Diary Of A Deadhead: A Wild Magical Ride into the World of Sound and Vibration

Pulling back the curtain on the magically mysterious world of the Grateful Dead, Diary of a Deadhead tells one woman’s intriguing spiritual adventure following the band. Part memoir, part American history, author Candace D. Carson uses her personal experiences in the turbulent 1960s and ’70s to illustrate the larger story of her generation as they grappled with the scars of the Vietnam War.

Like many others, Carson found salvation in the music of the Grateful Dead. The live performances became her church, a place where she could dance her way to joy, wisdom, and oneness in the uniquely intertwined theater where the audience partnered with the band in bringing the music to life. Amid the wild and colorful world of sound and vibration, everyone was connected and everyone was free—even the musicians chose the unrestricted route of improvisation, allowing imperfection to ground the fantasy in an intoxicating reality.

Candidly captivating, Diary of a Deadhead invites you on a voyage to experience the childlike wonder and joy that music can provoke, as well as the healing it can provide.

Candace D. Carson is a Deadhead. A hippie since the late 1960s, she was introduced to the Grateful Dead's music in 1972, when she heard their Workingman's Dead album. She attended her first show in June 1979 and her last in May 1995, just before Jerry Garcia's death. When she's not listening to the Dead, she works as an Iyengar yoga instructor out of her own studio and also spends time pursuing her photography hobby. Carson lives in Gunnison, Colorado, with her husband. Diary of a Deadhead is her first book.