KSHE Real Rock News
October 9, 2003
According to Bob Weir, a big change in his band Ratdog is proving to be the right thing for the group. Earlier this year Weir dismissed bassist Rob Wasserman, Ratdog's cofounder, and brought in Robin Sylvester. Weir told us that while Wasserman's busy playing style worked in Ratdog's early days, it wasn't working out anymore: "The thing about Rob Wasserman, who's a wonderful bass player and a wonderful guy -- the way he plays, he's just all over the instrument, but he's way better suited to smaller ensembles, which Ratdog was to begin with, but got bigger. The duties of the bass player sort of changed as we added personnel."
Weir added that Sylvester, who's been playing with Ratdog since March, has proven to be a better fit: "Well, the rhythm is more solid, because we've got a bass player who's got a good rhythmic sense, and he's content to do that without throwing a bunch of extra stuff -- which ends up, almost necessarily, being clutter in an ensemble the size of Ratdog, a sextet, and everybody's playing a lot."
In addition to Sylvester, Ratdog's lineup includes guitarist Mark Karan, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, drummer Jay Lane, and saxophonist Kenny Brooks.
Ratdog kicks off a 14-date U.S. tour on Saturday (October 11th) at the Great Southern Music Harvest in Live Oak, Florida. The group will play some new material they've been working on for a new album.
Weir recently wrote the forward for a new book called Home Before Daylight: My Life On The Road With The Grateful Dead. The book was written by longtime Dead roadie and Jerry Garcia manager Steve Parish, along with journalist Joe Layden.