6pm dinner seating, 7:30pm concert
The Grateful Dead exposed generations of music fans to the nooks, crannies, branches and offshoots of American roots music like perhaps no other act of their size and influence.
Jerry Garcia grew up listening to field recordings, jazz, traditional folk songs, bluegrass, and ancient Child ballads, first getting together with Bob Weir and Pigpen NOT to start a rock-and-roll band, but to play jug band music.
As The Grateful Dead, they learned songs from itinerant street musicians, covered blues legends and country stars, and packed a gumbo of musical styles into their own canon of beloved original songs.
Join The Canal Street String Band, NY State Presenters Network “performing artists of the highest professional caliber,” to explore the deep well of American music that inspired the Grateful Dead, and discover some fascinating stories behind the music.