After five years of jamming and giving fans a contemporary taste of the Grateful Dead, Furthur has announced that it's disbanding.
As Jambase notes, the band posted a statement on its website today (Nov. 4) announcing the news. "To our loyal Furthur fans and members of the Furthur community at furthur.net, we'd like to thank you for a terrific ride," the post reads. "We'll be closing up shop at furthur.net, and heading onward. Thanks for making the Furthur community a great place to hang out, and for coming out to the shows. We'll all be keeping very busy over the foreseeable future, and it's time to let Furthur take a bow. We enjoyed the ride more than we can possibly express."
Furthur was started back in 2009 after former Dead bandmates Phil Lesh and Bob Weir reunited for a few shows and wanted the opportunity to play more together. They enlisted John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra to play lead guitar, Jeff Chimenti of RatDog for keyboards, Jay Lane of RatDog for percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo for drums.
The band had originally announced a hiatus for 2014 on their Facebook page in September of last year, citing busy schedules for Weir and Lesh as a contributing factor. Fans were assured that the band wasn't calling it quits though.
"The last time the word 'hiatus' was used in regards to the Grateful Dead world was in 1974, and we all know how much good that break inspired," the statement read. "They returned a year and a half later, stronger than ever, and for another 20 years. Furthur's not breaking up; they're simply taking a much-needed break. One way or another, we'll see you around."
Earlier this year, Weir canceled his remaining appearances with RatDog, and chose not to give much information as to why. He appeared last month with Lesh to sing the National Anthem during the MLB World Series, and looked to be pretty healthy.
