Mark Karan: Walk Through The Fire

I had the good fortune to chat with Mark Karan last Sunday. Me on Martha’s Vineyard; he in Northern California. We talked about many things - his new CD “Walk Through the Fire”, his successful battle with throat cancer, playing lead guitar with Bobby Weir & RatDog and his spiritual approach to critical DeadHeads. He sounded at peace with life - I was touched by his gratitude for his health and the ability to play music. Mostly, he was psyched about finishing his new CD and to be jamming again this summer.

The new CD is great, and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. One day, my favorite tune is “Easy Wind” and the next, it is “Walking Through the Fire” (a song about his experience with throat cancer - all profits from the track go to the Oral Cancer Foundation) and today, my favorite is “Time Will Tell” . A superb cast of musicians help MK on his CD - Delaney Bramlett (in his first posthumous release), The Persuasions, Bill Payne (Little Feat), Hutch Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt), Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Rod Stewart), Wally Ingram (Sheryl Crow, David Lindley, Stockholm Syndrome), Jackie LaBranch and Gloria Jones (Jerry Garcia Band) - to name a few. It also introduces “Jemimah Puddleduck” (JP), Mark’s collaboration over the last decade with John Molo (Phil Lesh & Friends) on drums, JT Thomas (Bruce Hornsby, Captain Beefheart) on keys, and Bob Gross (Albert King, Delaney Bramlett) on bass.

I will be airing my chat with Mark on July 7th’s Shakedown Stream, along with some of the tracks from “Walk Through the Fire.” You won’t wanna miss it. Mark details his struggle with the unremitting scrutiny he received from some DeadHeads. He dealt with constant criticism of his guitar playing and discussions about whether or not he was worthy of his slot in the lineup. I think Mark Karan has shown us that he is more than worthy, and he’s still standing - a rightful member of the Grateful Dead family. Mark has taught me a lesson: a tongue used unmindfully can become a sword. Before you speak, think: is it true, is it necessary, is it the right time, and most importantly...is it (are you) kind?

Dead Poll Results !!

The results of the very first Shakedown Stream poll have been counted and certified. The polltakers chose 1974 as the year "...the Grateful Dead were at their best." The years 1969, 1977 & 1981 each received 20% of the vote while 1974 won easily with 40% of the vote. Interestingly enough, the year 1973 received no votes.

A closer analysis may be needed to reveal exactly why the poll results went the way they did. It may have been due to the heavy rain from last week or that the Shakedown Stream blog was launched for the first time last week. Any conclusions that only 5 people participated in the poll must be discredited and dismissed. "Only 1 in 10,000 come for the show."

Nonetheless, in lieu of these exciting poll results, next week's feature show on Shakedown Stream will be carefully selected from 1974.

Shakedown Stream - 06.23.09 - A Stream of Dreams ...

We are all set and ready to go at 5pm on mvyradio.com. I have selected one of my favorite shows from the 1990 Fall run of shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City - 9/19/90. Brent Mydland had recently passed away and everybody was wondering how or if he could be replaced. Vince Welnick, from the Tubes, had been signed up on keyboard and vocals. Vince started the tour with the boys in Ohio. And then they also brought Bruce Hornsby on board on Piano and vocals. His 1st show was on 9/16/90 at MSG. It was a double wammy.

After a few shows of this line-up in NYCity, it was clear the boys were going to be alright. This show is partially represented on the Road Trips release Vol.2, No. 1. I have used the version of this show that I have and complimented it with this Road Trips. It is awesome. Enjoy.

mvyradio - Gonna Make It Right

Thatz right - the feature show for June 23rd will be about making all things right with the world. How?? I will complete the Road Trips, Vol.2 No.1 from Madison Square Garden, NYC. I will use the very fine recordings from this release and supplement it with the missing songs from my collection.

There is no drama - there is no controversy - just plain 'ole Grateful Dead from the Fall of 1990. These shows were and are famous - and for good reason. You will have to click on Shakedown Stream on June 23, 2009 on mvyradio.com in order to find out what show I put together from this Road Trips collection.

The short lived technical problems.

Last night, some of us were only able to download 16 minutes of the stream. It happened on iTunes and on mvyradio.com's Archives page.

Good news!! The problem - issue, drama, nightmare, whatever you want to call it, was resolved by Wednesday morning. Even the webmaster for MVY experienced the 16 minute glitch issue.

Believe me, it drives me nuts. I am getting better with it. I know it always works out and the whole show gets uploaded and then downloaded by the next day. I do suggest, deleting the 16 minute 'cast and then download it again. Also, it helps to unsubscribe and then re- subscribe.

I will keep you posted on this issue. I think it may be related to that disease affecting the honey bees.

Shakedown Stream - June 16, 2009

This week I will be featuring a show from Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ. That's right, we are going to the Meadowlands. I know many of us saw quite a few shows here and there are some bad memories with the cops as well. Yet, without question, the boys played many memorable shows that are worthy of our attention.

It occurred to me that I should also play other material from Meadowlands. The obvious thing is to play the latest material from The Dead at the Meadowlands with Brandford Marsalis (the famed Jazz saxophonist).

Also there are some requests - a birthday request from Phillie, a "Leaving Texas" request from her Majesty's country, (that has also been endorsed and commented upon by quite a few through their emails) - and we will answer last week's trivia question. That question evoked many different answers. I can see now that I needed to do a more thorough research before I put it out there. Nonetheless, there will be more than one winner of a free CD.

Keep on streaming,

Jer Bear

Welcome to Shakedown Stream Blog

Hey Now!!

Welcome to our new Blog page for Shakedown Stream. I do not know how this is going to work out, but we are going to go for it - for sure. It will be devoted to the weekly Stream, the feature shows, news, suggestions, funny things, and any other stuff deemed essential to the Stream.

We will be streaming and - now - blogging.

Thanks for everybody's support and enthusiasm.

Keep on streaming -
Peace,
Jer Bear