Sturgill Simpson is running it back in Mexico with Bob Weir.
Last year, Sturgill Simpson fans loved seeing him grace the stage with Bob Weir at the Dead Ahead Festival. The annual festival is held on the sandy beaches of Mexico, and Deadheads from near and far come to watch Bob Weir and many other artists take the stage and celebrate the music of the Grateful Dead. Before his triumphant comeback, Simpson stepped onto the stage with Weir and Margo Price to perform “Mama Tried,” and fans could not get enough.
Not only was Simpson’s voice back at full capacity after rupturing his vocal cords, which led to his extended break, but he also played like he never took a day away from being on stage. Simpson fans were hopeful that seeing him back on stage at the start of 2024 meant he was cooking up some new music, and they were correct as later in the year, he announced and released his Johnny Blue Skies project, Passage Du Desir, and his first tour since 2021, the Why Not? Tour.
At the end of 2024, Simpson opened up about how stepping on stage with Bob Weir at the start of the year and performing at the Dead Ahead Festival inspired him to make new music and tour again.
“I wasn’t doing anything and I was asked, did I want to go to Mexico for a couple of days and play guitar for the Grateful Dead? I wasn’t really familiar with them, because in my early twenties in Kentucky there was a jam band scene which I dismissed as unstructured noodling, and I lumped the Dead into that.
Then when Bob sent me 60 songs I had to learn, I thought, why is this so easy? It’s almost like I could anticipate where Jerry was going. And it was because Jerry played folk, country, bluegrass and blues, the same way I play guitar! He is now my favorite guitar player.
And after I got home from those shows, all I could think about was playing guitar for 10 hours a day again. I called my booking agent and said, ‘I wanna go on tour.’ Jerry Garcia, I hate to say it, might have saved my life!”
Given that his appearance last year was a significant turning point in his musical career, the newfound Deadhead returned to Mexico to perform at this year’s festival.
This year’s lineup included Sturgill Simpson, Ricky Mitarotonda, Jeff Chimenti, Oteil Burbridge, Don Was, Jay Lane, Brittany Spencer, Grace Bowers, Brandi Carlie and more.
One of my favorite clips from the festival is Simpson and Weir on stage, accompanied by Ricky Mitarotonda (of the band Goose) for a performance of “Me And My Uncle.” The song, initially recorded by The Mamas and the Papas, was re-recorded by the Grateful Dead in 1970. The lyrics of the song detail a road trip with a narrator and his uncle as they move from Colorado toward West Texas.
Simpson crushed this cover. Simpson leads the vocals on the song, while Weir and Mitarotonda let it rip on the guitar. The three men on stage, all playing different guitars, create a sound that is pure magic.
“One of them cowboys, he starts to drawAnd I shot him down, Lord, he never sawShot me another, hot damn, he won’t grow oldIn the confusion, my uncle grabbed the goldAnd we hightail it down to Mexico“
To round out the cover, Weir comes in to sing the final lines, and you can hear the audience singing along with him.
This video is well worth watching. These men blow this rendition of “Me And My Uncle” out of the water.