Grahame and Brian Lesh
Sons of Phil Lesh, bassist for the Grateful Dead, Furthur and others
grahamelesh.com
facebook.com/americanjubilee
When Marin Magazine last spoke with Phil lesh in september 2012,
he said he’d never been happier. the reason? he was enjoying the fruits
of his labors at terrapin Crossroads, a new venue/restaurant launched
in san rafael by lesh and his wife, Jill, earlier in the year — and that
included playing frequent shows with sons grahame and Brian. the three
still appear together at terrapin regularly, with grahame (left) on guitar
and vocals and Brian on guitar, mandolin and vocals.
“getting the three of us here and playing onstage is always a fantastic
experience,” grahame said. “it’s quite the family bonding experience.”
the boys, both in the early stages of pursuing their own music careers,
aren’t the least bit intimidated in sharing the spotlight with one of rock’s
most accomplished musicians — on his home turf, no less. “it’s like we’re
••
playing in the living room,” grahame says. “it’s a whole different expe-
rience than you might think when you’re playing with Phil lesh of the
grateful Dead.” all lesh senior asks is for them to surprise him. “he’s
been doing this a long time with a lot of different people. i think what he
wants is to continue exploring new things.”
Both sons are more than up to it. grahame is honing his skills in
grahame lesh & Friends and Brian is doing the same in american
Jubilee, both of which tend toward the folk-rock side of things — though
the brothers say they’re comfortable in a variety of genres. still, the
grateful Dead is in their Dna, which helps explain how they jell so well
with their dad. “i think i was three weeks old when i went to my first
Dead show,” Brian says. “some of these melodies are just ingrained.” M
STILL, THE GRATEFUL
DEAD IS IN THEIR DNA.
