Bob Weir is considered by many within the Grateful Dead community as one of the more interesting men in music, if not the world. After all, the 71-year-old was a leading figure in the 1960s counterculture movement, and spent thirty years of his life constantly performing around the country while standing beside one of rock’s biggest legends in Jerry Garcia. So it’s no surprise that when the Dead & Company guitarist/singer decides to speak about his own long strange trip, especially in relation to Garcia, Deadheads listen.
In a lengthy new interview and profile on Weir published by GQ on Tuesday, Weir takes a stroll down memory lane while reflecting on his literal mindset the night that Garcia died in 1995. Weir was on tour in New Hampshire with another band, RatDog, and had been sleeping and dreaming of a little adventure where he found some invisible paint, only to be stumbled upon by Garcia.
“He was looking really splendid. His hair was black again. He was tall. And he had a velour cape on.” Weir said of his late friend as he saw him in the dream that night. “He had a real sort of intense look in his eye. He looked straight at me, and then through me, and then he stepped into me … So Jerry came to me pretty directly that night.”
Weir would wake up to find out, along with the rest of the music community, that Garcia died overnight from a heart attack.
Weir goes on to discuss how another dream led to the inspiration of forming one of his current bands, Wolf Bros. He also shares some thoughts on his current healthier lifestyle in relation to his past use of alcohol and prescription medication.
“There was a time, way back, when getting trashed and completely nuts was, I felt, my best approach to the blank page—which is a horrifying prospect in and of itself,” Weir added in the lengthy profile. “But I’ve been there and done that, and I don’t think there is anything more to be found there for me. What I want now is to be in the same frame of mind when I wake up in the morning as when I went to bed. That’s pretty much how I operate.”
Fans can catch Weir with Dead & Company when the band kicks off a month-long 2019 summer tour in Mountain View, CA this Friday, May 31st. For tickets and tour information, head to the band’s official website.
You can read the full GQ profile on Bob Weir here.