Old & In the Way - Biography
By J Poet
Old & In the Way was a Grateful Dead side project created by Jerry Garcia in 1973 to celebrate the bluegrass, folk and roots music that originally inspired him. Garcia sang and played banjo and was joined by Dawg Music master David Grisman on mandolin, fiddler of all trades Vassar Clements, John Kahn the regular bass player with the Jerry Garcia Band and Peter Rowan, former Bluegrass Boy and a member of the country rock band The Rowan Brothers. Rowan, Grisman and Khan had already played together in the short-lived bluegrass group Muleskinner.
Old & In the Way only played a few Bay Area gigs in 1973 and ‘74, but they were well attended by Deadheads, lovers of acoustic music and Garcia fans who wanted to see their hero close up. Old & in the Way (1975 Grateful Dead, 1996 Arista) showed the band in top form, but all were busy with other commitments and after sporadic gigs they went their separate ways. That High Lonesome Sound (1996 Acoustic Disc), recordings from their legendary week at San Francisco’s Boarding House in October of 1973 included bluegrass arrangements of rock faves like “The Great Pretender” as well as bluegrass tunes like Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen.” Breakdown: Live Recordings 1973 (1997 Acoustic Disc) has more material from the Boarding house gigs. After Garcia’s death, Grisman assembled the remaining members of the band as Old & In the Gray for a single eponymous release Old & In the Gray (2002 Acoustic Disc.)
