[Cover photo of Steve Kimock with the Wolf guitar, credit to Susana Millman]
The Grateful Guitars Foundation (GGF), a 501(3)(c) nonprofit that “obtains musical instruments for talented players who seek to carry on the tradition of Jam band music into the 21st century and beyond,” has announced that they will gift the musician Steve Kimock with a recreation of Jerry Garcia’s Wolf guitar during his band Zero’s 40th anniversary shows at Petaluma’s Mystic Theater on November 8 and 9, 2024.
Hailed as a highly influential guitarist in the Grateful Dead and jam band community, Kimock’s style has often been compared to Garcia’s, who, in his later years, called him one of his favorite guitarists. As a founding member of the Bay Area fixture Zero (which at one time included the Dead’s lyricist Robert Hunter), he also played with a variety of Grateful Dead offshoots including The Other Ones, Phil Lesh and Friends and Dead & Company. Over time, he’s shared the stage with everyone from Bob Weir to Donna Jean Godchaux to Phish’s Mike Gordon.
This year, Zero is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated with special concerts, including the shows next month at the Mystic where Kimock will be gifted with a custom-built, Doug Irwin-Certified Wolf 2.0 #4 guitar, crafted by Bill Asher and inspired by Jerry Garcia’s Wolf guitar.
Kimock comments:
It’s an extraordinary instrument and a really touching vote of confidence that I’d be worthy of such a gift. I’m humbled and truly grateful. Beyond that, it’s an inspiration to hold and play, and it’s sure to advance my playing. It’s a very special gift at this point in my life.
Founded by Andy Logan in 2019, the Grateful Guitars Foundation not only serves to put guitars in the hands of musicians in the community, but also supports music instruction in schools to seed the next generation of these players through their partnerships with various schools and educational organizations.
The foundation recently established an ongoing partnership with Blue Bear School, which will directly support Blue Bear School of Music’s Outreach Programs. These programs provide free music instruction to San Francisco youth from low-income housing units and in underserved neighborhoods throughout the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
