oh kee pah

Dead.net is proud to announce that we will webcast the annual KPFA Grateful Dead fund-raising marathon on Saturday, February 19, 2011 from 9 am to 1 am Pacific time. DeadNet will also provide the chat room, where producer/host David Gans will hang out with listeners for the duration of the 16-hour event.

The February 19 marathon will include a live set by A Mark Karan Experience, in addition to several hours of rare unreleased gems from the Grateful Dead vault.

The Marathon will also include audio sneak-previews of two exciting events on the Dead calendar for 2011: Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and First Fusion, a benefit collaboration between Bob Weir and the Marin Symphony. "I went to Prairie Sun Studios in Sonoma County to talk with [mixing engineer] Jeffrey Norman as he got started on the monumental mission of mixing 22 shows from one of the Dead's peak years," says Gans, "and then the next day I attended a rehearsal for First Fusion and talked with Bobby and with Giancarlo Aquilanti, the composer with whom he is developing arrangements for the 43-piece Marin Symphony."

Other surprises are expected. "Every year, I start putting together a great assortment of the best Grateful Dead music I can find, always looking for the unheard gems, and every year I am surprised to find more cool stuff coming my way at the last minute. [Grateful Dead archivist] David Lemieux can always be counted on to contribute some magical bits, too."