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''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded
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, ...
concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide number of artists. It is the second-longest continuously published music magazine in the United States after ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''. The magazine is published eight times a year and , had a circulation of 102,000. Peter Shapiro currently serves as the magazine's publisher and
Dean Budnick Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix,"Editor's note" ''Relix'' October/November 2013 grew up in ...
and Mike Greenhaus currently serve as Editor-in-Chief.


Origins

Les Kippel, a native of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, was the founder of the First Free Underground Grateful Dead Tape Exchange in 1971 that recorded and traded live Grateful Dead concert tapes for free. As the popularity of trading live concerts on tape increased, a practice the Grateful Dead allowed and ultimately encouraged, Kippel realized that he needed to get a more streamlined method of getting tapers together to trade. Jerry Moore (1953–2009), a native of
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
who attended
Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in the Bronx borough of New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehma ...
, was another early taper and trader who, in the later words of Grateful Dead historian
David Gans David Gans ( he, דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה גנז; ‎1541–1613), also known as Rabbi Dovid Solomon Ganz, was a Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer and astrologer. He is the author of "Tzemach David" (1592 ...
, was "almost a stereotype of the poetic Irish soul but with a bit of a psychedelic edge to his tone." Kippel and Moore connected through local New York-area Dead clubs and co-founded a newsletter to help his fellow tape-traders connect with each other. Jerry Moore became the first editor-in-chief of the new publication, called ''Dead Relix''. The first issue was released in September 1974 with an initial print run of 200. Kippel allowed a friend, who taught printing in a high school printing shop to 'use' Dead Relix to teach printing to the students. The first issue featured a black and white drawing of a large skull in the center with a horned, winged creature below it and marijuana leaves sprouting around it. On the upper left it says: "Dedicated to the memory of the world's sneakiest tape collector—Tricky Dicky" (a reference to the then-culminating
impeachment process against Richard Nixon The impeachment process against Richard Nixon began in the United States House of Representatives on October 30, 1973, following the series of high-level resignations and firings widely called the "Saturday Night Massacre" during the course o ...
). The issue cost $1.25. With only 50 initial subscribers, Kippel printed 200 copies. However, once word spread of the magazine, subscriptions rose quickly. The first issue was released shortly after the Grateful Dead announced a hiatus. The timing was auspicious as ''Dead Relix'' now became the only way for Deadheads, who frequently only saw each other on tour with the band, to stay in touch and up-to-date with band and its members' happenings. The group's hiatus also created the opportunity for ''Dead Relix'' to broaden its coverage as it came to include other Dead-esque bands on the San Francisco scene like
New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...
, Commander Cody and
Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...
.


Transitions

Jerry Moore left the magazine in 1977, but in later years resurfaced as a presence in the East Coast scene until his death in 2009. In 1978, ''Relix'' underwent a major transition that propelled it from more of a newsletter to a true magazine. The change started with a new editor, Jeff Tamarkin, who held that position during 1978 and 1979. Tamarkin had bigger plans for ''Relix''. He felt it needed to branch out and he wanted to broaden the coverage to include more different types of music—punk, metal, new wave, even pop. Kippel gave him free rein to expand as he wanted. Dead was dropped from the title and the subject matter changed dramatically. The result was a greater readership and many angry Deadheads. Kippel attempted to appease the worries of ''Relix''s longtime supporters in a letter from the publisher in the Jan/Feb 1979 issue. He wrote: In 1979, the
Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...
,
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, and even Blondie appeared on the cover. However, the Grateful Dead were never too far removed from ''Relix'' as pictures and interviews with the Dead still appeared in the magazine just with less frequency. Tamarkin's tenure with ''Relix'' was brief, lasting only two years (today, he remains a contributing editor). His replacement was Toni Brown. While Brown appreciated Tamarkin's adjustments to the magazine, she recognized that ''Relix'' was straying from its Deadhead roots. Her first act was to put "Dead" back into the title although it appeared in small print above the "R" in ''Relix''. Brown, who married Kippel in 1980, took his job as publisher and assumed full responsibility over the future of the magazine. When the Grateful Dead released '' In the Dark'' in 1987, the band's popularity grew exponentially with the help of radio airplay and "Touch of Grey" becoming the group's first song to chart. It played sold-out stadiums. The media became more involved with the Grateful Dead scene as did the police and the government's Drug Enforcement Administration. Deadheads were targeted for drug use and gained something of a negative reputation. ''Relix'' recognized the profiling and tried to educate Deadheads about how to avoid the police and what to bring (and not bring) with you to shows.


