Wolf Bros – also known as Bob Weir & Wolf Bros or Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros – is a rock band led by former
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
guitarist and singer
Bob Weir
Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...
. The band plays some Grateful Dead songs along with other
roots rock
Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...
music.
History
Wolf Bros formed in 2018 as a trio, with Bob Weir on guitar and vocals,
Don Was
Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...
on
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
, and
Jay Lane
Jay Lane (born December 5, 1964) is an American drummer. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing ...
on
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
. Billed as Bob Weir & Wolf Bros, they toured the U.S. with 19 concerts in the fall of that year. In the spring of 2019 they played another concert tour with 20 more shows. In the spring of 2020 the band began a 22-date tour, which was cancelled in the middle because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
On New Year's Eve 2020 Bob Weir & Wolf Bros, with
Jeff Chimenti
Jeff Chimenti (born October 21, 1968) is an American keyboardist, best known for his ongoing work with former members of the Grateful Dead. Since May 1997 he has played with Bob Weir & RatDog, and has also played on every tour of The Dead (inc ...
on keyboards and
Greg Leisz
Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar.
Biography
Leisz grew up in the garage band cu ...
on pedal steel guitar,
livestreamed
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...
a concert from
TRI Studios Tamalpais Research Institute, also known as TRI Studios, is a virtual music venue in San Rafael, California; it is the brainchild of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, currently of Dead & Company as well as Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. TRI is a state-o ...
. The band played several more shows at TRI Studios in the spring of 2021, with an expanded lineup including Chimenti, Leisz, and a horn and string section called the Wolfpack, with Brian Switzer on trumpet, Adam Theis on tenor trombone, Sheldon Brown on tenor and alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and bass flute,
Mads Tolling
Mads Tolling (born July 5, 1980) is a Danish-American violinist, violist, composer and two-time Grammy Award-Winner.
As a former member of the Turtle Island Quartet and bassist Stanley Clarke’s band, Tolling is today leading his own projects ...
on violin, and Alex Kelly on cello.
In June 2021 the band, now billed as Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, performed four concerts in Colorado, and in July they played one show in California.
On February 18, 2022, the band released an album of recordings from the June 2021 concerts called ''
Live in Colorado
''Live in Colorado'' is an album by Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. It was recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on June 8 and 9, 2021, and at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre in Vail, Colorado on June 11 and 12, 2021. It was released a ...
'', in CD, vinyl, and digital formats.
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, accompanied by the Wolfpack, played a spring 2022 concert tour with a lineup including
Barry Sless
Barry Sless (born December 22, 1955) is an American musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He is plays both traditional six-string guitar and the pedal steel guitar.
Performances with
*Section 8
*David Nelson Band
*Phil and Friends
*Moonalice
* Kin ...
on pedal steel guitar.
The band played a fall 2022 concert tour of 21 shows in 13 cities, with the quartet again accompanied by Barry Sless and the Wolfpack.
A second album of recordings from the June 2021 concerts, ''
Live in Colorado Vol. 2'', was released on October 7, 2022.
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, along with Barry Sless and the Wolfpack, are scheduled to tour the U.S. in February and March 2023.
References
{{Bob Weir
American rock music groups
Bob Weir