BIOS

One day early in the dark days of the great pandemic a few of us were getting pretty bored and decided to get together and jam a bit - safely distanced, of course. It was fun so we did it again, and again, it was fun AND it sounded pretty good too. So we decided to be a band and make a song list and rehearse and play some gigs. Nothing too ambitious. We weren't planning on playing any Grateful Dead songs but somehow they snuck into our repertoire anyway. Sneaky bastards. Now we have a couple of years worth of gigs under our belts, playing songs by Dylan, The Band, Allman Brothers, Traffic, The Beatles, Dr. John, Tom Petty, Phish, and even Patti Smith. Oh yeah, and the good ol' Grateful Dead.

Denise Parent (drums, vocals) plays in so many bands she sometimes has more than one gig in a single day. She plays drums in her long-standing Hudson Valley based band, The Deadbeats. She also plays drums in Brown Eyed Women, an all female tribute to the Grateful Dead that tours frequently, attracting well-deserved national attention. She fills her "spare time" (haha) playing guitar in the Deadbeats Duo, the Laura Leigh Band, and her new original project, Rock City Junction. Phew! You may ask, "Where does she find the time?" It's a secret. Denise's favorite ice cream is Chocolate Peanut Butter.

Peter Dougan (guitar, vocals), is the new guy. He's a hell of a guitar player and great all around musician. He can play just about anything he's asked. LEFT-HANDED!!! FER CHRISSAKE! He plays in a wide range of musical projects in and around Woodstock and teaches music at the Woodstock Day School. Hopefully, one of these days he will step out and lead the band one something but until then, hot solos and solid rythmn playing is a welcome addition to the band. His favorite ice cream is [note to self: insert Peter's ice cream flavor here].

Jamie Flynn (guitar, vocals) is one of the great old school tie-dye artists in the Hudson Valley. He's dyed several thousand shirts for the Grateful Dead over the last 30 years. His work can been seen on thousands of t-shirts at practically every concert or music festival in the country. He also plays a helluva guitar in a country band, The Lost Cowboys, which interferes with his much more important MMR responsibilities, but we love him anyway. Jamie's favorite ice cream is French Vanilla.

Mike DuBois (drums, harmonica) never stops moving. Busy busy busy. As one of the preeminent artists in the concert poster and psychedelic art scene, he's either making incredible art or running his busy store in Woodstock, Happylife Productions. Stuffed to the gills with Mike's art, other artist's work in frames, on t-shirts and stickers, Happylife is a hub of culture and creativity in a town world renown for art and music. He also plays drums very well. They say he can sing too but we've never heard it. Mike's favorite ice cream might be Vanilla Swiss Almond. Or perhaps chocolate. Homemade Peach on Cape Cod is in the running.

Kenny Schneidman (keys, vocals) started playing the music of the Grateful Dead in the 70s in bands like The Lost Highway Ramblers (no relation), long before there was a Dead cover band in every town. He once played acoustic guitar in a band called Mark Twang and keyboards in a new wave band called The Feds, and has been involved in numerous musical projects his entire life. He also operates a busy graphic design studio and is co-owner of the legendary Arrowhead Ranch in Parksville, NY. Kenny's favorite ice cream is definitely Jane's Coconut Almond Joy.

Tom Bowler (bass, vocals) likes Butter Pecan. Weird.

Founding member Jason Ferguson (guitar, vocals) RIP is no longer on this mortal plane. Prior to his departure, he could be found playing guitar or bass on any given night in one of several bands including Rainbow Spirals, (Queens, NY), Rainbow Full of Sound (East Coast), Wolfman Jack (New England) and any number of other great bands that asked him to sit in from time to time. Because he's that good. We was a freelancer. He was also the "go to" technician for almost every guitar player in the NY metro area that plays the Grateful Dead's music. He built amazing guitars too. He was an electronics guru or a vacuum tube wizard of sorts. Nobody ever knew if Jason ate ice cream. It's still a big mystery. He existed solely on air. He is loved and sorely missed.

Photos by Vernon Webb & Neil Segal