Bob Weir - Blue Mountain (2016)

Blue Mountain is an upcoming solo album by former Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Bob Weir, scheduled for release on September 30, 2016. The album was inspired by his time working as a ranch hand in Wyoming when he was fifteen years old.

Musicians on the album include Ritter, Nelson, Josh Kaufman, Scott Devendorf, Joe Russo, and The Walkmen's Walter Martin, along with lyricists Gerrit Graham and Barlow. Kaufman is the producer.

Weir described the making and collaboration process of Blue Mountain: "When I was 15 I ran away to be a cowboy. I found myself working in Wyoming living in a bunk house with a bunch of old cowpokes and ranch hands, and a lot of those guys had grown up in a era before radio had even got to Wyoming. Their idea of an evening was to tell stories and sing songs. I was the kid with the guitar I was the accompaniment.I learned a bunch of those songs and got steeped into that tradition. It’s a tradition that’s almost gone. I’ve been sort of wondering what to do with that, for decades now. About four years ago, I did a webcast with Josh and a bunch of the guys from of The National. I enjoyed playing with them a bunch. They decided that they liked my cowboy tunes with the Grateful Dead, and proposed a project where we do some stuff like that. That proposal kinda rang my bells."