Dead's Lesh enjoys fresh lease on life, band tour 

October 18, 2000 

BY JEFF WISSER STAFF REPORTER
Chicago Sun -Times
 
Grateful Dead? No, Phil Lesh is staggeringly appreciative to be alive, thank 
you very much. 

Two years ago, the fiftysomething bass player for the prototype for today's 
so-called "jam bands" was knock-knock-knocking on death's door, the victim of 
liver failure stemming from a case of hepatitis C diagnosed in 1991. 

Never mind that Lesh had already cleaned up his lifestyle, embracing an 
exercise regime and giving up alcohol and red meat. The man was dying. 

"I lost muscle mass and weight. I couldn't move around. I had internal 
bleeding. . . . When I got sick, they were saying, `This is endgame liver 
disease.' " 

Lesh received a liver transplant Dec. 17, 1998. His life since then has been 
one glorious encore. He has embraced charities, including Music in Schools, 
for which his Unbroken Chain Foundation is conducting auctions this fall on 
eBay. And he has become an impassioned spokesman on behalf of blood and organ 
donation. 

"There are people who have this disease who don't even know it," he says, 
"but when it strikes, it strikes." 

Given a second chance at life, a healthy, happy Lesh is again striking out on 
his own, crossing the country again this fall as Phil Lesh and Friends with a 
band that includes former Zen Trickster Rob Baracco on keyboards and longtime 
Lesh collaborator John Molo on drums. Playing guitar are jam-band veterans 
Jimmy Herring, ex of Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is 
Dead, and Warren Haynes.  Haynes, whose resume includes stints with the 
Allman Brothers Band as well as his own Govt. Mule, is a particularly key 
addition. 

"Yes," Lesh acknowledges, "he brings a certain gravitas, a solidity, a 
weight. And an incredible singing voice. It may not be well-known, but Warren 
is much more than a Southern rock guitar player." 

The bassist and his Friends have melded into a cohesive band. "It's not just 
one individual, it's the chemistry, it's the X factor, the `it' as Deadheads 
refer to it. [This band] has that `it.' " 

That "it" is a result of putting in the necessary effort, Lesh insists. "This 
is a hard-working band," he chuckles. "Unlike some bands I've known." 

The pointed jab at his former bandmates in the Dead is part of a larger 
estrangement from the surviving members of the band. It reportedly erupted 
into a feud earlier this year over the release of hundreds of hours of Dead 
concert recording over the Internet. 

Lesh, for his part, has distanced himself from his former partners, saying 
only, "They're doing their thing and I'm doing mine, and I'm really having a 
good time." 

Lesh can break away from the Dead, but there is no escaping an even greater 
force of nature: the Deadheads. Consequently, those who drop in for one of 
the four shows at the Riv this week should be prepared for Spinners, tie-dye 
and aromas including but not limited to patchouli. 

"It's been graybeards next to teenagers. Five years after Jerry [Garcia]'s 
death there are people come to see me who were too young to have seen Jerry. 
I wonder where the continuity is. It's lovely."