Last Update Jan. 28th, 2002

Greetings from PhilLesh.net!

I hope all of you had as much fun as I did New Year's Eve. I want to thank Warren, John, Jimmy, Rob, The Derek Trucks Band, Susan Trucks and especially my brothers Bobby, Billy and Mickey for helping to make this last NYE a much needed evening of music and unity.

The band and I have been in the studio recording our first album, which is on track for mid-May release. It has been a whole new experience being in the studio again, since making records has changed quite a bit since 1995 when Grateful Dead did some sessions up at The Site. Now we are recording straight to ProTools; at first I was skeptical of bypassing tape, but I have been converted.

We are making this album vertically (tracking and completing one song at a time), as opposed to horizontally (tracking all songs, then all vocals, then instrument o/ds, etc). This approach gives us consistent momentum within each song, and has resulted in a very exciting and expressive album.

The album will contain ten new songs, plus our version of "Liberty," which was never recorded in the studio by Grateful Dead and certainly seems appropriate for a record being made today.

There have also been a number of very positive changes at Grateful Dead Productions, not the least of which is the return of Cameron Sears as CEO. I look forward with great gusto to the year 2002, as I feel that unity will once more prevail.

-Phil

See previous Hotline messages:
9.16.01 / 9.4.01 / 5.19.01 / 4.11.01
3.13.01 / 1.26.01