The Grateful Dead is a longtime supporter of the voter registration organization HeadCount, and with the presidential election taking place next Tuesday, the band is continuing its partnership with the non-partisan group through an initiative aimed at urging fans to get out and vote.
As part of the campaign, band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir are posting messages encouraging people to head to the polls. In addition, virtual “vote” stickers now appear on the covers of all Grateful Dead albums available digitally and via streaming services.
The Grateful Dead also commissioned more than 20 artists associated with the band to create Dead-themed “Get Out the Vote” art that’s now available for fans to download and share on their social media pages. The artists contributed their designs free of charge in support of HeadCount.
“HeadCount works with hundreds of artists from every musical genre, but here’s a not so little secret…the ‘Head’ in HeadCount refers to Dead Heads,” explains HeadCount executive director Andy Bernstein. “We created the organization on the premise that if more Dead Heads voted, the world would be a better place.”
In other news, The Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Stream” streaming concert series is returning this Friday, October 30, with a screening of Dead Ahead, a film focusing on the band’s memorable 1980 Halloween shows at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The movie will stream at the band’s official YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET, and will be preceded by a pre-show event co-hosted by Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux and band historian Gary Lambert.
Also on Friday, the previously announced 50th anniversary deluxe reissue of The Grateful Dead’s classic album American Beauty will be released. Sunday marks the actual 50th anniversary.
By Matt Friedlander
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