode, which also features appearances by two guitarists who appeared on the album, Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish and Robbie Stokes.
This season’s Deadcast will also devote three episodes to the forthcoming 17-CD boxed set, In And Out Of The Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81, ’82, ’83. One special guest for these episodes will be promoter John Scher. The episodes will also delve into the exploding Dead Head touring scene during that time with appearances by some of its emerging artisans, including photographers Bob Minkin and Jay Blakesberg, tapers Jim Wise and Charlie Miller, and poster makers Christina Schreiber and Jon Huntley. Many episodes also include fan-submitted Dead Head stories drawn from the Deadcast’s “answering machine”.
In And Out Of The Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81, ’82, ’83 celebrates the band’s rich history at “the world’s most famous arena,” and will introduce six previously unreleased shows recorded at MSG between 1981 and 1983. The collection is available now for pre-order and will be released on September 23. Production of the set is limited to 12,500 individually numbered copies and is available exclusively from Dead.net for $179.98. Full audio will also be available as a digital download exclusively at Dead.net in Apple Lossless ($119.98) and FLAC 192/24 ($149.98). The March 9, 1981 show from the boxed set will be released separately at all regular retail outlets. Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (3/9/81) will be available as a 3-CD set ($29.98) and digitally.
The Deadcast, which so far has generated more than two million streams and downloads, is now being transcribed for posterity and greater accessibility. Transcripts for several episodes from Season 4 and 5 are available to read now. Seasons 1-3 will be posted there soon, along with transcripts for all future episodes. A new Deadcast channel has also been added to the recently launched Grateful Dead Discord server, where one can discuss the episodes, ask questions, and give other feedback.
And finally, Deadcast host Jesse Jarnow’s acclaimed book, Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, is now available as an audiobook. His meticulous research and extensive interviews for the book helped inform elements of the new season of the Deadcast.