Doors 4pm, Music 7pm

Don't miss "Dead to the Core: An Acoustic Celebration of the Grateful Dead"

Dead to the Core is a collective of singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians, led by musician/author Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, that celebrates the music of the Grateful Dead—not through note-for-note re-creations but by playing the songs their own way, letting them grow and evolve collaboratively in the true spirit of the Dead.

Interspersed with the music are clips from Rodgers’ own interviews with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, in which they reflect on the roots and evolution of the music.

A Dead to the Core show is an experience unlike any other Grateful Dead tribute: a night of deeply personal performances that illuminate the masterful song craft of one of America’s most original bands. Grateful Dead music right down to the core.

“Rodgers doesn’t tap the legion of dedicated Grateful Dead tribute artists for these concerts…. Instead, he seeks out songwriters and musicians who have developed their own voices and styles, though they are very much inspired by—and fans of—Garcia and the Dead.”
—Arts Fuse

This show at Abilene features a five-piece band.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (guitar, Strumstick) is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, founding editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine, and author of a best-selling video series teaching his acoustic arrangements of classic Grateful Dead songs.

Tim Burns (guitar, mandolin) leads the roots-rock band Two Hour Delay and first made his mark in the music scene in Rochester with the InBetweens, which has continued to reunite for shows at Abilene.

Wendy Sassafras Ramsay, Rodgers’ bandmate and duo partner (as Pepper and Sassafras), is a singer-songwriter and versatile multi-instrumentalist on clarinet, flute, accordion, and guitar.

Drummer Josh Dekaney is a Texas native who’s fluent with music from all over the Americas. He currently tours with Mary Fahl, and has performed with Peter Cetera, Kaïssa, Jimmy Haslip, and Aretha Franklin.

John Dancks, a Syracuse-area Hall of Fame musician, plays bass with the Cadleys and many other groups.

Learn more and listen to songs:
deadtothecore.com

Video:
https://youtu.be/1U_zJmoEQNY

Tickets: $20 and on sale right now at https://abilene.showare.com/ and tonight at the door