Born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI, Alex began his lifelong love of piano and music at the age of 4. Alex attended Michigan State University and at 18 began playing professionally in the local and statewide music scene, focusing on blues, funk, jam and rock. Playing often with many jazz and classical music students also imparted those influences on his playing style early on. Alex writes and produces original music, and is a passionate audio engineer and collector of vintage studio recording equipment. Over the last two decades Alex has performed as a member of more than a dozen bands of multiple genres, both cover and original, with a special passion for the Jam community and The Dead.
Alex is not just taking over keys, but as a pro audio producer, he will be mixing our soundboard recordings, audible on our YouTube channel.
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Never ones to rest on our laurels, Raising The Dead announces two shows on Saturday, February 25! From 11-2 we play at The Sardine Room in Plymouth for a super tasty acoustic brunch. That night, we return to The Parliament Room at Otus Supply for an electric show featuring Bill Butler, Matthew Cole, Dave Martin and Chaim Tolwin, joined by one of our favorite keyboardists, Alex Gauthier. Don't miss this chance to spend a whole day with the new Raising The Dead!
photos: William Morgan "We are, have been, and will continue to be... Raising The Dead" Dave first spoke this impromptu benediction at the Cadieux cafe on February 28, 2020. It happened to be the first show for Joseph Waldecker and Matthew Cole, and Joe remarked that he loved it. From that day, it has been our catch phrase, spoken at the end of every show. Laurie joined us in summer of 2020, and together we have played larger and larger gigs, culminating with the Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins shows in January of 2023. For their final shows, Joe and Laurie collaborated on writing setlists that furthur stretched our repertoire and echoed their first Grateful Dead-related shows. Our 2-11-2023 Otus show was inspired by Laurie's experience on 10-17-1994 at Madison Square Garden. This show was inspired by Joe's first Ratdog 2-28-2008 at Royal Oak Music Theater. Go ahead and look up the setlists! Dedicated's Woody Rose joined us on keyboards for this show, we really love playing with Woody! This show wasn't just Joe and Laurie's final show, it was the end of an era, as well as a satisfying and exhausting weekend of incredible music. Fare Thee Well, Laurie and Joe! We can't wait to show you what will come next with remaining members Bill Butler, Matthew Cole, Dave Martin, and Chaim Tolwin. Stay tuned, the music never stops. 2-12-2023 Tangent Gallery Detroit, MI
Set I: Here Comes Sunshine > Drums > Dark Star > Let It Grow, Must've Been The Roses*, King Solomon's Marbles, Ruben and Cerise*, Lady With A Fan > Slipknot! > Lazy Lightning > Supplication Set II: Looks Like Rain, Blow Away, The Other One > Deep Elum Blues, Terrapin Station > Blues For Allah > Terrapin Transit > At A Siding > Terrapin Flyer > Terrapin Reprise, Fire On The Mountain E: Brokedown Palace, Turn On Your Love Light *=First Time Played Photos: Michael Chojnowski and William Morgan What an amazing, beautiful, joyful night! The Parliament Room was totally packed for Joe and Laurie's last performance there with Raising The Dead. Words cannot describe the immense contributions Joe and Laurie have made to our group over the last 3 years - so we won't try, letting the music do the talking for us. You know our love will not fade away! Saturday, February 11, Ferndale, MI I: In The Midnight Hour, Shakedown Street, Hell In A Bucket, Peggy O*, Samson and Delilah, Big Boss Man, Scarlet Begonias, Passenger, Built To Last II: Let The Good Times Roll^, Morning Dew, New Speedway Boogie, Box of Rain > Saint of Circumstance, Help On The Way > Slipknot > Drums > Space > Mountains of the Moon^ > All Along The Watchtower^, Cassidy, Easy To Love You^ E: Unbroken Chain * = Sung by Chaim Tolwin ^ = RTD Debut Join us on the weekend of February 11-12 for Laurie and Joe's swan song with Raising The Dead! Tickets are on sale now, get them before they sell out!
Saturday February 11 at Otus Supply doors at 7:30 $15/20 Sunday, February 12 at Tangent Gallery, Flying Caterpillar at 2pm $15/20 It was a typical Tuesday, until a message from Matt notifying the band of an Instagram post by @GratefulDead highlighting our contribution to the #DeadCoversProject. Every February, Dead.net solicits videos of Grateful Dead songs, and we submitted one as we have the last few years. This year's submission was Laurie singing New Speedway Boogie, and a fantastic group effort from the whole band. Further investigation showed that Raising The Dead was published across all channels of the Grateful Dead social media! We are flabbergasted and super honored for the shout out and video share. Our video had about 250 views before they published it, and now, just 24 hours later, 1.2k views. Check out the video below, and don't forget to get your advance tickets for our Otus Supply and Tangent Gallery shows on February 11-12. photos: Dan Terpstra, Matt Cole, Dave Martin What a cool night (literally)! Raising the Dead arrived in Grand Rapids for our first gig in Furniture City. The game was sold out with a 10,500 capacity crowd and we were excited to play some good ole' Grateful Dead for the fans. After setting up and grabbing a nosh across the street, we prepared for a 5:50 performance. Some misunderstanding about the door procedures meant we'd be playing while fans entered, but we made the most of it. After all, we had these AMAZING official CCM Griffins/Grateful Dead jerseys that Bill had negotiated as part of our compensation for the gig. The hockey players also had them, but they were soon to be auctioned for charity, where prices ranged from $500-1200 depending on the player. The band was asked by many fans if they could buy the jerseys off us, and Dave starting saying "for $1000, it's yours."
