{"artistName":"Phil Lesh","artistId":90177,"artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/99c/99ccfac5f7629468dc4976c86174ec02_lg.jpg","srcset":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/99c/99ccfac5f7629468dc4976c86174ec02_sm.jpg 50w,https://artist99.cdn107.com/99c/99ccfac5f7629468dc4976c86174ec02_md.jpg 80w,https://artist99.cdn107.com/99c/99ccfac5f7629468dc4976c86174ec02_lg.jpg 200w","artistBio":"\u003cp\u003ePhillip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940 in Berkeley, California) is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends, which paid homage to the Dead's music by playing their originals, common covers, and the songs of the members of his band. Phil \u0026amp; Friends helped keep a legitimate entity for the band's music to continue but have been on hiatus since 2008. Recently, Lesh has been performing with Furthur alongside former Dead bandmate Bob Weir. Although Lesh started out as a violin player, in high school he switched to trumpet. Studying under Bob Hansen, he had a keen interest in avant-garde classical music and free jazz; he also studied under the Italian modernist Luciano Berio at Mills College (classmates included minimalist composer Steve Reich, and future Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten). While still a college student he met then-bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia. Despite antipodal musical interests, they formed a friendship and eventually Lesh was talked into becoming the bass guitarist for Garcia's new rock group, then known as the Warlocks. According to Lesh, the first song he rehearsed with the band was \"I Know You Rider\". He joined them for their third or fourth gig (memories vary) and stayed until the end. Lesh noticed that another group had made a record under the name Warlocks when he found their single on Columbia Records at a record store [Phil Lesh/Searching For The Sound, pg. 61]. It turns out that the band \"The Warlocks\" on that single also ended up changing their name to The Velvet Underground. He suggested to the other band members that they change their name.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLesh had never played bass before joining the band, which meant he learned \"on the job\", but it also meant he had no preconceived attitudes about the instrument's traditional \"rhythm section\" role. Indeed, he has said that his playing style was influenced more by Bach counterpoint than by rock or soul bass players (although one can also hear the fluidity and power of a jazz bassist such as Charles Mingus or Jimmy Garrison in Lesh's work, along with stylistic allusions to fellow San Francisco psychedelic-era bassist Jack Casady).\u003c/p\u003e","musicPath":"/music/Phil+Lesh","playStationPath":"/stations/272352732/play","stationId":272352732,"bioPath":"/music/Phil+Lesh/_full_bio","similars":[{"musicPath":"/music/Irievibrations","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/11d/11dac10f0c73590f47439fa9e2addf1d_md.jpg","artistName":"Irievibrations","artistId":108184,"station_id":281862819},{"musicPath":"/music/New+Grass+Revival","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/eaa/eaa0463390098df7c341225091b45327_md.jpg","artistName":"New Grass Revival","artistId":114716,"station_id":282865263},{"musicPath":"/music/The+Drifters+Holiday+","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/89e/89e6f248ef15efebf24741c1165f76e3_md.jpg","artistName":"The Drifters (Holiday)","artistId":116837,"station_id":283168156},{"musicPath":"/music/Donavon+Frankenreiter+Jack+Johnson+Zach+Gill","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/25e/25e4ebc38cff8e926d7260503acd1680_md.jpg","artistName":"Donavon Frankenreiter, Jack Johnson \u0026 Zach Gill","artistId":128846,"station_id":284993846},{"musicPath":"/music/David+Grier","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/9c7/9c797d8318736bdae3dd2b09faf3678b_md.jpg","artistName":"David Grier","artistId":98704,"station_id":277091639},{"musicPath":"/music/Outformation","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/424/424233d0bbd6aa0820767959218d4551_md.jpg","artistName":"Outformation","artistId":122969,"station_id":283947465},{"musicPath":"/music/The+New+Deal","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/6e4/6e420d399fa0f5074cb8949a56bbd97a_md.jpg","artistName":"The New Deal","artistId":11928,"station_id":114630075},{"musicPath":"/music/Willie+Nelson+Waylon+Jennings+Johnny+Cash+Kris+Kristofferson","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/279/279ee2339046b278e0180b813ac6432e_md.jpg","artistName":"Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson","artistId":108273,"station_id":281787889},{"musicPath":"/music/Matt+Belsante","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/d11/d111976568d430e134b021b7b78132b6_md.jpg","artistName":"Matt Belsante","artistId":83701,"station_id":269167368},{"musicPath":"/music/Rob+Ickes","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/590/590bf313340d7c25aa4fe31d98a2a285_md.jpg","artistName":"Rob Ickes","artistId":104819,"station_id":281290022},{"musicPath":"/music/Danny+Barnes","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/720/720ae569272d0d55695d1a0d2a7737cb_md.jpg","artistName":"Danny Barnes","artistId":52416,"station_id":245032247},{"musicPath":"/music/Brothers+Past","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/0aa/0aa1e35fd0b363ebd2ff2cc0e1a790c0_md.jpg","artistName":"Brothers Past","artistId":133332,"station_id":286142935},{"musicPath":"/music/Acoustic+Syndicate","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/ac6/ac676a54591d966e824b1333facf45d5_md.jpg","artistName":"Acoustic Syndicate","artistId":114133,"station_id":282865188},{"musicPath":"/music/Scarecrow+Collection","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/93a/93aa02452c3f46ff3274a49bb6bde565_md.jpg","artistName":"Scarecrow Collection","artistId":115599,"station_id":282865617},{"musicPath":"/music/David+Grisman+Tony+Rice","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/362/362ff38e1dddc5b5729a493b078c2a9e_md.jpg","artistName":"David Grisman \u0026 Tony Rice","artistId":98705,"station_id":277091640},{"musicPath":"/music/Karl+Denson+s+Tiny+Universe","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/c0e/c0ebad54e201f3167cc8c9847231103a_md.jpg","artistName":"Karl Denson's Tiny Universe","artistId":109896,"station_id":282141029},{"musicPath":"/music/Tab+Benoit+Debbie+Davies+Kenny+Neal","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/738/738a167c07e7bcb2e324527d81ab308c_md.jpg","artistName":"Tab Benoit, Debbie Davies \u0026 Kenny Neal","artistId":108068,"station_id":283944676},{"musicPath":"/music/Split+Lip+Rayfield","artistDefaultImage":"https://artist99.cdn107.com/605/605083caa12006c768483034d064054f_md.jpg","artistName":"Split Lip Rayfield","artistId":14009,"station_id":114337936}]}