Happy Birthday Bill Kreutzmann: Billy & The Kids Play Red Rocks In 2015

Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann was born 72 years ago today in Palo Alto, California. Billy was behind the kit for the Dead’s entire 30-year career after initially starting to play drums at the young age of 13. The band’s first show took place at Magoo’s Pizza in Menlo Park, California on May 5, 1965 and the Grateful Dead went on to become one of the most successful touring acts in rock history.

Kreutzmann took a hiatus from performing following Jerry Garcia’s untimely death on August 9, 1995. The drummer headed to Hawaii, where a few years later he formed Backbone as a way of dipping his toes back into musical waters. Ever since, Billy has taken part in a number of post-Jerry projects with his Grateful Dead band mates including The Other Ones, The Dead and currently Dead & Company.

In 2014, Kreutzmann put together Billy & The Kids, a band that played a handful of shows between that year’s Christmas Jam and the Wanee Festival in 2016. The short-lived group found Billy joined by guitarist Tom Hamilton, bassist Reed Mathis and keyboardist Aron Magner. Billy & The Kids were aided by a bevy of special guests at their gigs between ’14 and ’16 including Eric Krasno, Vinnie Amico, Dominic Lalli and John Popper.

On September 18, 2015 Billy & The Kids played the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Railroad Earth headlined the venue that night and RRE fiddler Tim Carbone wound up sitting-in on “Me & My Uncle” following a “The Harder They Come” opener. Other highlights include a wild “Feel Like A Stranger” > “Mission In The Rain” segment, a “Loose Lucy” featuring the Snarky Puppy Horns and a short but sweet “The Other One.”

Listen to an audience recording of Billy & The Kids’ set from September 18, 2015 taped by Gerry Gladu: