Crawdaddy! The Magazine of Rock

Once known as the most obscure member of the Grateful Dead, rhythm-maker Bill Kreutzmann is a man with many hats. After a 30-year career with the Bay Area’s longest-running psychedelic rock band, and following the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, the drummer seemed to have disappeared off the map and onto the Hawaiian coast, where he spent the better part of the last decade following his other passion as a digital artist. Popping up here and there for an occasional tour with the Other Ones, the Dead, and a 2006 run with the Rhythm Devils, it wasn’t until last year that Kreutzmann jumped back into music full-force with a band of his own design. Lately, the co-composer of Dead staples “Dark Star” and “The Other One” has been infused with a renewed passion as a musician. Or, as he relates: “Right now, I’m playing music like crazy with all kinds of people. That hunger or something bit my ass again to go out and play.” Kreutzmann’s new trio, BK3, is a musical force to be reckoned with. Featuring guitarist Scott Murawksi from Max Creek and bass guitarist Oteil Burbridge (or, alternately, bass guitarist James “Hutch” Hutchinson), the trio is Kreutzmann’s belated answer to RatDog, Phil Lesh & Friends, and the Global Drum Project—the post-Grateful Dead musical offspring of his band mates. Relaxing at his home on Kauai, Kreutzmann took some time to answer a few questions while packing his bags for a tour with his new trio, followed by rehearsals for the Dead’s spring tour.

Crawdaddy!: With your new trio, how did you come up with the name “BK3″?

Bill Kreutzmann: [Dead lyricist] Robert Hunter suggested that we should call our band “Three,” but there are a lot of other bands out there that have been called that, so I just put my initials in front of the “Three.” And “BK3″ is kind of cool, I mean, that’s what we are. We are a trio. One name came our way from a great friend, Col. Bruce Hampton. He’s a good friend of mine and he said, “You should call yourselves ‘The Egyptian Windmill Operators.’” [laughs]. But it’s kind of long, so “BK3″ works well.

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