Guitarist is grateful for Garcia

John Kadlicek of Dark Star Orchestra keeps Jerry’s music alive

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Sep 24, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

COURTESY OF DSO RECORDINGS

John Kadlicek of Dark Star Orchestra has made a career out of studying and interpreting the late Jerry Garcia.

To channel Jerry Garcia, one never knows what he’ll discover, but John Kadlecik has done a pretty good job of permeating the man’s aura.

Kadlecik plays Garcia, the late Grateful Dead frontman and guitarist, for the band Dark Star Orchestra, which tours the country playing the band’s music. Dark Star stops in Portland Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25-26, at the Crystal Ballroom. A Chicago native, the 40-year-old Kadlecik has studied Garcia over the years, knows all the original Dead songs, but he tries to be his own man.

There was only one Jerry Garcia. There is only one John Kadlecik, who tries his best to play Garcia’s music to the pleasure of Deadheads and others alike, while celebrating the life of one of rock’s enduring stars.

“Subjective to listener impression” is how Kadlecik describes his guitar sounds and voice, compared to Garcia.

“I put a whole bunch of dots out there and let people connect in their mind how they want,” says Kadlecik, who isn’t just some ripoff artist. He’s well respected by living members of the Grateful Dead, as evidenced by his collaboration with rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bass player Phil Lesh in the group Further.

“Some people connect where they see fresh and original, and others nostalgic but faithful,” Kadlecik says. “Others may think I’m trying too hard. I know the spirit I put into it. I know my own authentic connection to it.”

Kadlecik and Dark Star have played more than 1,700 shows over the past 11 years, including Portland several times. Their shows are based on past Grateful Dead concerts. The group recently released a DVD of the Dead’s famous show May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall at Cornell University, titled “Ithaca 30 Years Later.” It was a Dead concert unlike others because of the sound of the bootleg recording, enhanced with unique sound board operations — “it was the best sounding show in their collection for the time,” Kadlecik says.

Dark Star doesn’t do every song in order, nor use every mannerism or dialogue of the members, but simply commemorates particular performances.

“It was a nice lining up of the stars, so to speak, because we were going to be there on the 30th anniversary of the show,” Kadlecik says of Ithaca. “We just sort of documented it, and it turned out to be a good performance on our part. We did a lot of improvising. The mayor presented the town with a plaque commemorating it as ‘Grateful Dead Day.’”

Given the loyalty of the “Deadhead” fan base — especially those who were committed to traveling on tour with the rockers — Kadlecik and his six bandmates could be subject to some resentment.

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