Sinister Dexter Press is proud to present
a collection of short stories
by
Alex Kolker
ABOUT THE
BOOK: Ever since my college days, I have been a Deadhead -- one
of several hundred thousand of the most dedicated fans of the
rock group the Grateful Dead. Whenever the band went on tour,
we would all pack up and follow along after them, getting into
as many concerts as we could, and hanging out together in the
concert hall parking lots before and after each show. There, we
would meet, play music, and buy and sell each other's crafts,
tie-dyed T-shirts, food, and drugs. I used to earn my pocket change
on tour by selling bound copies of these short stories at the
shows.
Jerry Garcia's death, in August of 1995, was
literally the end of an era. And while nothing indeed can fully
replace the Dead, tour itself has gone on -- with Furthur Fests
and the Other Ones, and of course Phish. Touring, then, has become
more than just a Deadhead phenomenon. It has become a permanent
part of American culture.
And even though there are enough bootleg recordings
of Dead and Phish concerts to keep the music alive for generations
to come, and enough interviews with and non-fiction books about
the bands themselves, few have yet to record what life on tour
is like. Tour-heads are a special breed -- facing up to a grueling
schedule and the ridicule and suspicion of the locals just to
attend their tenth, their fiftieth, their hundredth concert. It's
all one big party, but better yet, it's one big family -- because
when the show is over, everyone just picks up, drives on to the
next town, and starts it all up again.
I wrote Tales of Tour for everyone:
- for people who never got a chance to go
to a Dead show and are curious about what they've missed
- for people thinking of going on tour who
want to know what to expect
- for parents and significant others of
tour-heads, wondering what sends their loved ones out on the
road for weeks at a time
- for the tour-heads themselves, for those
long, cold months between tours
I've found it next to impossible to explain
what tour is all about to someone who's never been on one. But
Tales of Tour is my best attempt. If you're interested,
read the sample stories below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alex Kolker got to celebrate both his 25th
and 30th birthdays by attending Dead concerts. He also had the
mixed pleasure of seeing Jerry's last show in July of 1995. One
of his few regrets in life is that he turned down the chance to
see the 7/6/90 show in Louisville, Kentucky, which is now one
of his favorite bootlegs.
Below is a sample story
from the collection, and two other samples of my tour writing:
- "Ace Scores
a Ticket"
-- This is by far the most popular of my Tales of Tour.
It even gets a couple of mentions in Shenk and Silberman's Skeleton
Key. It is the story of Ace, who arrives at a Dead show in
Buffalo, NY (16 July 1990) without any cash, but he doesn't let
that get in the way of his good time.
-
- "Deer
Creek Memories"
-- This is not a short story, but an essay. It doesn't appear
in the Tales of Tour volume. But it's a good overview
of all the different crazy things that can happen on tour. And
for those who love Deer Creek as much as I do, it will bring
back some good memories.
-
"Back-up" -- My very latest "Tales of
Tour," and a bonus to this web site. This story doesn't
appear in the Tales of Tour collection.
-
There are eight Tales
of Tour in all, bound up in a single, soft-cover volume (132
pages). If you like the Tales below, EMAIL
ME, and I'll tell you
how to get a copy.
Or click the link below
to order a copy directly from the fine men and women of:
Thank
You, Jerry!
If you have a minute,
check out the fine links and web rings below, all of which have
been gracious enough to include us in their Nethead communities:
The always delightful 
Hippie
Magazine
You can find a great
selection of official merchandise from Phish's current tour at:
This Psychedelic
Soop site is owned by