Mickey Hart

Former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart has become such an iconic leader of all things relating to rhythm, he's even spoken to a White House-appointed committee about the importance of music and its potential for physical therapy. Hart, who now leads the Mickey Hart Band after a stint with the Rhythm Devils, comes to Nelson Ledges this weekend as part of Rhythmfest. He spoke in a recent phone interview from StarCity Studios in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he was rehearsing for his upcoming tour. - Jeff Niesel

You're such an advocate of rhythm, you even spoke about it before the Senate Committee on Aging. How excited are you to be playing a festival called Rhythmfest?

It would be like playing home. It's the right idea. That's what it's all about. In life, music and relationships, it's all about rhythm. That's the perfect name. I've always considered the primacy of rhythm to be very important. I'm on the Board of Directors of Music and the Brain at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx. We work with dementia and the motor-impaired and get them involved in drum circles. That's where the main music research is being done. It's the most interesting frontier, musically speaking.

How did you first get the name the Rhythm Devils?

Originally, it was when Francis Ford Coppola asked me to do some music for Apocalypse Now. I called us the Rhythm Devils and it spilled over to the Dead. The kids used to call our drum sessions the Rhythm Devils. Now it's the Mickey Hart Band. [Former Rhythm Devils members] Bill [Kreutzmann] and [bassist] Mike Gordon are doing their own thing. George Porter has replaced Bill and we added Kyle Hollingsworth from String Cheese Incident. Jen [Durkin] is turning into a monster singer now. She's really coming into her own with these new [Robert] Hunter songs.

You've been a drummer all your life. Can you remember a period in your life without drums?

Well, there have been short periods of my life. I just spoke to a very prominent drummer who told me he laid off drums for two years. I couldn't believe it. I've gone maybe a week and a half when I was really depressed or sick and couldn't play. I had an operation on my back once and couldn't play. Other than that, I can't imagine it. I'm always tapping my hands or thinking of a rhythm. You have to be with music. I'm coded with it. I think you have to sit back and take a break and let your hands rest. I will play quietly for a month. Then I'll open up again. You can't spend your whole life at warp 10.

You've played all over the world. What's the most exotic location you've played?

The Sudan in the Sahara was great. That was a wonderful playing experience. Also the Arctic Circle. That was hot. I've played in Bali and Indonesia. Those were really rhythmically sophisticated and soulful events. I've also had magical moments in an airport terminal. I had a magical epiphany there. You can find the groove and the rhythm in strange places and nooks and crannies. I play privately for myself, too. Those are the moments when you can get spiritually nourished.

Your new DVD includes some pretty cool graphics. Were any hallucinogens involved?

That's all on the plate of Jeff Glixman. He's the real visionary. I think it's a marvelous job. It is mind-expanding and alters your perception as music should. It turns it into an experience and not just a boring concert. We just played the concerts. He took the footage.

You once led the biggest drum circle in the world. What was that like?

That was great. I assembled 4,700 drummers in Wavy Gravy land. That was like being massaged by a thousand fingers.

There are countless jam bands, each with a following. Will anything ever replace the Dead?

Nah. That was a special thing. Nothing could be like that. That was so magical and dysfunctional at the same time. I don't think anybody would really want to. It's an original. They can take the spirit of the Grateful Dead and take it further. To be the Dead, why bother? We've already done it.

Have you given any thought to what you might call your own flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream?

Oh, God. I have no answer for that. I do like cherries and chocolate. Cherry Garcia is great. Jerry never thought there were enough cherries. But how can you miss with chocolate and cherries? I have to think about that. I'll get back to you on that.

Rhythmfest: July 3-6 at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, 11853 Rt. 282, 440.548.2716. Tickets: $45-$105.