Our friend Dan Terpstra from terpstraphoto.com was hired to be our personal paparazzi for the night, at a cost of 5 tickets and an all-access pass. Dan's wife and my high school best friend Michele had turned 50 the previous day, so they were in a party mood. Turns out the whole crowd was in a party mood! After our 40 minute set pre-game, we were prepared to play two 14 minute sets during the period breaks. A staff member told us that during the first break, they cancelled all on-ice events because the crowd was so into the show! Wow! Another staff member told us that in her 26 years, they never let a band play during the period breaks (not sure if that one is true, but happy for the enthusiasm). What is certain is that with awesome sound reinforcement from Kim Denton and T Andrew Nicodem, the band was kicking on all cylinders and gave a rocking show, be sure to check it out below. 1-21-2023 Grand Rapids Griffins Grateful Dead Night, Grand Rapids, MI I: Sugaree, Uncle John's Band > Playin in the Band > Morning Dew > Playin in the Band > Uncle John's Band II: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider II: Feel Like A Stranger > Franklin's Tower We were excited to keep the vibe going after our amazing Little Caesars Arena show, taking the stage at 11pm and leaving at 2am! The first set video is below, but somebody bumped the camera before our second set, so you'll have to make do with just audio. Either way, the AUD recordings are really excellent and worth a listen! We left the stage exhausted but happy to have had such an amazing day of the best music. We used the occasion as our rehearsal for the Griffins game to come the next weekend, and the palindrome we played (Playin>UJB>China Doll>UJB>Playin) would be repeated in a different order (and different middle song) at Van Andel Arena. Red Wings Afterparty at the Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI 1-14-2023 I: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Easy Wind, Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World > Drums & Space > Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance II: Franklin's Tower, Althea, Playin' in the Band > Uncle John's Band > China Doll > Uncle John's Band > Playin' in the Band. Raising The Dead hope you'll join us on Saturday, January 21 at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI for the Griffin's Grateful Dead night. Tickets are still available, starting at $17. There IS a t-shirt ticket pack available at $44. Performance begins at 5:30 and will also take place between periods. We had an amazing show at the Red Wings, looking forward to one more!
More info from the T-Shirt Pack ticket link: Grateful Dead Tribute Night Ticket + T-Shirt Exclusive Saturday, Jan. 11 - Griffins vs. Springfield Falcons Van Andel Arena - 7:00 p.m. Join us January 21 as we pay tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of all time with a Griffins ∙ Grateful Dead Night! Through this exclusive offer you’ll receive: ∙ A specially priced ticket to the Griffins ∙ Grateful Dead Night game. ∙ A voucher redeemable at the game for a Grateful Dead-themed t-shirt. Available exclusively through this offer, this limited edition shirt commemorates both the Griffins' Grateful Dead Night game, as well as the Dead's first and only Grand Rapids performance. ∙ Entry into a raffle for a Griffins game-issued Grateful Dead-themed jersey, with the drawing to to take place during the first period (one raffle entry per email). The game will feature a pre-game concert by Raising the Dead, and Griffins players will wear Grateful Dead-themed jerseys that will be auctioned off during and following the game in support of the Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation. For more information on everything Grateful Dead, visit Dead.net What an amazing show! The Grateful Dead night at Little Caesars Arena was a peak performance for Raising The Dead. Just check out the setlist, chock full of deep Dead cuts. The sold out event was attended by 1500 Detroit deadheads, and we definitely felt the love! Our show featured lead vocals by 6 of the 7 members of the band and sparkling harmonies throughout. After a 4 minute space out, Golden Road began, the audience shouting "HEY!" with us by the end. We then began the Terrapin Station section of Terrapin, Dave singing "inspiration!" Due to our 75 minute play time, we skipped Lady with a Fan. What we didn't skip was the remainder of the Terrapin Suite, showing off our instrumental prowess. After some announcements, we performed Cassidy, dedicated to Cassidy Pepper whose mom Carli reached out to us via email with the request. Laurie took the lead on New Speedway Boogie, the band backing her up singing "One Way Or Another." Bill's turn at the lead vocal was Pride of Cucamonga, a rarity for the Dead and other Dead tributes. We included teases of Beck's Bolero in tribute to the recently deceased Jeff Beck, and The Other One in the E minor jam. Joe led us through our debut of The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, another opportunity to showcase our awesome backing vocals. Matt took the reins on our debut of Built To Last, and Justin expertly took over vocals on Sampson and Delilah. We ended the show with a repeat from last year's Red Wings show, Shakedown Street. All in all, this was RTD at it's most powerful and focused - a beautiful thing to behold. We have so many thanks to give: top notch audio by On Sight Productions, video production by TheFunkShop.com, and the awesome Red Wings organization led by our contact, Payten Mahoney. Dave spent many hours producing soundboard audio and melding captured video. If you only watch one RTD video, make it this one! Raising The Dead is performing on January 21 at the Grand Rapids Griffins game at the Van Andel Arena. 1-14-2023 Red Wings Grateful Dead Night, Detroit, MI Space > Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) > Terrapin Station > Terrapin Transit > At A Siding > Terrapin Flyer > Refrain, Cassidy > New Speedway Boogie, Pride of Cucamonga*, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down^, Built to Last^, Sampson and Delilah, Shakedown Street *=Beck's Bolero and The Other One teases ^=RTD debut |
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