New York City singer/songwriter Emory Joseph pay tribute to the Grateful Dead on his forthcoming release, Fennario – Songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. The disc, which will hit stores on August 19 via Iris Records, features a mix of material, with special emphasis placed on material Garcia never recorded in the studio with The Dead or the Jerry Garcia Band. To produce the album, Joseph enlisted the core group of top-shelf multi-instrumentalists hed used on his debut album, Labor & Spirits: Tom T-Bone Wolk (Hall and Oates, The SNL Band), Duke Levine and Jon Carroll (Mary Chapin Carpenter), and vocalist Soozie Tyrell (The E-Street Band). The albums other principals are Larry Campbell and drummer Dennis McDermott (Marc Cohn). Fennarios twelve tracks were recorded in five days at New Yorks legendary Legacy Recording Studios. There are two guest performances, bassist Lincoln Schleiffer (on Mission in the Rain) and long-time Garcia associate, David Grisman (on Brown-Eyed Women).

I produced Fennario to be something that Deadheads and non-Deadheads alike could love, Joseph said in a statement. I absolutely wanted it to be a respectful tribute to a beautiful working partnership, and something that could maybe help to explain to the world why so many kids spent so many years of their youth following these songs around the country and back. Fennario is a long overdue letter to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter for having written songs that have inspired, amazed, and informed me since I was twelve.

Papa Grows Funk Goes To Equinunk

Papa Grows Funk will headline the Equifunk Summer Party on June 6 and 7. The intimate gathering will take place at Camps Equinunk and Blue Ridge in Equinunk, PA, with live music scheduled to take place at the scenic Blue Ridge Amphitheater. An after hours party will also be held at the legendary Wagon Wheel, which is said to be located steps away from the Amphitheater. The Equifunk Summer Party will also offer a number of other camp activities, including swimming, tennis, basketball, softball, roller-blading, as well as a Saturday afternoon day trip to Skinner’s Falls on the New York side of Delaware River in New York State (with a bonus water tubing option!). In addition to Papa Grows Funk, who will perform at the gathering both nights, The Jack O’Hara Band will supply support on Friday, while Leroy Justice will open on Saturday. Meanwhile, Papa Grows Funk will appear at New Orleans Maple Leaf this Monday.