Grateful Dead founder has been 'There and Back Again' (Created March 13, 2013)

On a typical night, Phil Lesh would be plucking, slapping, picking, tacking or thumping a bass guitar in front of a rabid sea of fans. It's the one thing he knew well as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he spent 30 years until the band's disbanding in 1995. But what do you do when one of the most popular rock bands in the world stops…rocking? You find a new way to carry on the tradition.

It's hard to imagine Lesh playing anything but strings, unless you head back to his childhood. As a youngster, he played both violin and trumpet, studied under the conductor of the Golden Gate Park Band and had an interest in classical music and free jazz. As the Grateful Dead came together, it was paradoxical musical interests and the strong bond of friendship that had them off to a running star. And Lesh? He had never played bass until he joined them for their third or fourth gig. Needless to say, he never left.

Considered an innovator of the electric bass in the 1960's, Lesh's talents didn't go to waste after the disbanding of the Grateful Dead. He continued to play with bandmates Bob Weird and Mickey Hart in the Other Ones, and in 1998 made headlines for more than his music. It was that year when he Lesh learned he needed a liver transplant, and would have the operation that December. The Sunday before the surgery, 'Deadheads' (as Grateful Dead fans are known) joined in what became known as "Five Minutes for Phil," a worldwide prayer circle he would later credit as a huge factor in his recovery.

Just before the turn of the century, Lesh issued his solo debut, "Love Will See You Through." It was followed by "There and Back Again," in the spring of 2002. Lesh has since toured as Phil Lesh & Friends, opened a music venue called Terrapion Crossroads, and has been performing with Further alongside former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir.