We're playing all these weird festivals, usually outdoors.
Every summer, around late July and into August, I find myself in Europe, performing at any festival that will have me.
I can only get my drummer in the winter; he plays with Grand Funk all summer.
Growing up, my imagined life as a musician was something along the lines of me lounging in a Learjet en route to a swelling outdoor amphitheatre on a dazzling summer's eve.
As much as I'd like to think and as much as people mistakenly think my audience is blue collar people in the heart of America, my audience is basically, in the States, an NPR audience. I play college towns in the summer because that's who comes to see me.
When you're singing before 15,000 people at a summer concert outside, you need to look beautiful, because that's what people want.
I love the outdoor festival feeling. When I'm on stage, it's very gratifying to watch people on the lawns enjoying the music with a glass of wine.
Now, I was the Summer Concert guy. I played every Summer concert there was.
I think it's cool to do a summer outdoor show because, growing up, like, those were always the shows and the concerts that I would get to see, where I would be sitting on the grass with my friends and hanging out, and it was such a moment.
The Dead's best venues were the outdoor concerts. I've been to a few, including one outside of Kansas City on the Fourth of July, but my fave was Shoreline Amphitheatre - a beautiful outdoor arena built on a landfill.
