Easy Answers: Everyone Orchestra’s Matt Butler Talks Grateful Dead

Believe it or not, the Grateful Dead had a far-reaching influence that stretched way beyond their inner circle of improvisational minded bands.  Since playing their first shows 50 years ago the Dead have earned their place in the lexicon of culture as perhaps the quintessential American band. In light of their final shows, which take place June 27 and 28 in Santa Clara, CA and 4th of July weekend in Chicago, without lead guitarist Jerry Garcia of course, and to commemorate their legacy as a whole, we’ve decided to launch a special column that focuses specifically on the impact of the Dead within many different musical communities. In each installment of Easy Answers (get the reference?) we will question a different musician or band, ranging from the obvious to the not so obvious, about the importance of Grateful Dead on their own life and musical path. We could easily keep this column within the jam band community – and we will most certainly turn our focus to some of those acts – but the goal of Easy Answers is to get insight from musicians who most wouldn’t expect to be influenced by or fans of the Dead.

There is perhaps no musician who embodies the spirit of the Grateful Dead as much as Matt Butler. A psychedelic conductor of sorts, Butler is best known for his ever-changing project the Everyone Orchestra. Much like a Dead performance, no two Everyone Orchestra shows are the same and rely heavily on jamming. Whether playing at a festival or one-off shows (as they will be doing this coming weekend), Butler assembles a sometimes mind-bogglingly large cast of musicians to play a set of completely improvised music. In order to pull it off, Butler relies as much on the energy of the crowd as he does on the talent of the musicians to embrace the spontaneous spirit of the music. It’s quite possible that without the Dead something like the Everyone Orchestra would never exist, given its roots in the jam scene and in-the-moment hippie mentality, which is why Matt Butler was happy to reflect on his own love for the Dead and his personal connections to the band.

How did you first get into the Grateful Dead?

I grew up in Eugene, Oregon and went to school with kids of the Grateful Dead clan including Annabel Garcia and Sage Scully. So, I basically first heard of the Grateful Dead as a band that some of my friends’ parents were in or worked for. By my junior year in high school I had a band called Shakedown and we played a mix of R&B, Grateful Dead and other classic covers. I didn’t attend a Grateful Dead concert until my freshman year in college at which time I had a BIG  “aha” moment. All my years of Jazz training and love for rock and roll rolled up into one big beautiful communal celebratory experience. I was sold!  I think I saw 45 concerts in about 4 years after that.

Are there any personal memories of the band or a concert experience you’d like to share?

Autzen Stadium, 1990. Hot summer day. Epic time in my life. The band was killing. Naked guy dancing was hilarious. Love and hope was all around!

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What is your personal favorite Grateful Dead song and why?

“Wharf Rat” is one of my favorites. Something about it captures the beauty and tragedy of life at the same time. I felt Jerry’s sadness was incredibly transparent in his delivery of this song, but it always gave me hope in the end.  “…I’ll get up and fly away, fly away.”

Do you have any particular memories around this song?

Only that it kind of makes me homesick

What is your favorite era of the Grateful Dead and why?

I actually liked them all except for the last year. It was painfully obvious they needed a break.

What Grateful Dead offshoot (The Other Ones, Furthur, The Dead, Phil and Friends, Ratdog, etc) did you feel did the strongest job of playing the material?

I liked what they all did. They all serve a purpose to come together around original members and rock out the tunes that everyone loves. Different things happen with different players and I really have liked them all. Further and Ratdog had the consistency that it takes to be tight and I liked that about them.

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Pipgen, Tom, Keith, Brent, Bruce or Vince on keys and why?

Again, I liked them all, but Keith was a monster and I love the energy of Keith and Donna in the Dead. She wasn’t always in tune, but I think the boys played better because a woman was onstage with them. And when Donna was on it she was RAGING.

What do you feel is the greatest misconception a lot of people outside the Dead’s circle have of the band?

That they were playing sloppy.

Do you remember where you were when you heard of Jerry’s passing?

Yup. I was alone at my parents house on the McKenzie River outside Eugene. I cranked up the radio that was playing all the tributes and cried and laughed while I refinished a huge deck [I was working on].

What are your favorite Robert Hunter lyrics?

“Ripple” is a lyrical masterpiece.

Name three songs you hope they play in Chicago….

“Terrapin” (Trey shredding this up? YES!)

“Wharf Rat”

“Attics of My Life”

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Everyone Orchestra On The Road:
APRIL

Thu 4/23 – Tally Ho Theatre – Leesburg, VA^

Fri 4/24 – Gypsy Sally’s – Washington DC^
Sat 4/25 – 8 x 10 – Baltimore MD ^ – Late night Charm City Bluegrass and Folk Festival show

Sun 4/26 – Sherman Theatre – Stroudsburg, PA^

^Conducted By Matt Butler, featuring Drew Emmitt (Leftover Salmon), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident), Andrew Altman (Railroad Earth), Cris Jacobs (The Bridge), Jesse Harper (Love Canon), and Jay Starling (Love Canon).

MAY

Fri 5/8 – Brooklyn Bowl – Brooklyn NY#

Sat 5/9 – Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA#

Sun 5/10 – Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT#

#Conducted By Matt Butler Featuring, Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Al Schnier (moe.), Vinnie Amico (moe.), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits) {Brooklyn and Ardmore only}, Robert Mercurio (Galactic),Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd), Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band), Ivan Jackson (Mighty High Brass Band), and Todd Stoops (Kung Fu) [Ridgefield Only]

May 22nd – Juan de Fuca Festival of Arts – Port Angeles, WA
May 24th – Summer Camp Music Festival

JUNE

6/26-27 – Electric Forest – Rothbury, MI

6/30 – Fillmore – Denver, CO

For more dates and info on the Everyone Orchestra visit everyoneorchestra.com!

Cover Photo Credit: Michael Weintrob

Check out more Easy Answers:

Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth

Alex Bleeker of Real Estate

Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits

Black Pistol Fire

Keller Williams

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