Our Love Letter to Bob Weir

Over the weekend, we lost a musician who shaped the lives of countless people: the late, great Bob Weir. He was a founding member of the Grateful Dead who played guitar, wrote and sang in the band for 30 years. After Jerry Garcia died and the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir kept the spirit of the music alive for three more decades, creating new Deadheads for generations to come — he brought John Mayer, Billy Strings and even the National Symphony Orchestra into the Grateful Dead universe. The Deadhead slogan proved to be true: Weir everywhere.

At Alt.Latino, we’re big fans of Bob Weir and his immensely cosmic musical legacy. Over the years, we’ve learned that many Latin musicians are also, metaphorically speaking, on the bus. Today on the show, we celebrate Bob Weir’s life by hearing some of his past interviews on NPR, exploring the Grateful Dead’s influence on artists like Devendra Banhart, and of course, revisiting his magnetic Tiny Desk concert from 2019. We’re incredibly grateful that Bobby came down to this world for a little while to tell us his stories – we hope to see him in the next one. 

(00:00) Intro
(01:38) Bob Weir's early life and Grateful Dead career
(08:05) Grateful Dead at the National Symphony Orchestra
(14:30) Felix and Isa reflect on 'American Beauty'
(20:35) Grateful Dead's impact on Latin musicians
(26:33) Bob Weir at the Tiny Desk

This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Suraya Mohamed.

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