Even casual music fans probably know the Grateful Dead as the foundational jam band. But another aspect of the group doesn’t get talked about as much: how they wove acoustic blues, folk and country music into their rainbow tapestry of influences, earning a rightful place alongside other founders of what we’ve come to call Americana. That’s what roots-music royalty Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will honor when their Acoustic Reckoning Tour makes a hometown stop. The pair are marking the 45th anniversary of Reckoning, a compilation of acoustic performances from the Dead’s 1980 tour. The Reckoning track list includes Dead staples like “Dire Wolf” and “Cassidy” as well as general stone-cold classics like Elizabeth Cotten’s “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” and “The Race Is On” as made famous by George Jones. “We have flirted with Grateful Dead music throughout our career,” Welch and Rawlings say in an Instagram post about a month after Dead co-frontman Bob Weir’s death in January, “until this anniversary was suggested as a good reason to book these shows. We know the Dead’s music is a mountain, and we’re hoping to start up from base camp this spring in celebration of their legacy.” Expect the selections you know from the double LP plus other surprises from the vast Dead repertoire.
8 p.m. April 3-4 at Brooklyn Bowl
925 Third Ave. N.