Merchandise and record company

To keep the magazine profitable, Kippel began dealing an array of collectibles geared towards ''Relix'' readers. This prompted him to create a merchandising divisions of the ''Relix'' company called Rockin' Relix/ Relix International. This led to many ties in the music merchandise world and Kippel gained connections all over the music scene. Kippel started a record company which he called
Relix Records ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...
in 1980, after prompting to do so from Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter. Now, the ''Relix'' corporation was flourishing. ''Relix'' kept close ties with the record stores that were buying their magazines, merchandise, and now, the albums of the artists it represented. ''Relix'' records existed for 20 years and released over 120 records including many magazine favorites, such as
Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...
, Hot Tuna,
Free Grass Union Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to proc ...
, the New Riders of the Purple Sage,
Wavy Gravy Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. (born May 15, 1936), known as Wavy Gravy, is an American entertainer and peace activism, activist best known for his role at Woodstock, as well as for his hippie persona and counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural be ...
, Commander Cody and many more. Brown also created a forum in the magazine for readers to correspond with incarcerated Deadheads, many who were convicted of non-violent drug offences.


Phish and ''Relix''

In October 1989, ''Relix'' covered the band
Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
. Mick Skidmore heard an unreleased copy of
Junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...
and decided to write a review. He closed the piece with, "I hope we get a chance to hear more from these extremely talented musicians in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, this tape comes highly recommended." Phish is now one of the most popular bands in the country and frequently appears in the magazine's pages.


