This past Friday night, May 25th, Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge and his wife, Jessica Burbridge, who works with environmental non-profit Gorilla Doctors, took part in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session, answering the questions of fans on the Grateful Dead subreddit. Below, check out a collection of answers, anecdotes, and insights shared by Oteil and Jess during their AMA:
Reddit: What can we do to turn you up in the mix [for Dead & Company shows]?
Oteil: Since this has been “upvoted” to be the number one question, let’s address this. First of all, I have absolutely no control of my volume in the PA that the audience hears. As some of you may know (or may be able to see if you are close up), I use inner-ear monitors so I can hear myself just fine and am not able to tell what you guys are hearing because I have my own mix. I talked with the sound man about it last fall because we saw lots of fan comments about it back then and he’s constantly adjusting to a situation that is always in flux. Maybe you guys should try trading the “Let Oteil Sing” shirts for “Turn Oteil Up” shirts! Haha.
On always appearing happy on social media:
Oteil: When someone posts on social media, it’s almost always the high points so it can create a one-sided perception of your life. Granted, our downs are few and shallow comparatively, we certainly live a charmed life, but we definitely have our down times too.
One of the primary ways that I keep a positive outlook is to spend less time on social media. The less time looking at TV or other forms of virtual reality, the better you will feel in actual reality. Nothing compares to me having tickle fights with my son on the bed or the simplest activities we can do together as a family. After meeting Jess 10 years ago and the closer we got to Nigel being born, the more I realized the truth of this.
Jess: For me personally, I try to stay really active and adventurous to keep my happiness levels up. Oteil and I ride bikes, take our son to the parks and wildlife sanctuaries, go to the beach, go scuba diving, do yoga… I love to garden and tinker in the backyard with my plants. The more time I’m out in nature, the happier I am. Happiness is a conscious choice for both of us. We want to model happiness for our son really. We want him to see us fighting for the happiness.
On adding more Grateful Dead songs to the Dead & Co repertoire this summer:
Oteil: We definitely have some new (old) tunes that we’re going to break out this summer. I feel it’s really important that we continually add more songs from the Grateful Dead catalog. There are so many great ones to choose from and so many that I know the fans are dying to hear.
On what surprised him most about playing with Dead & Co:
Oteil: What surprised me the most is something that I knew going into it but still seems too good to be true: the fans give us so much freedom to experiment and take chances, even though we might fall flat on our faces. That wouldn’t be surprising at a smaller venue, but in a place like Dodger Stadium it seems almost inconceivable. But yet it is true.
On singing “Stella Blue”:
I actually sang Stella Blue for the first time with Melvin Seals and JGB at the Warfield’s 95th anniversary a few weeks ago. Needless to say it was a pretty cathartic experience being in that venue with Melvin, Jackie and Gloria singing that particular song.
On the initial audition process for Dead & Company:
Oteil: The auditions really weren’t that extensive or strenuous. They had narrowed it down to Mike Gordon [of Phish] and myself. They knew my work from 17 years with the Allman Brothers. Bob [Weir] and Phil [Lesh] had both sat in with the ABB and I played in a band with [Bill] Kreutzmann for several years so my “tryout” was really just me going to jam with them just to feel the actual chemistry between the core 3, [Jeff] Chimenti, [John] Mayer and myself.
No matter how good it looks on paper, the proof is in the jam. I was beyond stoked when I officially got the gig. You have to realize, the Allman Brothers Band ended four months before my son Nigel was born. I was hustling my ass off for a year playing with a bunch of different bands. For a gig like this to come along that was even bigger than the one that had just ended seemed almost too good to be true. And it still does! I count myself one of the luckiest musicians alive today.
On balancing parenting a young child and being on a rock and roll tour:
Oteil: It’s certainly not easy trying to do both at the same time. For me, I don’t want to spend more than 2 weeks away from Nigel. Jess has the hardest job parenting solo while I’m gone. I used to tell Nigel that I had to go to work but he didn’t really understand that I was flying out of town and he thought I worked at the airport!
Now that he’s flown with us and gone on the road himself and been on a tour bus, he understands better now exactly what it is that I do. I don’t know how my friends did this years ago without Facetime or some form of video chatting.
Jess: It’s hard for me to see Nigel missing his dad so much, he used to go room to room in the house trying to find him after he left for tour. It broke my heart. But it’s also been really cool bringing Nigel on the road with us. He’s a little social butterfly and he loves hanging out with the band and crew. It’s such a unique opportunity to expose him to different people and places. It can be a challenge having a toddler on a tour bus and trying to keep his schedule somewhat regular, but we just try to be flexible and go with the flow.
On how he picks the songs he sings with Dead & Co, and which ones he wants to bring into the fold:
Oteil: I really got most of my cues from the fans about what they wanted to hear me sing. “China Doll” was the one that I had picked out. That one just really grabbed me. I wanted to do it before there was any thought of me singing it. I just wanted to get it in to the setlist.
