UPDATED 4/8/08
Live Music Archive
Recorded 3/1/08 Sat.
Donna Jean and the Tricksters
Live at Mexicali Blues
Web Site
Show link
KDHX Radio Show
4/5/08 Sat.
St. Louis, MO 11 PM (EST)
The Grateful Dead Hour / Deader than Ever with Jim Bruce
Songs and Interview!…
Weblink
The Music Box
Article: from 3/28/08
By John Metzger
Donna Jean Finds Her Groove…
Weblink
JamBase
Article: from 3/27/08
By Alex Borsody
The highly anticipated new album born from the collaboration between Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay and her new band, The Tricksters, does not disappoint.
Purplybob's Charlotte and Asheville
Show Reviews
The trees are beginning to bud, the days are getting longer, the air is getting warmer…
Rolling Stone Magazine
Article: from 3/20/08
Rolling Stone Fricke's Picks by David Fricke
Dead Ahead
Before there was a jam-band scene, there were the Zen Tricksters, a Grateful Dead-inspired New York band, founded in the mid-Eighties, whose grip on the Dead's canon was well-regarded even while the real thing was still around. Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay was in the Dead for most of the Seventies, and the pairing of her Southern-gospel alto and the Tricksters' roots-and-groove interplay on Donna Jean & the Tricksters (Heart of Gold) is a warm, perfect fit, especially in the early-Seventies Boz Scaggs-style R&B of "All I Gotta Say" and "No Better Way." The production will be too crisp and clean if your idea of nirvana is a '74 Dead soundboard. But this record is built for comfort and camaraderie, the old Bay Area way.
WXPN World Cafe Live
Philadelphia, PA
Live Radio Broadcast
No Better Way, Farewell Jack, All I Gotta Say, So Hard, Shelter, Till the Morning Comes
E: Reno
2/19/08
Look for an appearance…
by Donna, Jeff, and Wendy on an upcoming WBAI, Morning Dew Radio broadcast in early March..
Recording some songs and talk.
website link
1/29/08
"Homegrown Records 129”
There are a lot of a familiar sound...
website link
1/29/08
"Phildelphia Daily News”
In the Pocket: A whole lotta bands have tried to pick up the mantle and moves of the Grateful Dead. But no singular disc has ever pleased this Deadhead quite as immediately as "Donna Jean and the Tricksters" (HGR/Dig/Ryko, A-) from the band of the same name.
The set boasts the worthy and familiar vocal/songwriting talents of Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay, a member of the Grateful Dead from 1971-'79. Here she's working with a great band of roots-rocking dudes who can do that San Francisco bluesy shuffle like nobody's business.
(Catch 'em live 3/6/08 at the Sellersville Theater.)
website link
1/27/08
"Interview with
Stu Levitan”
Donna Jean Godchaux Mackay and her great new band, Donna Jean & the Tricksters, have a brand new release…
Listen
1/9/08
"Exclusive
Donna Jean Interview”
Today we interviewed Donna Jean McKay, formerly of the Grateful Dead, about many…
Listen
Download ".wma" file
1/9/08
"Purply Grotto”
Gram Parsons coined the term “Cosmic American Music” to…
Website Link
12/10/07
"Rex Foundation”
Catching Up With Donna Jean…
Website Link
11/29/07
"WRRW 100.9 FM”
Donna and Jeff interview and band performance
1 PM
Website Link
Live Radio Link
10/15/07
"WXPN 88.5 FM”
Jamnation hosted by Matt Reilly
Between 8 and 9 PM
Website Link
10/10/07
"Relix Pod Cast”
Mike Greenhaus' Cold Turkey
Website Link
9/27/07
"Dear Friends ”
You are invited to witness the early stages of a band – the toddler phase if you will. But these guys are toddling at about 60 mph. After a year of learning about each other, they put together a CD of originals (out late January ’08) that’s going to knock your socks off. That was the birth. After a great run of festivals this summer, the band took off on its first real tour last week. After taping a session with David Gans for a future “G.D. Hour,” they opened at Sweetwater in Mill Valley. The club was hot (literally, 100 degrees), and the band was hotter. Bob Weir dropped by for a courtesy call and was so impressed with the band that he stayed to jam for two hours, Los Angeles, Taos, and another explosive set in crusty butt – oh, sorry, that’s what the locals call it – Crested Butte, Colorado. After various other stops in Colorado, they’re coming back to the East Coast. That’s where you come in. In October they’ll hit New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Upstate NY, NYC, and more Pennsylvania. You don’t get a whole lot of chances to see a band at the beginning. Trust us, this is a chance you want to grab.
9/25/07
"Check This Out!”
