LAZY DAISY FESTIVAL

JiMiller Band keeps Dead’s spirit alive

By JOHN BENSON

vindicator correspondent

For some fans of The Grateful Dead, it’s hard to imagine 14 years have passed since the death of its iconic singer-guitarist- songwriter, Jerry Garcia.

One person who proudly keeps the music going is JiMiller Band visionary and ex-Oroboros member Jim Miller (vocals, guitar), who attended more than 50 Grateful Dead shows over the decades. This includes Garcia’s last show in the summer of 1995 in Chicago.

To help keep The Dead’s history and spirit alive, Miller annually presents the Lazy Daisy Festival, which is a celebration of the life and music of the Grateful Dead. This year’s event takes place today and Sunday at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park. The lineup features The JiMiller Band and regional acts Into The Blue, Terrapin Moon and Bronson & Herb.

“This is the seventh annual festival,” said Miller, who lives in Geauga County. “It’s a little bit of a localized tribute to the Grateful Dead. We do all Dead music. The music starts at noon. It’s basically the cheapest festival of the summer and the area, really.

“The music goes all day long and all evening. It’s a really, really nice, mellow, really fun event. We’ve had really fantastic times with it. We’re looking forward to doing it again.”

He added, “We love Nelson Ledges. It’s a great place. We’ve had up to a couple of thousand people show up depending on what’s going on and what the weather is like.”

As for The JiMiller Band, the roots-based act continues to play out incessantly. The quartet — Miller, Brett Miller (bass), Steve “Nev” Scheff (keyboards) and Brian “Bagel” Golenberg (drums) — is working on its follow- up to the 2006 effort “In Transit.”

The tentative live album includes new tracks such as the Afro-Cuban beat “Far and Few” and the funk-and-jam-based “Big Black Snake Blues.”

However, Miller said none of the new songs will be played at the Lazy Daisy Festival, where the music is Garcia-centric. When asked to talk about the continued fascination and popularity of The Grateful Dead, Miller said, “It’s the spirit and what it does to you — what the music and the lyrics and the whole vibe says to you. Especially in this day and age, it’s more prevalent than ever. Their music speaks to everything you can think of — psychologically, socially, spiritually and historically. They are the American roots band, and they taught me everything I want to know about roots music.”

So are all of these elements tangible at the Lazy Daisy Festival?

“Absolutely, the people that come out and the bands playing have that vibe,” Miller said. “The interplay between the band and the people is all one thing. And I wouldn’t still be doing this if that didn’t happen.”