I really like “Built to Last”, “High Time” and “It Must Have Been the Roses”. I had never heard “If I Had the World to Give” before Jess played it for me. She loves that song and really wanted me to give it a try. She’s also been pushing for “To Lay Me Down” and “So Many Roads”.
On their pre-Dead & Co connections to the Grateful Dead:
Oteil: I met Bob in my early days with the Allman Brothers (late nineties) but I didn’t have much interaction with him except for on stage. I had met and played with Phil also when he sat in with us at the memorial benefit for Allen Woody at the Roseland Ballroom. My first real introduction to the music was in 2008 when I played in BK3 with Bill Kreutzmann and Scott Murawski. That’s when I learned my first 15 or so Grateful Dead songs.
I got to see the Grateful Dead when Jerry was still alive in Las Vegas when John Popper got our band (the ARU) on the guest list. I remember it was a really hot day and thunder and lightning broke out during Drums/Space. It made a big impression on me as I believe in fewer coincidences than most. I was more focused on the audience than the band at the time as the entire spectacle captivated me in its entirety.
As with the Allman Brothers my first really big exposure to the band was actually playing with the band. Hard to believe it’s happened twice to me but neither Allman Brothers or Grateful Dead was music that I was really into when I was first learning how to play. After really delving deeply into the music, I have become a huge fan of both bands.
Jess: I was actually the deadhead in the family, so when we got the call from Matt Busch that Oteil was being considered for Dead & Company, I’m pretty sure I was jumping up and down and screaming. I grew up listening to the Grateful Dead and had a lot of Dick’s Picks volumes. Europe 72, American Beauty, Terrapin Station, Workingman’s Dead… it’s all the first music that I really latched onto hard.
BK3 was the first time I had heard Oteil playing Dead tunes and it was a blast… and that was pre-parenthood so I was able to go on the road more, but Dead & Company is definitely on a whole other level. We’ve done all the sheds with the Allman Brothers, but Citi Field, Fenway… all the stadiums have been a first for both of us.
On his favorite city to play in:
Oteil: As a rule I don’t have favorite cities but New Orleans is the one exception to that rule. I’m also really looking forward to Eugene, Oregon… those are my kinda peeps and I haven’t been there in a long time.
On his latest solo album, Water in the Desert, and Col. Bruce:
Oteil: I should also mention the one instrumental track called “Ocean” that was the last thing I ever recorded with Col. Bruce Hampton before he passed away. He really added that X factor that you can’t get anywhere else but from a true extra-terrestrial.
On their involvement in March For Our Lives:
Oteil: For many years I’ve been bewildered by school shootings and even more so that nothing changes in our gun laws afterwards. I had been saying to Jess for at least a year if not more that the day there was a school shooting where we lived would be the day I started making a contingency plan to move us out of the country. I refuse to be afraid to send my child to school for fear of him being shot and killed.
While we were in Mexico in February, my best friend in Florida texted me that his two sons were huddled in a classroom while an active shooter was on a rampage. We had only lived in Florida for 2 years and already had 2 mass shootings. One at the Orlando nightclub and the second one at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, where I fly out from most of the time. But this third one couldn’t have hit any closer to home. I was so relieved to see the student’s reaction and to see a lot of the country’s positive response to the student’s plea for us to cut the BS and make some real changes in legislation. It’s a sad commentary on our country that we are so gun happy and our political system is so corrupt that we could have shooting after shooting in our schools and nothing changes. I think that these kids’ position is impossible to argue with and I plan on doing whatever I can to help them achieve their goals. Their mission is our mission and I can’t help but believe that this is a human issue and not a political one. It has to cut across party lines. Hopefully we’ll succeed.
On putting Nigel to bed while Dad is playing:
Jess: Nigey has never stayed up through an entire show. If he was up that late it was because I was struggling to get him to go to sleep on the bus! We try our best to keep him on a schedule but it is usually pretty tough to get him to go to sleep on the bus at the venues. You can’t blame him though – he had never felt the energy of 30 or 40,000 people directed his way! I like to strap him into the baby carrier on my back and bring him out front for the first set, then it’s bedtime in the barnyard!
On taking LSD at The Gorge in 2016:
Oteil: That was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that I considered homework.
On Phish’s Page McConnell and the revival of their group, Vida Blue:
Oteil: We just recently went into Criteria Studio in Miami. It was really great to get the old band back together, complete with Adam Zimmon and the Spam Allstars. I remember one time we were out on the road together and Page said to me “Oteil, you realize this is only the second band I’ve been in in my entire life?” It really blew my mind to think of how many bands I had played in before I had any kind of success career-wise and Page shot straight to the top in the first band he ever joined! It still blows my mind. We had an amazing time playing in the studio. I’m not sure when Page plans on putting the recording out or if there are any plans to tour, but I’m sure we’ll all find out something soon!
For more answers and comments from Oteil and Jess Burbridge’s AMA, head here.