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Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris

Tim Walther: Jam Band Festivals, Grateful Dead Legacy

Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris

Darrell Craig Harris

Music Interviews, Music, Music Commentary

4.6107 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

n this episode of Music Matters, host Darrell Craig Harris sits down with top jam band festival promoter and Dark Star Orchestra manager Tim Walther. Tim shares his journey through the world of live music, including his deep connection to the Grateful Dead, managing iconic jam bands, and producing some of the genre's biggest festivals. From behind-the-scenes stories to insights on what it takes to build legendary live music experiences, this conversation is a must-listen for fans of the jam band scene and the music industry alike. Tune in for an inside look at the culture, business, and passion behind the jam band movement. www.AllGoodPresents.com www.AllGoodNow.com  About Music Matters with Darrell Craig Harris The Music Matters Podcast is hosted by Darrell Craig Harris, a globally published music journalist, professional musician, and Sports Illustrated photographer. Music Matters is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Podbean, and more. Each week, Darrell interviews renowned artists, musicians, music journalists, and insiders from the music industry. Currently, over 1,000,000 global downloads in 40 countries. Visit us at: www.MusicMattersPodcast.com Follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/musicmattersdh For inquiries, contact: musicmatterspodcastshow@gmail.com Support our mission via PayPal: www.paypal.me/payDarrell  voice over intro by Nigel J. Farmer

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Music Matters podcast with Daryl Craig Harris,

0:07.1

talking about all things music with celebrities, artists, music business insiders, and more.

0:20.8

Tim Walther, how are you doing today?

0:23.0

Doing great.

0:23.9

Awesome. So you were joining us from Maryland, and are you a Maryland native? Is that

0:28.3

where you kind of grew up in that area? I am. I'm in Frederick Maryland right now, and I grew up

0:31.9

in Ellicott City, Maryland. So, yeah, I've been here my whole life. I went away to college

0:35.4

for four years to James Madison and came back. Yeah, that's a beautiful area. And there are a lot of festivals there in the summertime, of which some of the biggest ones you're actually responsible for. When did you start the All Good Now festival? Well, the first festival I ever did was called the Full Moon Music Festival. I guess to go back a step. So, you know, I toured with the Grateful Dead. I did like 52 shows with the Grateful Dead. And, you know, I was there when Jerry passed. I mean, Jerry passed away, you know, I had been going to a lot of shows at that point. And, you know, we kind of all looked around like, what are we going to do now? The Grateful Dead's no more yeah and uh you know I was um

1:13.9

at a time, I was already doing street promotion for some bands. And, you know, I got inspired, but I was going to these festivals at one were Farthing, Brandywine, Maryland, they were Camp Out Music Festivals, and they weren't being produced very well. They weren't being run very well. They weren't being attended very well. And I just like, you know, hey, maybe I can do this.

1:33.3

Basically by myself and, you know, a couple hundred bucks. I don't know how I did it, but I got it started

1:39.2

with the full moon music festival. And I realized on the second year of the full moon music festival,

1:43.3

I couldn't have the full moon on a weekend every year because obviously it changes where it lands.

1:49.0

So I decided to call it the All Good Music Festival and that was that ever since.

1:53.0

And those festivals have been very successful. Along with that, you're the manager for Dark Star Orchestra, which is a very popular band.

2:00.0

Tell me how you got into the jam band scene. You mentioned touring with the Dead. What was your original inspiration for that? Were you a big music fan of that genre when growing up? Or how did that happen? I don't know. It seems like it all goes back to the Grateful Dead. You know, I was a sophomore in college and my friends were going to the C.C. and

2:19.4

they were like, hey, Tim, you want to go along and like, what are you doing? We're going to see the

2:24.0

Grateful Dead. And to me, the Grateful Dead was like a country band. I didn't really know anything

2:29.0

about them, didn't have interest in them. But I went anyway, I really went for the party and, you know,

2:36.0

I put a square piece of paper on my tongue and then everything changed. You see, you see

2:40.6

music a little differently. Exactly. Yeah. I think that that scene and people don't realize,

2:46.2

I mean, they know the dead musically, but the people that are actually who followed the dead

2:50.0

for decades,

...

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