Brother Esau is a Grateful Dead tribute band, so perhaps it's important to say a word or two about why we believe the band worthy of a tribute. The Grateful Dead was a band that was often caricatured as a sloppy, drug-fueled exercise in hippie nostalgia. At their worst, the caricature was appropriate. At their best, however, the Dead was an entire culture on wheels and a musical experience unlike any other ("Like Rolling Thunder"). They were also a powerful business committed to high ideals.
One of those ideals was generosity, charity. Founders of the Rex Foundation and contributors to numbers of other good works, The Grateful Dead reluctantly waded into the world of philanthropy. In 1988, in response to the band's contributions to a foundation set up to preserve the rain forests, Jerry Garcia expressed exasperation over how little the rest of the world was doing about this tremendously important issue: "Somebody has to do something," he said. But added: "It seems pathetic that it has to be us."
So it is with most of us who see trouble in the world. Who are we to think we can change it? Perhaps here it's appropriate to drop one final quote from Margaret Meade:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Here's Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, "Blues for the Rainforest:"
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