''Relix'' after Jerry Garcia's death

Following
Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...
's death on August 9, 1995, ''Relix'' was once again the focus of media attention. ''Relix'' put a close up picture of Garcia on the cover which was used by media outlets all over the country. Publisher Toni Brown remembers, "Wherever I looked, ''Relix'' was there. I admit that it bolstered sales to heights we'd never seen, but I would have preferred to have Jerry back." People looked to ''Relix'' for how to cope with the loss of Garcia, the band and its constant tours, tours that were for many provided their livelihood in selling handmade/homemade merchandise and food. ''Relix'' began focusing on a wider of array of bands including
Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
,
Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
,
Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...
,
Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...
,
Free Grass Union Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to proc ...
,
The String Cheese Incident The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang (acoustic/electric mandolin, electric guitar, and violin), Michael Travis (drums and percus ...
, moe.,
The Disco Biscuits ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
,
Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco. Over their thirty years as a band Salmon have released seven studio albums and three li ...
,
God Street Wine God Street Wine (also known as GSW) is a jam band from New York City. Their music is an amalgam of rock, jazz, bluegrass, funk, psychedelia, pop, Americana, reggae, progressive, and more. The band broke up in 1999 and reunited in 2009. GSW playe ...
and Strangefolk. In 1998, ''Relix'' celebrated its 25th anniversary. Brown, in the editorial for the closing issue of 1998, marveled at ''Relix''s survival and her tenure. She writes, "For many years, I thought that once I completed the last issue of our 25th year, it might be a good time to move on and find myself a new adventure. I never realized the existing adventure would still be fresh and exciting and that the party would go on for so long." She stayed on as editor of the magazine for the next few years, through 2002. In August 2000, Kippel and Brown decided they were ready for a new direction and sold the magazine to Wall Street executive Steve Bernstein. With that change also came new editor (Aeve Baldwin), art director, marketing and advertising departments. The office was also moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The new team prepped readers for a new ''Relix'' in the February 2001 issue explaining that the April issue would have an entirely new design and also some content changes. Baldwin originally joined the ''Relix'' team when Bernstein persuaded her to take the position when he bought the magazine. She and Bernstein had met in Japan where he had worked for several years and, on the side for fun, was one of her writers at Tokyo Classified, an English-language magazine based in Tokyo where she was the editor). Josh Baron, previously the executive editor who had been with the company since 2001, took over as editor-in-chief in 2007. In 2001, Relix also purchased Jambands.com, a daily news website devoted to improvisational music founded by
Dean Budnick Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix,"Editor's note" ''Relix'' October/November 2013 grew up in ...
in 1998 that helped popularize the term 'jamband'. In 2007, ''Relix''s 190-issue archive entered the vault in the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...
in Cleveland. Under Bernstein's leadership, ''Relix'' served as the basis of
Zenbu Media Zenbu Media is a media company located in New York City, United States and founded by Steve Bernstein that is focused on the music industry, sporting the slogan "we live for music." Print Zenbu Media formerly published ''Relix'' magazine, ''Gl ...
Group, which included productions such as The Jammys, The Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, world music magazine
Global Rhythm ''Global Rhythm'' was a former New York-based monthly music and lifestyle magazine featuring coverage of world music, film, cuisine and travel. It was published monthly and circulated across North America, Europe and hundreds of other locations ...
and heavy metal magazines,
Metal Edge ''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. Zenbu Media acquired ''Metal Edge'' in February 2007. Both ''Metal Edge ...
and
Metal Maniacs ''Metal Maniacs'' was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music. History Founded in 1989 by Mike 'G' Greenblatt and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. Where its sister publication ''Metal Edge'' largely covered glam metal, ''Meta ...
. In February 2009, Bernstein folded Zenbu Media due to financial difficulties. The entire staff of all four magazines was let go. As ''Relix'' went to print with what was likely its last issue (April/May 2009), a group of the magazine's employees along with Peter Shapiro created Relix Media Group (LLC) to buy ''Relix'' and Jambands.com from Bernstein. Shapiro had previously owned jamband-oriented club
Wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
in New York City, and produced concert films such as ''I Love All Access'' and ''
U2 3D ''U2 3D'' is a 2008 American-produced 3D concert film featuring rock band U2 performing during the Vertigo Tour in 2006. The film contains performances of 14 songs, including tracks from ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' (2004), the album supp ...
''. The latter having been the first live action digital 3D film brought to big screen movie theaters. Shapiro currently owns Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, a bowling alley, concert venue and restaurant as well as Brooklyn Bowl London, Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas and the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. The group included Baron, the editorial team of
Dean Budnick Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix,"Editor's note" ''Relix'' October/November 2013 grew up in ...
and Mike Greenhaus, advertising team of Rachel Seiden and Cole Boyle along with Shapiro. ''Relix'' releases eight issues a year, each with a compilation CD inside featuring artists from that particular issue and up-and-coming bands. Since 2009, Relix Media group has co-founded doNYC, a New York-area event database, with partners DoStuff Media and Bowery Presents, and started the Hear & There advertising network. In 2013, Baron stepped down as Editor, leaving Budnick and Greenhaus to assume the role of Editor-in-Chief. Relix spent much of 2013 counting down to its 40th anniversary. As part of the magazine's anniversary campaign, artists core to the magazine's history—including The Who, Dave Matthews Band, Warren Haynes, Phil Lesh, Widespread Panic, Jack Johnson and Kings of Leon—received cover profiles. The magazine also launched the Relix 40 list, compiling the best books, live albums, guitar solos and jams since Relix's first issue. Recent cover artists include: Jon Batiste, Grace Potter, Tame Impala, Robert Hunter, Gary Clark Jr., a tribute to the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary, My Morning Jacket, Punch Brothers, Robert Plant and Phish. In June 2020, with most concerts cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Relix published a special Power of Live issue.


References

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External links


Official website
Music magazines published in the United States Grateful Dead Magazines established in 1974 Eight times annually magazines published in the United States Magazines published in New York City