Oteil Burbridge Finds Healing in Grateful Dead Ballads: “They Help in Life”

Grateful Dead fans loved Oteil Burbridge long before Burbridge loved the Grateful Dead.

Burbridge, a top jazz, rock and funk bassist in his 20s, landed a spot in Col. Bruce Hampton’s Atlanta-based jam band Aquarium Rescue Unit in the late ’80s. It was the beginning of a jam band renaissance that included acts like Phish, Blues Traveler and Widespread Panic.

“The only people who came to our shows were Deadheads, other musicians and freaks,” Burbridge told the Herald with a laugh. “So the Deadheads adopted me before I knew their stuff.”

Burbridge now knows her stuff as well as anyone.

After 17 years with the Allman Brothers, Burbridge was a smart choice for bassist throughout Dead & Company’s decades-long career. Since Dead & Co. guitarist John Mayer had injured his vocal cords and lost some vocal range, Burbridge became Dead & Co.’s go-to guy for ballads. The more ballads he made, the deeper he delved into the magical, mystical world of the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter catalog.

“I don’t think I truly understand music until I learn it and play it,” Burbridge said before his Oteil & Friends show at the House of Blues on Oct. 16. “If I just hear something, I might not even like it.” It’s because I listen with biased ears, listening for what I want to hear and deciding prematurely that I don’t like it. But when you learn something, you dig deep and think, “Wow, that’s what everyone loves about this music.” ”

Just as Burbridge was discovering his love for the dead, he experienced a series of devastating losses. His brother Kofi died, his father died, a number of mentors died – Colonel Bruce Hampton, Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks and theologian Jim Barnette. Suddenly, Garcia and Hunter’s music meant more than ever.

“It was ‘China Doll’ and ‘High Time’ and ‘To Lay Me Down’ and ‘Stella Blue,’ those ballads where the pain is obvious and they help, they help in life,” he said. “When my brother died, I was playing the Grateful Dead around the house without studying it, just in the background, then Jerry’s voice or his guitar would just reach out and help me through really, really difficult moments.”

Last year, Burbridge made the bold decision to record a solo album of Dead ballads. No epic jams, no rockers, “Lovely View of Heaven” is a quiet and intimate record recorded in Iceland in December while the Northern Lights shone on the studio (“We made the elves very happy,” he said). “Lovely View of Heaven” contains many of the songs he sang with Dead & Co and many that he didn’t, including “Stella Blue”, “Mission in the Rain” and two versions of “High Time”, one of them with Kofi’s flute overplayed on it.

“It wasn’t a well-thought-out decision,” he said with a laugh. “When the time came, I said to myself, ‘Man, you’ve never sung lead on a whole record and decided to just do ballads, are you crazy?’ I was really scared before, but you know, I feel it so much, I have such a strong connection to these songs, that I had to put that fear aside.”

As Burbridge prepares for a show in Boston that will likely be filled with Deadheads, other musicians and freaks, he now knows that the fan base likes to take a break from the hustle and bustle and indulge in a healing ballad.

For more information and tickets, visit oteilburbridge.com