Good news heading into the weekend for fans of the Grateful Dead, as the band’s Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast podcast series has returned for a second season with the first episode now out on major audio streaming platforms. Similar to the first season of the historical narrative podcast which arrived earlier this year in sync with the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead, each episode will explore the set and setting surrounding each song on American Beauty in chronological order, beginning with Phil Lesh‘s beloved ballad “Box of Rain”.
The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast is back!
Today we begin the new season celebrating American Beauty’s 50th anniversary and were honored to talk with Freaks & Geeks creator @paulfeig about how “Box of Rain” played a powerful role in the show’s final episode https://t.co/wtnNjkDCgL pic.twitter.com/P3f5g9BsGE
— Grateful Dead (@GratefulDead) October 1, 2020
The Dead and RHINO continue to further promote for the forthcoming 50th-anniversary reissue of American Beauty celebrating the seminal 1970 studio masterpiece. In addition to the return of the very informative and engaging podcast series, the band also released American Beauty: The Angel’s Share demos album on Friday, which features rough band recordings of each song that would end up on the final version of American Beauty.
The second season will again be produced by musician Rich Mahan and journalist/Dead historian Jesse Jarnow, who will lead the committed and the curious through well-researched backstories surrounding the origins of each song. Episodes will also feature audio of studio outtakes and unearthed archive interviews, along with guest commentary from Dead archivist David Lemieux, journalist Gary Lambert, American Beauty producer Stephen Barncard, former tour manager Sam Cutler, and more members of the Grateful Dead universe.
Listen to the first episode centered around “Box of Rain” via the Spotify player below.
Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast – Season 2 Ep. 1 “Box of Rain”