Ep One Grateful Dead Anthology

I have been exposed to the Grateful Dead for nearly for my entire life. Consequently, I cannot nail down one specific point in time at which I was first acquainted with the Dead. My mother has been a fan for a majority of her life, and though she is reluctant to label herself a Deadhead, she was truly the catalyst for my infatuation with the band. I have been going to various renditions of “Dead shows”, mostly at Red Rocks and Folsom Field, such as Furthur, the Jerry Garcia Band, and most recently, the Dead & Co. Ironically, one of my greatest regrets in my 20 years of life has been that I, only in the last couple years, began my own intense exploration into the enigma that is the Grateful Dead. I can recall playing songs like Eyes of the World and Franklin’s Tower around age 12 with my guitar teacher, and listening to songs like Althea and Scarlet Begonias from before I had lost all of my baby teeth. We even spread my first dog’s ashes at the top of Vail mountain to the tune of Brokedown Palace, when I was 11 years old; I still can’t help but tear up to the song today! Nonetheless, it still took me quite some time to seek out their entire body of work and delve into the history and mystique that surround the group. They were my number 1 artist on Spotify, I follow all the band members and fanpages on Instagram that I can. Hell, I watched a Long Strange Trip on Amazon Prime! Clearly I am an enthusiast! Despite my bountiful knowledge on the band, the VMP Anthology is a different beast. The deep analysis offered in the essays and podcasts (that I have consumed thus far), is unlike anything I have ever encountered. It also is comforting to have it hosted by two people who are NOT experts on the Dead. While I may have more knowledge about the band than the average person, I still have much more to learn. I did already possess American Beauty on vinyl prior to receiving the entire anthology from “Santa”, but apart from that all of these collections are new to me in a physical form. Starting off with two of my favorite pieces of their work, in American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, has been an ideal foray into the rest of the records, and I am ecstatic to hear the rest. #vmpanthology006