Bob Weir Enlists Steve Kimock & Jon Shaw For Upcoming Campfire Tour

On Friday night Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir kicks off a “Campfire Tour” in support of his recently released studio album Blue Mountain. While Weir had enlisted Aaron Dessner of The National to be a part of his backing band for the jaunt, Dessner has pulled out due to a family emergency.

Today Bobby announced his longtime collaborator Steve Kimock has stepped up to join the backing band which also includes new addition Jon Shaw (Cass McCombs/Shakey Graves) on bass as well as guitarist Josh Kaufman (who co-produced Blue Mountain), drummer Bryan Devendorf of The National and multi-instrumentalist Scott Devendorf of The National.

JamBase asked about the format of the shows on Bob Weir’s Campfire Tour in October at an event held in August. Josh and Bob indicated a total of 18 songs had been fully realized for the project. The pair and their backing band are expected to create each setlist from a mix of the 18 tunes composed for Blue Mountain and Grateful Dead classics. When asked whether Bob would perform solo for a section of each show, Kaufman and Weir indicated that had yet to be worked out but was certainly possible.

Friday’s tour opener will take place at the Marin County Civic Centre in San Rafael.