Mickey Hart Appears On Oteil Burbridge & Mike Finoia’s ‘Comes A Time’ Podcast

Grateful Dead and Dead & Company drummer Mickey Hart was the guest on the latest episode of the Osiris Media podcast Comes A Time. Hart joined his Dead & Company band mate Oteil Burbridge and his co-host Mike Finoia for a wide-ranging discussion that included the story of how Mickey became a member of the Grateful Dead, his various solo projects and more.

Mickey and Oteil recalled the night Burbridge was inducted into The Rhythm Devils towards the start of the episode. Hart then explained why he and Bill Kreutzmann use such a huge drum rig before Mickey told the tale of how he knocked himself out while building the rig.

Hart went on to discuss the importance of the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company’s crew and how he felt the crew had been let down if the band didn’t perform well. Mickey then shared the story of “The Pump Song,” which turned into “Greatest Story Ever Told.” The drummer continued by recalling his first meeting with Kreutzmann and how a one-night sit-in with the Grateful Dead was all it took for Mickey to be asked to join the band.

The conversation eventually moved on to Mickey’s Planet Drum album and his collaborations with Babatunde Olatunji, Zakir Hussain and Giovanni Hidalgo. Hart explained the Grammys had to create a category, “Best World Music Album,” in order to reward the otherwise undefinable LP. Finoia asked the drummer about his relationship with Jerry Garcia to which Mickey shared memories of the guitarist and how painful it was when Garcia died.

Listen to Mickey Hart’s appearance on Comes A Time below: