David Gans (musician)
Encyclopedia
David Gans, in Los Angeles
, California
, is an American
musician
, songwriter
, and music journalist
. He is a guitar
ist, and is known for incisive, literate songwriting. He is also noted for his music loop
work, often creating spontaneous compositions in performance. He is the co-author of the book Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead, and the host of the weekly syndicated radio show The Grateful Dead Hour.
. Then, in an unusual career change, he became a music journalist
. Gans' journalism career was quite successful, writing for BAM
, a free San Francisco-based magazine, and Jann Wenner
's Record from its beginning to its end, and working as music editor of Mix
magazine for a while. He wrote articles for prominent magazines such as Relix
and Rolling Stone
. He commented, "Writing for music magazines gave me access to musicians and producers and record company publicist
s. I got a million-dollar education from interviewing Leo Fender
, Randy Newman
, Fleetwood Mac
, Steve Goodman
, T Bone Burnett, Warren Zevon
, Ted Templeman
, and people like that. I spent time in recording studios, learned how the music business operates, rode in limos with the Doobie Brothers, got lots of records for free, and got paid for all of it."
In 1985, his first book, Playing in the Band: an Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead (co-authored with Peter Simon) about his long-time favorites, the Grateful Dead
, was published to critical acclaim. While he was working on his second book, Talking Heads: The Band and Their Music, he merged his talents and interests with the emergence of his first "Grateful Dead Radio Hour" on a local station, and found that he enjoyed the work. The program was syndicated on dozens of stations across the United States. Today he hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, "The Grateful Dead Hour"; "Tales from the Golden Road" on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio with co-host Gary Lambert, editor of "The Grateful Dead Almanac"; and the local weekly show, "Dead To The World," on Berkeley's KPFA
.
Gans is credited by many for encouraging Grateful Dead
bassist Phil Lesh
to emerge from retirement. Lesh played several shows with David Gans and the Broken Angels in late 1997 and early 1998. Gans assembled interesting combinations of musicians for Lesh to jam with in a series of benefits for Lesh's Unbroken Chain Foundation, culminating with a sold-out show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 31, 1998. Shortly after that event, Lesh began assembling ensembles of his own and touring as Phil Lesh and Friends
.
and the Grateful Dead’s subsequent extended hiatus, Gans decided to set journalism on the back-burner and focus on music again.
In 1997 he released a duet album of himself playing with Berkeley singer-songwriter Eric Rawlins, Home By Morning, backing it up by performing around the Bay Area. This was followed the next year by a topical single, "Monica Lewinsky," that got a lot of airplay and publicity and enabled Gans to expand his touring base. After more than twenty years of performing in the San Francisco Bay Area
as a solo singer-songwriter and with various bands (The Reptiles, Crazy Fingers, David Gans and the Broken Angels), Gans began touring nationally, which he continues to do today. He performs at many festivals including the Gathering of the Vibes
, the High Sierra Music Festival
, MagnoliaFest and the Suwannee SpringFest (both held annually at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
), Grateful Fest (in Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Ohio), the Master Musicians Festival (in Somerset, Kentucky
); the Terrapin Hill Music Festival (in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
), Hookahville (in Ohio), the Sunshine Daydream Music Festival (in Terra Alta, West Virginia
), the Berkeley (California) Free Folk Festival, and others. He has appeared in concert all over the country, from Seattle to Atlanta, Burlington to Phoenix.
In 2002, Gans became one of the first independent musicians to release a DVD. Live at the Powerhouse documents a stirring outdoor afternoon performance at a northern California brewpub, featuring some of his best material and demonstrating his work multi-tracking himself live, using a Boss RC-20 Loop Station.
He has performed onstage with members of the Grateful Dead
, the New Riders of the Purple Sage
, Donna the Buffalo
, Peter Rowan, Ollabelle, The Waybacks, Blueground Undergrass, Dark Star Orchestra
, Keller Williams
, moe.
