Billy Strings Plays Surprise Gig, Phish Offer Biggest Bust Out in Band History
Watch Oteil & Friends at Brooklyn Bowl New York Soundcheck Session
Relix Daily
August 08, 2026
August 8, 2026
Compiled by Mike Greenhaus
RECAP
Phish returned to their native New England last night for the first of two big shows at Boston’s Fenway Park. It was the Vermont Quartet’s first Fenway appearance since a two-night stand at the baseball stadium in 2019 and their first show since completing a thematic run of five dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they revisited a handful of impactful years during their rise through the ranks in the 1990s.
ALSO READ: Phish Will Play 8 Shows in October
FEATURE
Jerry Garcia ambles into the hotel room overlooking New York’s Central Park. He appears relaxed, although in four hours, he will be on stage at Nassau Coliseum for the second of a three-night stand in mid-May 1980. Garcia appears happy, and if being a major rock star has ever gotten to his head, he doesn’t show it. He’s as cordial as can be. Does he mind if the photographer shoots a few pics? No, go right ahead. Does he want to do the interview anywhere special? Wherever we want. He’s that kind of person, and as an interview subject is a delight, answering every question in detail, in an honest, forthright manner. And for someone in the eye of the hurricane, he has a remarkably acute understanding of its workings.
In 1992, a newly independent Lithuanian basketball team arrived at the Barcelona Olympics short on funding. The Grateful Dead helped: a $5,000 donation, and, more consequentially, a license letting the team sell tie-dye shirts featuring the band's imagery. New York artist Greg Speirs designed the run, a slam-dunking skeleton he called "Skullman," rendered in Lithuania's national colors. The shirts sold fast, reportedly around 20,000 in the first week, with a share of proceeds going to the Lithuanian Olympic Committee. Lithuania went on to take bronze, wearing the tie-dye on the podium, one of the more unlikely crossovers of counterculture and Olympic sport.
FEATURE
Today we look back on this conversation from 2012.
Bill Kreutzmann was only 18 years old when Jerry Garcia invited him to join some fellow Bay Area players in a jam session that would culminate in the creation of a new group: The Warlocks. These players would later rename themselves the Grateful Dead and begin a career that would span four decades. Following the 70th anniversary of Garcia’s birth, Kreutzmann shared a few moments to reminisce about Jerry.
WATCH
"Death Don't Have No Mercy" - 7 Walkers - Bill Kreutzmann, George Porter Jr, Papa Mali, Matt Hubbard
Festival favorites bring their own pulse and picking to Dead staples: Del McCoury Band, The Travelin’ McCourys, Leftover Salmon, Kitchen Dwellers, Darrell Scott, Sister Sadie, Railroad Earth, Mountain Grass Unit, Clay Street Unit, and The Price Sisters. The result is a front-to-back journey of Grateful Dead covers filtered through Appalachia, high-lonesome harmonies, and hot-rod string band energy, mixed to be played loud.
NEWS
Port Chester, NY’s The Capitol Theatre will host Especially Everyone, a night celebrating neurodiversity, live music and connection on Saturday, October 10. The EE Ensemble, a high-energy funk and jam-approved outfit featuring neurodivergent and neurotypical musicians, will serve as the evening’s house band and Oteil Burbridge, Jennifer Hartswick and Karl Denson are among the guest musicians slated to join the festivities. Landing on World Mental Health Day and World Inclusion Day, The EE 2026 Fall Experience is described as “a concert that makes a statement: music is a right, not a privilege and everyone belongs in the room” and “a show built to break down barriers so everyone has the opportunity to connect to and through live music.”
WATCH
Oteil & Friends at Brooklyn Bowl New York | Soundcheck Sessions
During their two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl New York, we caught up with Oteil & Friends for a special Relix Soundcheck Session featuring songs from Oteil Burbridge and Lamar Williams Jr.’s latest record, along with an instrumental jam penned by the legendary Steve Kimock. Featuring Oteil Burbridge, Melvin Seals, Steve Kimock, Jason Crosby, Johnny Kimock, Tom Guarna, and Lamar Williams Jr., this session brings together some of the most celebrated musicians in today's jam scene. The performance captures the spirit of collaboration that has made each of these artists such beloved figures in the community. Presented in partnership with Rythm Beverages.
WATCH
Joe Pernice Covers MJ Lenderman (After MJ Lenderman Covers Joe Pernice)
After hearing that MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee put their own spin on a Scud Mountain Boys' tune, Joe Pernice decided to return the favor. The Scud Mountain Boys frontman and Pernice Brothers member stopped by the Relix office for an in-office session, performing two of his own songs and a heartfelt cover of MJ Lenderman's "Under Control." It's a full-circle musical moment that highlights the mutual admiration between two generations of songwriters.
NEWS
Billy Strings made the most of his day off in Charleston, WV on Sunday, August 2. According to reports, the guitarist, who was in town to play the 13,5000-capacity Charleston Coliseum last night, stopped by the approximately 100-person Empty Glass bar to play his Gibson SG electric guitar with the John Inghram Band for about an hour. The Sunday jam session is a regularly occurrence at the Empty Glass, hosted by Inghram, a local musician and producer on NPR’s Mountain Stage Radio Show. The storied program is taped nearby and The Empty Glass festivities are frequently used as an after-party hang—this past Sunday, one of the program’s features guests, Candi Jenkins, also stopped by to perform with John Inghram Band.
WATCH
"U.S Blues" - Billy & The Kids ft Billy Strings | Red Rocks | 7/12/21
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