Dark Star Orchestra
By: Lori Smerilson Carson | Photos: Courtney Scout, Itamar Gat & Bob Minkin Photography
Bringing a childhood dream of being a musician to life is what Dark Star Orchestra Keyboardist Rob Barraco did. Along with bandmates, Guitarists Jeff Mattson and Rob Eaton, Bassist Skip Vangelas, Vocalist Lisa Mackey, Percussionist Dino English and Drummer Rob Koritz, Dark Star Orchestra recreates similar fond memories of past Grateful Dead concerts and has played over 3,400 shows since their formation in 1997. Now, Florida fans can experience this incredible show on December 2nd in Jacksonville at the Florida Theatre, on December 3rd and 4th in Fort Lauderdale at FTL War Memorial, and December 5th in Clearwater at The BayCare Sound.
Catching up with Barraco, he revealed some details about the show, about himself, the band’s past occurrences, and what fans can look forward to.
SFL Music Magazine: What inspired the band to form and play Grateful Dead’s music?
Rob Barraco: So, back in 1997, John Kadlecik, who was a Chicago bass guitar player and Scott Larned who was a Chicago based Keyboard player got together, had an idea that they get a band together that would recreate Grateful Dead shows in their entirety. They hired a bunch of local musicians that had like mind, and within a month or two, they were completely packing the venues they were playing. Quickly, the word got out throughout the whole country and they started touring, and it’s been going on now for almost thirty years.
SFL Music Magazine: Dark Star Orchestra has played over 3,400 shows which include original set stuff such as stage configuration, vocal arrangement and moments that happened. What can fans look forward to with the show?
Barraco: Well, I like to tell people you have to come and expect the unexpected and be willing to venture into the unknown because that’s what we’re doing. Even though it might be a show that we’re re-creating, every note we play is improvised. We know how to navigate the different eras of Grateful Dead. We set our stage up exactly like the Dead would have set it up in that particular era. We use the same instruments, and we know the arrangements of the songs because they changed from era to era, but after that, it’s anybody’s guess what’s going to happen. We just start playing and we take it where it goes.
SFL Music Magazine: What prompted you to become a musician?
Barraco: Oh (he laughed). Well, when I was really little my parents surrounded me with music. I mean, from the day I was born. They were into big band music and jazz and Italian singers. So, I always had music around me, but then I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. I instantly in my six-year-old brain knew that’s what I was going to do. I told my mother right then and there I said, I want to do that! She goes, “what do you mean?” I was like, that’s what I want to do! And I pointed to John Lennon on the screen, I said, I want to be him! She laughed, and about a week or so later, she bought me a guitar and made me take lessons. That’s the greatest thing that she could have ever done for me, and I haven’t looked back since I was six years old.
SFL Music Magazine: So how did you go from The Beatles to the Grateful Dead?
Barraco: It’s interesting. I think because of my background of the music I was listening to even before I could speak, a lot of it was melody driven. Very strong melodies. Beatles, all their songs, very strong melodies really crafted well. When I heard the Grateful Dead for the first time, the very first song I ever heard them play, it was the same feeling, oh these guys know what they’re doing! They know how to write a song. They tell a story, and instantly I was sucked right into that music. What I didn’t understand was, and I didn’t understand this until I got to see them for the first time which was probably about a year after I heard them for the first time. When I got to see them, I realized right away that they were improvising everything. Nothing sounded like the records. None of the songs, and the show was filled with songs I never heard. So, they had this huge catalogue of new songs that weren’t even recorded yet that were playing at my first show, and they were just improvising the whole thing. That blew me away completely because I had never seen that before. I never even understood that existed. I eventually became a jazz musician. I was jazz trained and it was because of the Grateful Dead because of the whole improv aspect of it.
SFL Music Magazine: So, you did take formal lessons.
Barraco: Yeah, yeah and I went to school for music, but the Grateful Dead, I attribute the whole start of the journey to them as far as me wanting to really delve into the improvisational aspects of music and study.
SFL Music Magazine: Dark Star Orchestra has had them as guest performers like Phil Lesh, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, and Bob Weir?
Barraco: Yeah, we did. And Bill Kreutzmann as well. We also had some of their keyboard players over time. Tom Constanten played with us, Vince Welnick. I worked with Phil Lesh for many years in his solo projects. Then I also was in the Dead when they brought it back with Bob and Phil, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.
SFL Music Magazine: What would you say you took away from those experiences?
Barraco: You know, it is, to always expect the unexpected. Never be complacent. Always push the envelope.
SFL Music Magazine: Is that something you’d advise a new musician?
Barraco: Absolutely! Always! It’s the only way you’ll learn and grow and that’s what Dark Star does every night. We try to push the envelope. Even though we’ve played these songs so many times and I’ve played 3,400 shows, we still want to surprise each other every night.
SFL Music Magazine: What would you say is maybe the goal of the band, of Dark Star Orchestra?
Barraco: Well, (he laughed) to keep on playing.
SFL Music Magazine: I think that will definitely happen!
Barraco: Yeah. Our goal is to reach that unobtainable place every night. We aim high and try to get there. We might not always get there, but we never phone it in. We’re always pushing.
SFL Music Magazine: Is there anything else coming out for fans to look forward to? Any videos?
Barraco: If you go to our website which is darkstarorchestra.net you can find a whole ton of information. You can go on YouTube. We’re on so many different platforms. Archives has loads of shows they can listen to. There’s a lot of stuff out on the net. We have nugs. Nugs is a platform that records live bands and puts the music out. We’ve done tons of nugs shows, so all that music is out there.
SFL Music Magazine: Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to when you come to Florida?
Barraco: I love Florida! I’ve been going to Florida since I was a little kid. My parents lived there for twenty-five years in Southwest Florida, and I’ve been playing in Florida probably since the late eighties. Many, many shows, all over.
SFL Music Magazine: Was there anything else fans should know about the show?
Barraco: Like I said, expect the unexpected!
