Just as summer moves in to full swing and the Rhythm Devils pack up to hit the road, the band announces a hefty number of new dates for late summer. The Rhythm Devils – Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, the polyrhythmic engine that drove the Grateful Dead for nearly three decades – will make stops throughout the Midwest and Northeast covering some of the territory they’ll miss when out west for their earlier summer shows.

Joining Hart and Kreutzmann in the Rhythm Devils for part two of the tour will be Nigerian talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju, returning from the last RD tour in 2006, Back Door Slam’s Davy Knowles (guitar, vocals) and Andy Hess (bass). The Mother Hips' Tim Bluhm (guitar, vocals) extends his first run as a Devil.

The Rhythm Devils name has its origins in the late ’70s. As Hart explains, “I remember Jerry looking at Bill and I one time. He shook his head and just said, ‘You guys are Rhythm Devils.’”

But the 2010 incarnation of the Rhythm Devils is guaranteed to be unlike anything that’s come before—the dynamic mix of the musicians’ individual but complementary styles and approaches is sure to lead to some serious sparks. “The music is quite different,” says Kreutzmann. “It’s real groove-based. It has lots of percussion and electronics. It’s very danceable. It’s gonna be quite a mix up there.”

“It’s a great combination,” says Hart. “You have the deep trance music from Nigeria and West Africa that Sikiru brings to us and there’s Davy who at any moment just might rip the sky apart with his guitar and Andy Hess is a real gem of a bass player. We’re also excited to have Tim Bluhm, who will bring his ferocious California guitar style and beautiful vocals to the mix.”

While both Hart and Kreutzmann promise that the music will be percussion-driven, another factor contributing to the Rhythm Devils’ special mojo is the troupe’s repertoire: Not only will they be reconstituting some familiar Grateful Dead tunes in their unique way, but the Devils will also be performing numerous tunes written exclusively for them by Robert Hunter, the legendary songwriter whose collaborations with the late Jerry Garcia provided the Dead with their most beloved and durable material.

“Robert Hunter is a major force in all of this. He has written his heart out in these new songs,” says Hart. “There will also be enormous, exciting electronic sections of pulsing, throbbing, beautiful zones. There are places and sounds still unknown and unborn that we will no doubt visit.”

Kreutzmann and Hart have been inextricably entwined as partners since they first met in 1967, two years after the formation of the Grateful Dead with Kreutzmann the sole drummer. On that first night, they literally “played the city,” walking around San Francisco with drumsticks banging on everything in sight. Hart joined them immediately and except for a brief hiatus in the ’70s, the pair remained with the Dead until 1995, when Garcia’s death signaled the end of an era. Since then, Kreutzmann and Hart have continued to make music both together (most recently in The Dead) and apart, but they both agree that a special chemistry takes place when their percussive minds are in sync.

“When we get together and we’re in the groove it’s a tractor beam,” says Hart. “Anyone around that will be drawn in. But we always thought of the Grateful Dead, and anything that we did together, as a work in progress. This too is a work in progress and that’s the best thing you could say. We’re looking to the future with this kind of music. In the Grateful Dead we created a body of work that we’ll not leave behind. But we also have an identity as the Rhythm Devils, and that’s who we’ll be.”

Rhythm Devils complete summer tour schedule is as follows:
Summer Tour 2010 Leg One, with Keller Williams:
Friday, July 16 Arcata Theatre Arcata CA
Saturday, July 17 String Summit North Plains OR
Sunday, July 18 Britt Festival Jacksonville OR
Thursday, July 22 Ogden Theatre Denver CO
Friday, July 23 Steamboat Springs Concert Series Steamboat Springs CO
Saturday, July 24 Spud Drive In Driggs ID
Sunday, July 25 Red Butte Garden Salt Lake City UT
Tuesday, July 27 Orpheum Theatre Flagstaff AZ
Wednesday, July 28 Rialto Theatre Tucson AZ
Thursday, July 29 Soundwave San Diego CA
Saturday, July 31 Gathering of the Vibes Bridgeport CT

Summer Tour 2010 Leg Two, with Tim Bluhm:
Saturday, August 21 Hoxeyville Festival Cadillac MI
Sunday, August 22 House of Blues - Chicago Chicago IL
Monday, August 23 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis MN
Tuesday, August 24 Pabst Theatre Milwaukee WI
Thursday, August 26 Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead Munhall PA
Friday, August 27 The Sherman Theatre Stroudsburg PA
Saturday, August 28 The Music Hall Theater Tarrytown NY
Wednesday, September 1 B.B. King Blues Club & Grill New York NY
Thursday, September 2 Northern Lights Clifton Park NY
Friday, September 3 Showcase Live Foxboro MA
Saturday, September 4 Hampton Beach Casino Room Hampton Beach NH
Monday, September 6 Nelson Ledges Quarry Park Garrettsville OH
Wednesday, September 8 The Stage Theatre State College PA
Thursday, September 9 Water Street Music Hall Rochester NY
Friday, September 10 The Bears Den @ Seneca Niagra Niagara Falls NY
Saturday, September 11 Higher Ground Ballroom South Burlington VT
Tuesday, January 4 - Sunday, January 9 Jam Cruise 9 Fort Lauderdale FL
Sunday, January 9 Revolution Hall Fort Lauderdale FL

www.rhythmdevils.net

www.billkreutzmann.com


http://www.mickeyhart.net