BOX OF RAIN is the classic six piece that pays tribute to the most prolific and finest period of the GRATEFUL DEAD, 68-74. Featuring a revolving, all star lineup with former members of Dark Star Orchestra, Living Earth, Zen Tricksters and Dead On Live, BOX OF RAIN channels the sound and magic that could have only happened at that special time.
And what a time it was..the Dead were at the height of both their songwriting and improvisational prowess! Featuring an extended Pig Pen presence, one very swingin’ drummer and the most coherent and visceral space/improvisations, the typical 5-6 hour GD performances were legendary and a trip for sure.
“BOX OF RAIN is a true labor of love with Bob Stirner (Living Earth/Boris Garcia) on lead guitar, Craig Privett (Half Step, Jam Stampede) on bass, Mike Kennedy (Living Earth) on guitar, Bud Burroughs (Boris Garcia) on keys, Jon Bernstein (Bears Choice) on harp and Pig Pen vocals and Tim Kelley (Boris Garcia) on drums.”
Tom Hampton’s years as a journeyman multi-instrumentalist and sideman are bookended by his origins as a singer and songwriter – he released his critically acclaimed debut “Our Mutual Angels” in 1997 before heeding the call as a session player based on his demonstrated adeptness on multiple instruments during those recordings. His path in the years that followed found him touring and recording with Poco, Craig Bickhardt, The Marshall Tucker Band, Robert Hazard, Dan May, Tracy Grammer and a multitude of acts who came to rely on his musical sensibilities.
Hampton was the last person to join the pioneering country-rock band Poco, but following the death of founder Rusty Young in 2021, Hampton joined with the surviving members to form Cimarron 615 – and found himself revisiting his songwriting roots. Writing or co-writing three of the album’s songs (including the title track), he found that he’d reopened a vein…and songs started pouring out.
The resulting album, “A Month Of Somedays”, owes as much to Jason Isbell and John Moreland as it does to formative influences Jackson Browne and Stephen Stills – the songs are character studies – honest looks at life, regret, the passage of time that could only come from an abundance of mileage and experience. The music wears his country-rock origins on its sleeve, but rides an undercurrent of red dirt Americana instrumentation and confessional singer/songwriter lyricism to form a unique, yet instantly familiar sonic landscape.