"I mean, we just started, it's a new thing. We're doing this for fun and we're going to see where it goes"
About this Quote
There’s a practiced looseness in Bill Kreutzmann’s phrasing that reads less like uncertainty than like strategy. “I mean” and “we just started” aren’t verbal clutter; they’re softeners, the kind musicians use to lower the stakes in public so the work can stay nimble in private. For a legacy figure like Kreutzmann - a drummer forever entangled with the Grateful Dead’s mythos - every “new thing” arrives under the shadow of expectation. Saying it’s “for fun” is a way of reclaiming oxygen from the hype machine, a preemptive strike against fans and press who want a mission statement, a reunion narrative, or a brand.
The subtext is boundary-setting: don’t make this sacred, don’t make it contractual, don’t trap us in your nostalgia. It’s also a quiet assertion of artistic autonomy late in a career. “We’re going to see where it goes” signals openness, but it’s not passive. It’s the ethos of improvisational music translated into public relations: the point is motion, not destination. That line carries the jam-band worldview in miniature - outcomes are discovered, not imposed.
Context matters because “new” is a loaded word when your past is canonized. Kreutzmann’s appeal has always been feel over fuss, groove over grandstanding. This quote keeps that promise. It invites curiosity while refusing to audition for relevance, and it subtly reminds you that the best music scenes - including his - begin as an experiment among friends before anyone tries to turn them into history.
The subtext is boundary-setting: don’t make this sacred, don’t make it contractual, don’t trap us in your nostalgia. It’s also a quiet assertion of artistic autonomy late in a career. “We’re going to see where it goes” signals openness, but it’s not passive. It’s the ethos of improvisational music translated into public relations: the point is motion, not destination. That line carries the jam-band worldview in miniature - outcomes are discovered, not imposed.
Context matters because “new” is a loaded word when your past is canonized. Kreutzmann’s appeal has always been feel over fuss, groove over grandstanding. This quote keeps that promise. It invites curiosity while refusing to audition for relevance, and it subtly reminds you that the best music scenes - including his - begin as an experiment among friends before anyone tries to turn them into history.
Quote Details
| Topic | New Beginnings |
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