Donna Jean and the Tricksters kicked off their western swing on Wednesday with a visit to David Gans' “Dead to the World” show on KPFA, Berkeley, followed the next night by a truly stunning show at the soon-to-close Sweetwater, in Mill Valley. After a blazing first set that showcased their original material - “All I Gotta Say,” “Weight of the World,” and “Moments Away” drew a huge response from the packed crowd - they opened the second set with a superb bit of Beatles, “I Want to Tell You,” and then introduced a friend.
Bob Weir had originally intended to drop by to see his old pal DJ, play a couple of tunes, and go home early. Fat chance. They kicked off an energetic blues jam, and the more he heard from the band, the more he smiled. Eventually, they threw in “Jack Straw,” “Sugaree,” “Cassidy,” and “Eyes of the World,” and stretched that over 90 minutes of incendiary singing and playing. First rate stuff. By the time he'd left the stage, he'd sweated through his shirt - and pants.
Now that's hot.
And quite a start for a band that's showing off an impressive combination of songwriting and playing.
9/18/07
"Little Birdie”
Get to Sweetwater on Thursday…
9/07
"Steppin' Out”
Hey, DJ&tT fans...it's time for us to hit the road, and for you Western fans to dust off your dancin' shoes. We'll be playing for David Gans' G.D. Hour on Wednesday, September 19 (you can catch that locally on KPFA, or on the internet, or later on the national radio show), then helping say good-bye to the wonderful Sweetwater in Mill Valley on the 20th, and then through Los Angeles, New Mexico and Colorado (and then around the East Coast in October)..come see us and say hello!
"Donna Jean Interview”
by Gary Lambert
Saturday, Gathering of the Vibes 2007. "
8/07
"On Live Music Archive!! "
7/22/07
"Ever Grateful "
7/21/07
Bear's Picnic, From our reporter...
perfect weather... peaceful, blissfull audience...kicked off blistering 80 minute set with a rockin' 'No Better Way,' played many songs from forthcoming record including
Dave Diamond's 'Weight of the World' and
'Me & Kettle Joe,' closing with a smokin' 'Reno.'
Mookie sat in on entire NRPS set. DJ and Jeff sat in on 'Peggy-O' and 'Franklin's Tower' (DJ lead vocal), with Wendy joining NRPS, Mookie, DJ and Jeff on 'Garden of Eden/Last Time/Garden of Eden' to close the set. 3
7/16/07
"Dead's Donna Jean tries new tricks"
6/25/07
Dear Deejster Heads:
Time
for you to figure out which of your good buds has Sirius Radio. Donna
Jean and Jeff went into Sirius yesterday (June 26) and had a nice rap
with Buddy Cage and recorded 2-3 tunes. Sirius will be playing from
their session and also from our CD sampler (Yes! It exists! And it'll
start going out to media this week - and to lucky Deejster Heads first
at the American Roots Festival on June 30th and July 1st …) all day on
the 4th of July.
So be patriotic and listen to Donna Jean and the Tricksters - a real
American band.
6/14/07
"Check out our new guest book and the Donna Jean forum on Dead.net. We want to know what you think!"
6/6/07
Donna Jean still "Grateful”
to be singing
5/18/07
The band's adventures in
Port Washington, New York
This past weekend over two nights and three shows, the New Riders of The Purple Sage invited a number of guest players to the stage. On Friday night at the Landmark Theater in Port Washington, NY, keyboardist Mookie Siegel pulled double duty, initially appearing with Donna Jean & the Tricksters before playing on the entire New Riders set. In addition, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay stepped up for "I Don't Know You" and "Garden of Eden" The later song also featured Tricksters' guitarist Jeff Mattson, who played on "Henry" as well.
Then on Saturday, the NRPS performed two shows at Bridgeport CT's Acoustic Café, with Reid Genauer delivering an opening solo set. During the early show, the New Riders' Buddy Cage joined Genauer for "Speculator" before Genauer came out with Cage's group during "Friend of the Devil." Later in the evening, Genauer joined in on "Peggy-O" and "Rainy Day Women.". This story is also posted on jambands.com
5/10/07
We know that recently we’ve been very quiet, at least publicly. It’s sort of like we’re elves, and it’s not yet the big day – we’ve been working ferociously, but it’s still too early to open the packages. For the past two months Donna Jean and the Tricksters have lived in the studio, and boy, are we proud of the results. You’ll get your first taste in June, when we plan to send out a promotional sampler with two studio tunes and two live tunes to accompany our summer shows. A full CD should be out early next year. The wait’s going to be worth it.
3/12/07
Saturday night (3/10), Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay joined Bob Weir & RatDog at the Beacon Theater for the second set, sounding better than ever. She was in NYC recording the debut Donna Jean and the Tricksters record. Greeted by the cheers of 4,000 DogHeads, DJ added her sweetly powerful vocals to Grateful Dead chestnuts like "Brokedown Palace" and "Friend Of The Devil," as well as The Beatles' "Come Together," The Rolling Stones' "Last Time," Van Morrison's "Gloria," and a few others, working the weekend crowd into a frenzy.