Imagine yourself outdoors onstage in front of thousands of screaming fans dressed in tie-dye and hemp, waiting for your band to break into a psychedelic tune. That image became a reality for Vince Welnick, the former keyboardist of the now disbanded Grateful Dead. He played with the band from 1990 to 1995 and has since joined a New York-based trio named Gent Treadly to play at smaller venues. The blues and groove-based band features Greg Koerner on the bass, Tom Kaelin on drums and Mike Jaimes on guitar. \nWith an extensive, eclectic cover repertoire, Gent Treadly also performs creative, original songs. Koerner, who played in Dead cover bands as a teenager and did a stint in the Dark Star Orchestra, started jamming with Welnick and putting a new twist on some of Welnick's songs, which he created after his time with the Grateful Dead. Gent Treadly also performs a mix of Beatles classic-rock and songs from Welnick's earlier days performing with the Tubes. \nWeekend caught up with Welnick via phone interview while he was at his home in Forrestville, Calif., north of San Francisco.
Q: You have been traveling from California to play with Gent Treadly for about two and a half years. What initially drew you to the trio?\nA: Greg Koerner, who is the leader of Gent Treadly, called me up and invited me out to do a couple of gigs. One thing led to another, and he started getting more and more of them. I'd been looking for a band that would learn some of my material, as well as be able to do some Grateful Dead. Gent Treadly already knew some Grateful Dead and they were into doing other timeless classics and went to the trouble to learn a lot of my original material. They are really good players. Greg Koerner is a monster bass player, Mike is a fabulous guitar player and Tom is great drummer. Because they are a trio, they are used to playing full out. The sound is pretty big for being a quartet when you add me to it.
Q: Since its break up, you've played with many other bands that cover Grateful Dead songs. What makes Gent Treadly stand out from other Dead tribute bands?\nA: The desire to go out and play even though there is not much money involved right now. Starting out at a grassroots level, they play for love. They are a solid band, and they make life easy for me. Greg takes care of all of the details. They fly me out, and they also learn a lot of my material. We even do "White Punks on Dope." That is the first band outside of the Tubes that I know of that knows that song.
Q: Other than "White Punks on Dope," do you occasionally play other songs from your other previous band, the Tubes, when you perform with Gent Treadly?\nA: We are working on breaking out a few more. Maybe "What Do You Want From Life?".
Q: What is your favorite Tubes song?\nA: The album that contains most of the best Tubes songs is the Tubes live album (What Do You Want from Live). It is a double album we did live in England. It contains songs from most of the albums. That narrows it down to about 20 songs.\nQ: Your recent album with Gent Treadly features several songs co-written with Robert Hunter, one songwriter of the former Grateful Dead. Are there any songs on the album that you wrote with Gent Treadly?\nA: No, but we are starting to go into the studio, and we might collaborate on a few songs. Gent Treadly has some original music they have written. We have never had a full day's rehearsal. We do it all over the telephone. When we travel, we do as many as 10 nights in a row. It's been all driving and playing with no days off. But, I believe down the road we will start writing songs and maybe put out an album of song we write jointly.
Q: How has Gent Treadly's blues rock affected your improvisational style?\nA: It leaves plenty of room for everybody to play, because there is only one of each instrument. Everybody gets more freedom to play, because it is not a big band. When you take a power trio like that -- I mean in any band that is just a trio -- each player has got to be exceptional in their own right just to make it sound cohesive.
Q: What is life on the road like with Gent Treadly? Is it different from the Grateful Dead?\nA: With the Grateful Dead, I used to leave my house, get in a limo, get on a private jet, fly to a gig, play three to nine shows in one city and hang out at the Ritz-Carlton. With Gent Treadly, I take a cab to the airport, get on a plane and get into the Treadster which is a Chevy van pulling a small U-Haul trailer, and (we) drive ourselves. We will play one night and move to another town. The Grateful Dead used to be finished by 11:30 p.m. Sometimes Gent Treadly doesn't get on until 11:30 p.m. It is quite a different animal. We are working pretty hard for our money. It is not as easy as it was with the Dead. Then again, there is the intimacy and the fun factor. For some reason when you add all the bullshit that Gent Treadly goes through, it is more fun. A lot of it is being in a small room with an audience and being able to be friendly with everybody. It's not a big oppressive machine being driven by forces you can't reckon with. These are nice down to earth people. They have been really nice guys to tour with.
Q: What kind of friendship did you have with Jerry Garcia (the frontman of the Grateful Dead)?\nA: I loved him with all my heart and soul, and he seemed really happy around me. We would leave at 3:30 or 4, go to the coliseum, hang out in the "Jerry tent" and talk about music and the Beatles. Most of the time I spent with him was hanging around the gig and going to and from the gig. Then he would go to his room after the show. He kept to himself a whole lot. The only time I'd see him besides rehearsals were a couple of times around Christmas when he would invite me and my wife to his house. He was very kind.
Q: Why did you name your other major post-Grateful Dead project the Missing Man Formation? Did the name have anything to do with the death of Jerry Garcia?\nA: My sister Nancy Welnick called me, and she was bartending down at the last beach in California, Imperial Beach right next to Tijuana. She was at Ye Olde Plank Inn, a biker bar, and she overheard some guys talking about the band after Garcia's death. Somebody said if the band could go on without Jerry, it would be a Missing Man Formation. My sister called me up and said I got a great name for the band, and I said the Missing Man Formation is really cool. Later on it turned out it is also a tribute the Air Force does when they lose a pilot. And I thought, "That makes it twice as cool."
Q: Do you remain in contact with your Grateful Dead bandmates?\nA: Unfortunately not. They are off on their own. My tenure with the band died when Jerry did.
Q: How did performing in the Grateful Dead affect your perspective on life and music?\nA: It validated a vision I had when I was 11-years-old. I saw myself on a stage, and there was a crowd of people as far as the eye could see. I had this feeling it had to do with music because at that time I had decided I was going to be a musician. So, I knew this was going to be inevitable. Now I am 40-years-old, and I am on stage with the Dead and I do this one gig outside where the sea of humanity goes back so far you can't see the end of it. I even have a picture of me in my piano room that depicts the very thing I saw. It was the fruit of all my years of labor.
