Garcia played banjo, guitar and kazoo. He taught himself to play pedal steel guitar, an instrument popularized on the Hawaiian Islands and still heard often in today’s country music.

With Garcia on banjo, Rowan playing guitar, and Grisman taking up mandolin duties, the ensemble also featured Kahn on bass. Greene, John Hartford, and Vassar Clements rotated on fiddle.

With Garcia on banjo, Rowan playing guitar, and Grisman taking up mandolin duties, the ensemble also featured Kahn on bass. Greene, John Hartford, and Vassar Clements rotated on fiddle.

In 1964, the guitarist took a road trip, hoping to become Bill Monroe’s banjo player. The journey, and his longtime love of the genre, shaped the Grateful Dead. By Fred Goodman Reporting from ...

Jerry Garcia's birthday is August 1. He was born in San Francisco in 1942 and proved a master of American musical styles, most notably with The Grateful Dead.

Bill Kreutzmann was only 18 years old when Jerry Garcia invited him to join some fellow Bay Area players in a jam session that would culminate in the creation of a new group: The Warlocks.

Although Garcia is most famous for his psychedelic rock explorations with The Grateful Dead, Rudd was first exposed to Garcia through his short tenure playing banjo with Old & In The Way.

Excavating Jerry Garcia’s Crucial Bluegrass Roots In 1964, the guitarist took a road trip, hoping to become Bill Monroe’s banjo player.