, Hot Buttered Rum
, the Rowan Brothers, and Henry Kaiser
.
Gans' most recent musical endeavor is a collaboration with Chris
and Lorin Rowan
of the Rowan Brothers
, a jam-band drawing on the material of the Beatles
called Rubber Souldiers
. Says Regan McMahon in a San Francisco Chronicle
article, "What if the Beatles had gotten off the road and moved to San Francisco and started playing the Fillmore with Quicksilver and the Grateful Dead? That's the fantasy scenario that Oakland singer-songwriter
, guitarist and radio host David Gans comes up with to describe the musical approach of Rubber Souldiers."
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, and music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
. He is a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, and is known for incisive, literate songwriting. He is also noted for his music loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
work, often creating spontaneous compositions in performance. He is the co-author of the book Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead, and the host of the weekly syndicated radio show The Grateful Dead Hour.
Journalism
Gans started out as a musician in 1970, playing guitar and writing songs and performing both as a soloist and as a member of various bands around the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. Then, in an unusual career change, he became a music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
. Gans' journalism career was quite successful, writing for BAM
BAM (magazine)
BAM , was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area starting in January 1976 and continuing on for 23 years until 1999...
, a free San Francisco-based magazine, and Jann Wenner
Jann Wenner
Jann Simon Wenner is the co-founder and publisher of the music and politics biweekly Rolling Stone, as well as the owner of Men's Journal and Us Weekly magazines.-Childhood:...
's Record from its beginning to its end, and working as music editor of Mix
Mix (magazine)
Mix magazine is a periodical billing itself as "the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry". The magazine is distributed in 94 countries....
magazine for a while. He wrote articles for prominent magazines such as Relix
Relix
Relix magazine was launched in 1974 as newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide amount of artists...
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. He commented, "Writing for music magazines gave me access to musicians and producers and record company publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
s. I got a million-dollar education from interviewing Leo Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
, Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
, Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
, T Bone Burnett, Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman is an American record producer.-Career:He began his career in the mid 1960s in the Santa Cruz area as a drummer in a band called The Tikis. At the suggestion of Lenny Waronker, the group decided to change their name. Harpers Bizarre was born in 1966, with Templeman switching to...
, and people like that. I spent time in recording studios, learned how the music business operates, rode in limos with the Doobie Brothers, got lots of records for free, and got paid for all of it."
In 1985, his first book, Playing in the Band: an Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead (co-authored with Peter Simon) about his long-time favorites, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, was published to critical acclaim. While he was working on his second book, Talking Heads: The Band and Their Music, he merged his talents and interests with the emergence of his first "Grateful Dead Radio Hour" on a local station, and found that he enjoyed the work. The program was syndicated on dozens of stations across the United States. Today he hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, "The Grateful Dead Hour"; "Tales from the Golden Road" on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio with co-host Gary Lambert, editor of "The Grateful Dead Almanac"; and the local weekly show, "Dead To The World," on Berkeley's KPFA
KPFA
KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
.
Gans is credited by many for encouraging Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
bassist Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
to emerge from retirement. Lesh played several shows with David Gans and the Broken Angels in late 1997 and early 1998. Gans assembled interesting combinations of musicians for Lesh to jam with in a series of benefits for Lesh's Unbroken Chain Foundation, culminating with a sold-out show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 31, 1998. Shortly after that event, Lesh began assembling ensembles of his own and touring as Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
.
Music
Gans describes his career in musical journalism as "getting 'sidetracked'" from his first love: actually making music. In the mid-1990s, with the death of Jerry GarciaJerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
and the Grateful Dead’s subsequent extended hiatus, Gans decided to set journalism on the back-burner and focus on music again.
