NPR MUSIC’S “ALL SONGS CONSIDERED” PREMIERES PERFORMANCE OF “MAMA TRIED”
BLUE MOUNTAIN OUT TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM ON COLUMBIA/LEGACY/ROAR
Bob Weir’s performance—and tribute to Merle Haggard—of “Mama Tried” will air in a special episode of “Austin City Limits Presents” on PBS on November 19. Weir also received a Lifetime Achievement Award that evening. NPR Music premiered the video describing it as “an exquisite bit of synergy” and calling Weir “a storyteller for the ages.” See the video and post HERE.
Weir’s newest album, Blue Mountain, is out now to great critical acclaim via Columbia/Legacy and ROAR, which Weir supported with his eight-city “Campfire Tour.” Most recently, he and his band made appearances on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “CBS This Morning: Saturday.”
Blue Mountain is Weir’s first solo record in ten years and his first album of entirely original material in thirty years. Producer Josh Kaufman partnered with Weir on the album, which features songwriting collaboration with Josh Ritter and performances from guitarists Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner and bassist Scott Devendorf.
Drawing on his earlier experiences working on a ranch in Wyoming as a teenager, Weir joined with Ritter, the Dessners, Devendorf and Kaufman to celebrate those times with twelve new songs.
The album was recorded at a variety of locations on both coasts, including studios in Woodstock, NY and San Rafael, CA over the spring and fall of 2015. A host of fellow musicians appear alongside Weir on Blue Mountain including Ray Rizzo (drums, harmonium, harmonica, backup vocals), Joe Russo (drums), Jon Shaw (upright bass, piano), Rob Burger (keyboard, accordion, tuned percussion), Sam Cohen (electric guitar and pedal steel), Nate Martinez (guitars, harmonium, backup vocals), Jay Lane (drums, vocals), Robin Sylvester (upright bass, vocals, hammond organ) and Steve Kimock(Lapsteel). Providing backup vocals are The Bandana Splits, comprised of Annie Nero, Lauren Balthrop and Dawn Landes. Kaufman produced the record with engineering by Dan Goodwin.
Critical acclaim for Blue Mountain…
“It’s an album of stately, autumnal, metaphysical cowboy songs…full of towns, women and aspirations that have been long since left behind, but not forgotten.”
“[Bob Weir] is a poet laureate of deep thinking and whimsy. His voice has taken on a character that finally replaces the forever-young, fresh-faced heartthrob fans knew so well,but even with age, he sounds as good as ever.”
“Weir and his band shamble cheerfully here…”
“A spirit of celebration radiates through Weir’s voice.”
“As heartfelt as anything Weir has ever written and should resonate with fans who have been along for any part of the long, strange trip of his unparalleled career.”
“Weir’s aged voice sound[s] as good, or even better, as other elder statesmen of rock such as Neil Young or Bob Dylan.”
“It’s a country-flavoured collection of resonant ballads and rustic reflections…another fine addition to an album canon now well into three figures…”
Weir is one of the founding members of the legendary Grateful Dead, which received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. The band has also appeared on Forbes’ list of top-grossing entertainers and in the early ‘90s were the highest-grossing concert attraction in the U.S. Since establishing the band in 1965, Weir has become one of rock’s finest and most distinctive rhythm guitarists. Earlier this year he received the inaugural Les Paul Spirit Award. Weir has also performed with many other acts including The Other Ones, Kingfish, Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, Ratdog and Furthur, co-led by former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. His first solo album, Ace, was released in 1972.
Most recently, Weir has been performing with Dead & Company, which features Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with GRAMMY-winner John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti.
2014 saw the release of “The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir,” created by Netflix, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Additionally, an Amazon film series based on Steve Parish’s 2003 book, “Home Before Midnight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead,” is currently in development with Weir serving as an executive producer.