Dark Star Orchestra, “possibly the most talented and accomplished tribute band out there,” according to Rolling Stone, started like most cover bands — small but focused, a place for local musicians to come together and celebrate the work of a cherished band.
But because of their intense dedication to study and learn the music of the Grateful Dead, to the extent that they recreate old Dead shows in their entirety, DSO has become the most successful cover band out there, touring continually for the past 12 years.
One of the founders of DSO and its lead guitarist and vocalist, John Kadlecik is a classically trained violinist who stumbled upon the Dead as a teenager.
“I was studying classical music pretty seriously. I didn’t catch back up to rock and roll until I was in high school,” he said during a recent phone interview. “I was already starting to drift to jazz and they (the Grateful Dead) were this wonderful middle ground between folk, rock, jazz and blues.”
Then he went to see them and had an “a-ha” moment.
“I love the music,” he said. “I thought I had a pretty direct connection with Jerry’s style.”
Since DSO’s beginnings, several members of the Dead have performed live with them — Bob Weir, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Bill Kreutzmann, Tom Constanten and Vince Welnick.
“A couple of times when I had my back to John (Kadlecik) onstage and he started to sing, I had this weird sense that it was Jerry,” Bob Weir said in a press release.
Kadlecik recently started performing with Further, a new band that includes Weir and Phil Lesh.
“Pieces just sort of got downloaded into me,” Kadlecik said, regarding his attending some 60 or 70 Dead shows. “Style is something that is part of artistic growth — whether you’re a painter or a writer or a musician. People think it’s this magical, mystical thing, but in reality, people choose to use styles. A lot of guitar players have influenced my style. ... But it’s what they do with it (style),” he said. “It’s being able to put feeling into it.”
He mentioned Jimmy Page — and therefore Buddy Guy — being one of his earliest influences, and then Clapton — and therefore a bit of B.B. King. And Trey.
“Phish ... that was another one of those wake-ups,” Kadlecik said. “If I like a guitarist enough to want to hear them live more than once, they automatically influence me. I just let my subconscious go.”
Others who have joined DSO onstage include Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, Martin Fierro, Vassar Clements, Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, Keller Williams, Jamie Masefield and Kenny Withrow.
DSO, to date, comprises of Lisa Mackey (Godchaux), Dino English (Kreutzmann), Rob Koritz (Mickey Hart), Kevin Rosen (Lesh), Rob Eaton (Weir) and Rob Barraco (multiple keyboardists).
With their own improvisational skills and many arms expanding outward into the jam band scene, DSO has become much more than a cover band, and because they’ve done and continue to do what no other cover band has done, they are, ironically enough, original.
Wednesday, Nov. 11, they’ll bring the Dead back to life at the historic Maryland Theatre in downtown Hagerstown, and they’ll perform two nights next weekend at the 9:30 Club in D.C.
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