In 1997 he released a duet album of himself playing with Berkeley singer-songwriter Eric Rawlins, Home By Morning, backing it up by performing around the Bay Area. This was followed the next year by a topical single, "Monica Lewinsky," that got a lot of airplay and publicity and enabled Gans to expand his touring base. After more than twenty years of performing in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
as a solo singer-songwriter and with various bands (The Reptiles, Crazy Fingers, David Gans and the Broken Angels), Gans began touring nationally, which he continues to do today. He performs at many festivals including the Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes is an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrates the Grateful Dead & showcases a very diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles often include; Funk, Bluegrass, Rock, Jam Band, Jazz, Reggae, R&B & Folk music. Since 1996, GOTV has...
, the High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival
High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...
, MagnoliaFest and the Suwannee SpringFest (both held annually at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is located in North Central Florida, in Suwannee County, United States. Situated on the banks of the historic Suwannee River, the park consists of over 600 acres of camping areas, concert venues, recreational facilities, and unspoiled forests...
), Grateful Fest (in Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Ohio), the Master Musicians Festival (in Somerset, Kentucky
Somerset, Kentucky
The major demographic differences between the city and the micropolitan area relate to income, housing composition and age. The micropolitan area, as compared to the incorporated city, is more suburban in flavor and has a significantly younger housing stock, a higher income, and contains most of...
); the Terrapin Hill Music Festival (in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Harrodsburg is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,014 at the 2000 census. It is the oldest city in Kentucky.-History:...
), Hookahville (in Ohio), the Sunshine Daydream Music Festival (in Terra Alta, West Virginia
Terra Alta, West Virginia
Terra Alta is a town in Preston County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,456 at the 2000 census.-History:The James S. Lakin House and Terra Alta Bank are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-Geography:...
), the Berkeley (California) Free Folk Festival, and others. He has appeared in concert all over the country, from Seattle to Atlanta, Burlington to Phoenix.
In 2002, Gans became one of the first independent musicians to release a DVD. Live at the Powerhouse documents a stirring outdoor afternoon performance at a northern California brewpub, featuring some of his best material and demonstrating his work multi-tracking himself live, using a Boss RC-20 Loop Station.
He has performed onstage with members of the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, the New Riders of the Purple Sage
New Riders of the Purple Sage
New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. Their best known song is "Panama Red"...
, Donna the Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo is a band from Trumansburg, New York. They play both originals and covers....
, Peter Rowan, Ollabelle, The Waybacks, Blueground Undergrass, Dark Star Orchestra
Dark Star Orchestra
-References:* at the Internet Archive* - John Kadlecik's official website & personal pages**-External links:* , official website of Dark Star Orchestra* , official website of Dino English...
, Keller Williams
Keller Williams
Keller Williams is an American musician from Fredericksburg, Virginia, who began performing in the early 1990s. He is also known by the names K-Dub or just Keller, when performing. Williams' music combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, and...
, moe.
Moe.
moe. is an American jam band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are: Rob Derhak , Al Schnier , Chuck Garvey , Vinnie Amico , and Jim Loughlin ....
, Hot Buttered Rum
Hot Buttered Rum (band)
Hot Buttered Rum is an American five-piece progressive bluegrass act based in the San Francisco Bay Area....
, the Rowan Brothers, and Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser (musician)
Henry Kaiser is an American guitarist and composer.Recording and performing prolifically in many styles of music, Kaiser is a fixture on the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He is considered a member of the "first generation" of American free improvisers.-Biography:His grandfather was the...
.
Gans' most recent musical endeavor is a collaboration with Chris
The Rowans
The Rowans is an American country-rock group, originally formed by brothers Chris Rowan and Lorin Rowan. They were joined by their brother, Peter Rowan for their second, third and fourth album...
and Lorin Rowan
The Rowans
The Rowans is an American country-rock group, originally formed by brothers Chris Rowan and Lorin Rowan. They were joined by their brother, Peter Rowan for their second, third and fourth album...
of the Rowan Brothers
The Rowans
The Rowans is an American country-rock group, originally formed by brothers Chris Rowan and Lorin Rowan. They were joined by their brother, Peter Rowan for their second, third and fourth album...
