John K Solo AF at the Sanctuary

John K Solo AF at the Sanctuary
 
I guess, I hadn't gotten enough Grateful Dead at Melvin Seals and JGB. So, I decided to head back down to The 5 Points Music Sanctuary for John K Solo and when I say solo, I mean Solo AF. I have been seeing, John K, in different bands and diverse iterations for over a decade but I had yet to check out any of his unaccompanied performances. It's seems that John K, has found his own niche within the Grateful Dead community and clearly loves the music and tunes he is playing. It is again fitting that The Grateful Deads music is continued in Roanoke, Virginia, where The Dead performed numerous legendary concerts.
 
Using his loop pedals to create a symphony of sound including: drums, piano and bass, John K seemed flustered at first but accurately found his sound and rhythm by the end of the evening. Beginning with a cacophony of sounds, this would mellow out as it turned into "Scarlet Begonias" which was the first Dead cover of the evening, followed by "Run For The Roses," and then, "Golden Wings" and original stolen from some 17th century poet and John K’s first stab at songwriting.
 
Being well diverse in the Chicago music scene, John K cut his teeth for 10 years before starting DSO and years before his collaboration in Further with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. I still recall Further at LOCKN’ 2013 as a highlight of all my festival and musical experiences. Further was the perfect balance of Grateful Dead manifestations I have witnessed in my life; fantastic musicianship and affordable venues. 
 
John K spoke of his first time seeing The Dead in ’89. He was already playing in a band and performing live for audiences in Chicago but that's when things changed. John said both Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia have equally influenced him. And one of his first experience playing Dead related music was with Melvin Seals in a long forgotten band, The Mix.
 
John K continue his solo routine with "Cassidy" which has been played a great deal lately in remembrance of John Perry Barlow, who died this past year and was a co-writer with Bobby on numerous classics. A fantastic cover of John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels,” was next with his guitar sounding exactly like a grand piano.
 
"Brown Eyed Women" and "Box Of Rain" would close out the first set. I saw a moth fluttering around the room during set break, serendipitously. I became aware of a small figurine perched upon John K’s stool, which would prove to be Ganesha, a Hindu god with an elephant head. This reminded me of a great post I read by John K about the hermetic principles of Phish and the spirituality of lyrics which he discussed with the notorious, Sam Cutler.
 
John K returned for a second-set with “Dire Wolf,” “Unbroken Chain” and many more original songs that I was unfamiliar with. This would be a more mellow evening than JGB but a good juxtaposition between evenings. "Rubin and Cherise" always brings a tear to my eye and "Fire On The Mountain" was by far the best performance of the evening; solo loops and syncopation on point. "Believe It Or Not," "Throwing Stones" and "Touch Of Grey" concluded the Grateful Dead covers but all roads lead back to Terrapin with an encore of Jim Page’s, "Down To Eugene To See The Grateful Dead," a song John K had learned from Grateful Dead historian, David Gans.
 
Thanks to 5 Points and John K for a laid back Wednesday night,
 
Jam Band Purist