Joe Russo appeared on the 100th episode of JamBase partner Osiris Media’s Comes A Time podcast. The drummer chatted with hosts Oteil Burbridge and Mike Finoia about his main gig Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, helping Trey Anastasio prepare for the Grateful Dead‘s Fare Thee Well concerts and more.
The conversation began in earnest with Joe speaking about his practice of Transcendental Meditaion. “It’s a game-changer,” the drummer said. He related that he put the practice on hold when his second daughter was born due to the attention that a baby requires but said “I’ve been back on it for the last few months and it’s just like, ‘man, how do I ever stop doing this.’ The change is so wonderful and clear and potent.”
Mike also shared his experience with TM before the conversation moved on to how Joe weathered the pandemic and coming back to music after time off which naturally segued into a discussion on Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Mike points out one of the central tenets of the Grateful Dead tribute act which is challenging themselves by coming up with unconventional Dead sets but also interesting covers from other groups.
“I don’t think we’d be doing this thing if it wasn’t difficult,” Russo said. “We could do a version that would get through. But by the inception of this accidental whatever the hell thing, it was built on deconstruction and playing the way that we, as five humans have always played everything, which is a little bit of that East Coast aggression, and building yourself into a pickle and then trying to find a way out. And hopefully trying to not build the same pickle each time either.”
The conversation then moved to the limitless nature of Grateful Dead music and how it is suited for the kind of deconstruction Russo spoke about. Joe also gives a bit of his own musical history as well as some fascinating insights into helping his GRAB collaborator Trey Anastasio — along with JRAD members and Jeff Tansky — get ready for his participation in the Grateful Dead’s 2015 Fare Thee Well concerts and more.
Watch the Comes A Time podcast with Joe Russo below:
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