Bill Kreutzmann Books a Three-Day Grateful Dead Thanksgiving in Kauai

Bill Kreutzmann will host "A Very Grateful Thanksgiving," a three-day event at Porter Pavilion in Kauai, Hawaii, on November 27, 28 and 29. The founding Grateful Dead drummer announced the blowout via Rolling Stone, and tickets went on sale at 8 AM Hawaiian time on Wednesday through the website of Anaina Hou Community Park, which hosts the venue.

The lineup reads like a Deadhead family reunion. David Rawlings and Gillian Welch teased their appearance on Instagram, calling it "our way of giving thanks." Holly Bowling, the pianist known for improvisations on Dead songs like "Brokedown Palace," will perform, as will Sam Grisman — whose father played in an ensemble with Jerry Garcia in the early Nineties. Both posted teasers about flying out to Hawaii to play with Kreutzmann.

Who else is coming to Kauai?

The bill runs deeper. Alphonso Johnson and Mark Kara, who played with Kreutzmann in the Other Ones (the post-Dead band assembled in the late Nineties), are set to perform, alongside Kreutzmann's Billy and the Kids bandmates Aron Magner and Reed Mathis. Members of Eggy, the String Cheese Incident, Punch Brothers and Skeleton Crewe round out the roster.

Kreutzmann was candid about his motives. "I still love seeing music, almost as much as I love playing it, and I miss my fallen brothers, and I miss being around all the Deadheads," he told Rolling Stone. "It's a feeling that has left me overwhelmed with gratitude and thanks."

Why move the party to Porter Pavilion?

The venue choice wasn't sentimental. It was practical. Kauai took a blow from the hurricane, and the island is still recovering. "So for Thanksgiving this year, I wanted to throw a party and hear some of the musicians I've been digging lately take their turn," Kreutzmann said. "But the part of Kauai that I live on really took a blow with the hurricane. The island is still recovering. So I decided to move my Thanksgiving party a couple miles over, to the Porter Pavilion, and make it a weekend-long celebration — with everyone invited. It'll benefit my local venue (which took a hit from the storm) and it'll be a coming together of the Deadhead community, including all these incredible musicians."

So the event doubles as a fundraiser. The beneficiary is his local venue, damaged in the storm.

What did Kreutzmann say about touring?

The 79-year-old drummer was blunt about his touring days being behind him. "I can barely remember the brief periods of time, in Grateful Dead history, where we weren't traveling around, touring the country and playing shows," he said. "When we weren't on stage, we were on a bus, a plane, or a hotel room. The endless race. I can't do that anymore. Not like that."

He frames the Kauai weekend as a different model — staying put, letting the music come to him. "As we've all seen, these songs haven't stopped just because the band did," he continued. "They were never meant to be presented as snapshots from the past, stuck in time — they're still evolving in real time. There's a great gift of renewal somewhere in there."

That's the pitch, then. One drummer, one pavilion, three nights, and a songbook that refuses to sit still. Full details are on the Anaina Hou Community Park website.