, a jam-band drawing on the material of the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
called Rubber Souldiers
Rubber Souldiers
Rubber Souldiers is a Beatles jam band consisting of David Gans, Chris Rowan, and Lorin Rowan.-About:The band’s origins are somewhat serendipitous. An impromptu rendition of “Baby’s In Black” during a sound check led to an entire afternoon of jamming, one Beatles tune after another...
. Says Regan McMahon in a San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
article, "What if the Beatles had gotten off the road and moved to San Francisco and started playing the Fillmore with Quicksilver and the Grateful Dead? That's the fantasy scenario that Oakland singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, guitarist and radio host David Gans comes up with to describe the musical approach of Rubber Souldiers."
Musician
- Home By Morning - David Gans and Eric Rawlins. Perfectible Recordings 1997
- "Monica Lewinsky" - David Gans and the Broken Angels (CD single). Perfectible Recordings 1998
- Solo Acoustic - David Gans. Perfectible Recordings, 2001
- Live at the Powerhouse - David Gans. PowerVision DVD, 2003
- Solo Electric - David Gans. Perfectible Recordings, 2003
- Twisted Love Songs - David Gans. Perfectible Recordings, 2007
- The Ones That Look The Weirdest Taste The Best - David Gans. Perfectible Recordings, 2008
Producer
- Various artists, The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead. Co-produced with Henry Kaiser. Shanachie RecordsShanachie RecordsShanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic...
, 1995. - Grateful Dead, So Many Roads (1965-1995)So Many Roads (1965-1995)So Many Roads is a five disc boxed set by the band The Grateful Dead. Even though the collection is labeled a live album set, it also contains a number of tracks from the studio that were previously unreleased...
(5-CD boxed set). Co-produced with Steve Silberman and Blair Jackson; AristaArista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, 1999. RIAA certified gold - The Persuasions, Might as Well: The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead. Co-produced with Jerry Lawson. Grateful Dead/Arista Records, 1999.
- Various artists, Stolen Roses: Songs of the Grateful Dead. Grateful Dead/Arista Records, 1999.
- Grateful Dead, Postcards of the Hanging: Grateful Dead perform the songs of Bob Dylan. Grateful Dead/Arista Records, 2002.
- Grateful Dead, Best of the Grateful Dead Hour. Grateful Dead RecordsGrateful Dead RecordsIn 1973, the Grateful Dead established their own record label, Grateful Dead Records. The band released several vinyl record LPs on this label in the mid-1970s, including Wake of the Flood in 1973, From the Mars Hotel in 1974, Blues for Allah in 1975, and a live double album, Steal Your Face, in...
, 1998. - Jerry Garcia, All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions. Co-produced with Blair Jackson. Rhino Records, 2004
Liner notes
- David Murray Octet: Dark Star: Music of the Grateful Dead. Astor Place Records.
- Grateful Dead, American BeautyAmerican Beauty (album)American Beauty is the fifth album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between August and September 1970 and originally released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records...
. Individually and as part of the The Golden Road (1965-1973)The Golden Road (1965-1973)The Golden Road is a twelve-CD boxed set retrospect of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Warner Bros. Records from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records....
boxed set. Rhino Records, 2002 - Grateful Dead, Terrapin StationTerrapin StationTerrapin Station is the ninth studio album by the Grateful Dead, and was originally released on July 27, 1977.This album was the first time since Anthem of the Sun that the Grateful Dead used an outside producer...
. Part of the Beyond Description (1973–1989) boxed set. Rhino Records, 2004. - Jerry Garcia BandJerry Garcia BandThe Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side-projects until his death in 1995...
, "Let It Rock" aka The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 2: Jerry Garcia Band, Keystone Berkeley '75. Jerry Garcia Family LLC, 2009.
External links
- David Gans official website
- Grateful Dead Hour official website
- David Gans collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive