Billy K. Smacks Down Furthur

Upstate NY’s Press-Republican newspaper ran a feature about Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann’s 7 Walkers project today and what’s most interesting in the article is Billy’s take on Furthur – a band featuring two of his GD band mates, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. Here’s what he said…

“I haven’t really got much interest in them. They sound just like the other bands out there doing it. What do you call those bands that copy other bands—” Kreutzmann said. “Anyways, I don’t feel they’re doing anything really new with their music.

“We play Grateful Dead tunes in 7 Walkers but with our own take on everything. We don’t play them slow, we play it loud and up tempo. The saddest thing is that they (Furthur) hired a guitar player that’s not Warren Haynes. It’s too bad. They should have hired a great solo guitar player.” [Press-Republican]

Both the Furthur camp and the Rhythm Devil camp have shied away from talking smack about each other’s bands, but clearly Kreutzmann has taken a detour from the high road. Former Dark Star Orchestra and current Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik took the brunt of Billy’s criticism and you can sense the animosity in each of the drummer’s words.

We’re now over a year into Furthur’s run and there’s all sorts of rumors floating around that a number of 2011 dates will be announced soon. Do you agree with Kreutzmann’s assessment of Furthur’s music? Do you think there’s any chance the surviving members of the Dead will put the animosity behind them anytime soon? Leave a comment below and let us know.