Steve Kimock

Steve Kimock is perhaps the quintessential Bay Area guitarist, playing in a variety of jazz-rock ensembles from the instrumental <a href="spotify:artist:5flr59Gf8q6tLnYn80L1bn">Zero</a> to the post-<a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Grateful Dead</a> configurations of the Other Ones and <a href="spotify:artist:4f89vSCi2dhBZH40L1Suv1">Phil Lesh & Friends</a>. Born in Lancaster, PA, where he played music with family members, Kimock migrated to the Bay Area in the mid-'70s to play with the Goodman Brothers.

Kimock began to play around the area in a variety of outfits, including the Underdogs (with flutist <a href="spotify:artist:2ffTjAc1xUCDlhG91ECwDX">Martin Fierro</a>). He soon began to refine his signature style -- laid-back, carefree, fat, and extremely melodious. In terms of vibe, Kimock has often been compared to the late <a href="spotify:artist:3QDaXfnxfQqqJQK5lSdjLN">Jerry Garcia</a> (who once proclaimed Kimock to be his favorite unknown guitarist). Kimock's long association with <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">the Grateful Dead</a> family began in 1979, when he joined <a href="spotify:artist:3eaeQ57vzeoo7CAdmneT22">Keith</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0UV8L1AHKOKuHkjsF9MbF8">Donna Jean Godchaux</a>'s short-lived <a href="spotify:artist:3rua5jDJ2qej3VdS98g23r">Heart of Gold Band</a> (which disbanded soon after <a href="spotify:artist:3eaeQ57vzeoo7CAdmneT22">Keith Godchaux</a> died in an automobile accident). In <a href="spotify:artist:3rua5jDJ2qej3VdS98g23r">the Heart of Gold Band</a>, Kimock crossed paths with drummer Greg Anton.

In 1984, the pair co-founded <a href="spotify:artist:5flr59Gf8q6tLnYn80L1bn">Zero</a>, an instrumental unit comprised of the pair, along with <a href="spotify:artist:2ffTjAc1xUCDlhG91ECwDX">Fierro</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:02VlPIk5vGQ80CfOVFVEWL">Bobby Vega</a> on electric bass, <a href="spotify:artist:473EeieFNtN9bfQPvPQD9B">Pete Sears</a> on keyboards, and former <a href="spotify:artist:7DCnwoFMqGN6eZULdcLZeL">Quicksilver Messenger Service</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:6wnqh6uVEmfWWGfQ7iQNXp">John Cippolina</a> on guitar. At the behest of <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Dead</a> lyricist Robert Hunter, the group added vocalist Judge Murphy in 1991. Though the group became a Bay Area institution, recording a half-dozen albums of hippie-ish fusion, they never quite caught on nationally. Throughout his tenure in <a href="spotify:artist:5flr59Gf8q6tLnYn80L1bn">Zero</a>, Kimock continued to perform with various musicians as Steve Kimock & Friends, with which he released a self-titled album.

When <a href="spotify:artist:5flr59Gf8q6tLnYn80L1bn">Zero</a> disbanded in the late '90s, Kimock continued on with KVHW, a quartet comprised of himself, <a href="spotify:artist:5flr59Gf8q6tLnYn80L1bn">Zero</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:02VlPIk5vGQ80CfOVFVEWL">Vega</a>, drummer Alan Hertz, and former <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Frank Zappa</a> sideman Ray White. Around this time, Kimock began to gig regularly with post-<a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Dead</a> configurations, such as the Other Ones (featuring most of the surviving members of the band) in the summers of 1998 and 2000, as well as some of bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4f89vSCi2dhBZH40L1Suv1">Phil Lesh</a>'s projects, through 1999. After a falling out with <a href="spotify:artist:4f89vSCi2dhBZH40L1Suv1">Lesh</a>, Kimock continued on with KVHW, where he refined his work on electric guitar, as well as lap and pedal steel.

After the departure of White, KVHW morphed into the Steve Kimock Band, which featured Kimock and <a href="spotify:artist:02VlPIk5vGQ80CfOVFVEWL">Vega</a> along with a rotating crew of guitarists and drummers. Eventually, the lineup solidified with drummer Rodney Holmes and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:14QcPG8ksOIzRE3pYt70We">Mitch Stein</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:02VlPIk5vGQ80CfOVFVEWL">Vega</a> left the band in 2001 and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:2rNtnZArzMAimcRCnFrwUU">Alphonso Johnson</a> (coincidentally <a href="spotify:artist:4f89vSCi2dhBZH40L1Suv1">Lesh</a>'s replacement in the 2001 edition of the Other Ones). In 2001, they issued Live in Colorado. In 2002, they released the double set East Meets West. ~ Jesse Jarnow, Rovi