...those who have gone before.

THE BOBBYS:

Mike Maraat (November 11, 1997- December 4, 1999) - Mike was the original Bobby and co-founder of the band. He retired at the end of 1999 after 261 shows leaving some awfully big shoes to fill. In fact, the band was forced to do some Jerry Garcia Band material until they could find a replacement. He can be found playing around the Chicago area.

Rob Eaton (December 14-31, 1999; April 16 - May 6, 2000; October 24 - December 31, 2000) - Rob Eaton showed up at Martyrs' in late 1999 and blew the room away. THEN he admitted that he couldn't break away from his own band Border Legion or his job as recording engineer. As a result, a series of stand-ins were employed and the Bobby Rotisserie (see below) was born. Rob joined in on tours as his schedule would allow and finally on Febuary 23, 2001 he rejoined DSO for the long haul.

Chopper (January 21- Feb 21 and March 30 - April 8, 2000) - Chopper was a friend of Rob Koritz from the band Blue Dixie. He filled in for a short time in the Bobby Rotisserie for 19 shows on the Midwest tour of 2000. The shows which ended in one of his renditions of Lovelight were always barn-burners.

John Sabal (Jan 25, Feb 1 and Feb 8, 2000) - John filled in at three of the Tuesday night Matryrs' gigs in Chicago and was quite a crowd pleaser especially when he played some wailing harmonica on the Pigpen classic Mr. Charlie.

Bustar (Febuary 24, 2000 - March 19, 2000) - Bustar was already well known on the West coast from his own band Jerry's Kids before he filled in on 19 shows for the West coast tour. His third-grade teacher summed him up best; "Works and plays well with others. Doesn't run with scissors."

Jim Harris (May 16, 2000 - September 9, 2000; June 22-23, 2001) - Jim sat in for a soundcheck out East and ended up playing with DSO for the whole Summer (63 shows!) becoming "Bobby VI". He also played the second Gratefulfest in 2001 when Rob Eaton couldn't make it. He now plays with his own band Electric Hummus in the Boston area.

David Berg (Sept 26, 2000 - October 17, 2000; January 17, 2001 - Feb 11, 2001) - Dave came from the Long Island band Lost Marbles to join the Bobby Rotisserie. Rob Eaton had just about cleared himself for the full-time position of Bobby but couldn't make a couple tours so Dave agreed to fill in for a total of 35 shows.

THE DRUMMERS:

Ahmer Nizam (November 11, 1997 - June 30, 1999) - Ahmer was a cofounding member in the Bill Kreutzmann position who bowed out to spend more time with his new family. After a short tour in the Mickey Hart seat (as he showed Dino the ropes) he gave the position full-time to Rob Koritz. He played 189 shows in all.

Dave Cohen (November 11, 1997 - January 29, 1998) - Dave was the original second drummer, sitting in only on the late seventies and eighties shows. He played ten shows total.

Mark Corsolini (Feb 3, 1998 - June 6, 1999) - Mark, who played the Mickey Hart role, joined DSO shortly after inception and played 154 shows. For a short time he was replaced by Dino English in the Mickey Hart spot opposite Ahmer as Bill Kreutzmann then permanently by Rob Koritz.

THE BASSISTS:

Kevin Rosen (November 11, 1997 - May 20, 1998; January 17 - Feb 11; Feb 27; Mar 6-7, 2001) - Kevin was a co-founder of DSO who also played in UJB (Uncle Jon's Band). When it came time for DSO to start touring he decided to honor his previous commitment to UJB and Mike Hazdra came onboard. Kevin returned for the first tour of 2001 plus the two Park West shows but didn't rejoin full-time until March 28, 2001.

Michael Hazdra (May 26, 1998 - December 31, 2000; February 23-25, 2001; March 1-4, 2001) - Michael had been playing in the Dead Beats and the Chicago based Jerry's Kids. His bass bombs were remarkable and his capacity for coffee legendary. He retired after 410 shows on New Year's Eve but came back to help out before the search for a new bassist ended with the original bassist Kevin Rosen back in his old familiar role.

Gregg Koerner (March 8-10, 2001) - Gregg (now with Gent Treadly) filled in on bass for three shows during the search for a new bassist. He brought a different jazzy feel to the role. Gent Treadly now tours regularly in the East coast and throughout the country.

Skip Vangelas (March 13-17, 2001) - Skip played with Rob Eaton in Border Legion and filled in on bass for the four Colorado shows in Spring 2001. Shown here with his Alembic bass, Skip clearly came to play the part and did so brilliantly.

SOUND ENGINEERS:

Ray Quinn (1997) - Ray ran the front of house (FOH) sound himself for the first twenty DSO gigs at Martyrs' before handing the job to Cameron who alternately thanks and curses him every day for doing so.

Cotter Michaels (2000-2001) - Cotter had been working sound for concerts on the East Coast for years before DSO was able to persuade him to come aboard as monitor engineer. He was snatched away by Phil Lesh to do FOH sound for the P&F tours in 2001-2002 and returns every once in a while to show us all how it's done.

Glenn "Chub" Carrier (2002-2003) - Glenn was a master soundman on the jamband scene working with bands like Dave Matthews and the Grateful Dead before joining DSO as monitor engineer. He passed away Feb 1st, 2004 while on tour. Chub was and always will be "DA MAN!!!" Godspeed, Chub.

BAND MANAGERS:

Scott Larned (1997-2004) - Scott was the original manager for the band, dealing with promoters, venue managers, merchandise vendors as well as performing 200 days out of the year. The workload was enormous but he loved doing it. Finally after 7 years he gave up the added responsibilities and became "just another musician" in DSO. He died April 24th 2005, the day after playing two shows at the State Theater in Falls Church. RIP, Scott. SEE THE LARNED MEMORIAL PAGE

Norman (2004-2006) - After seeing DSO for the first time back in 1999, Norman knew that he had to get involved. When Scott Larned decided to give up managing the band in 2004, Norman was an obvious choice to carry on. Employing his business management background, Norman took on the business side of things for the band leaving them to concentrate on their craft. He stepped down in January 2007 but will always be a part of the family.

RECORDING ENGINEERS:

Dave D. Dwyer (1997-1999) - D³ was instrumental in getting the trading scene underway. He recorded virtually every DSO show in the early days and made these recordings available to all. Subsequently word spread very quickly in Chicago and ultimately the rest of the country about the band and soon they were touring nationally.

Tom Conroy (May 16, 2000-March 17, 2001) - TC joined the tour after graduating college and ultimately worked his way up to road manager. One day, however, he vanished. After an exhuastive search involving bloodhounds and pictures on milk cartons he was discovered utilizing his degree in landscape architecture by working in the vineyards of California. After his disappearance Tiny was left the recording duties until Chris Frey came on board.

Chris Frey (June 23, 2001-September 15, 2001) - Chris (or "Pinball" as he was nicknamed) had been obsessively recording the Disco Biscuits before signing on with DSO to give Tiny a break. He brought a wealth of knowledge (and equipment) to the table but could not stay on the road for the grueling tours of 2001 and passed his duties on to Pete.

ROAD MANAGERS:

Beau (1998-2000) - Beau was the first road manager and roadie. DSO enticed him away from his bartending job at Martyrs' with promises of low pay and long hours. Martyrs' later enticed him back with promises of the same thing.

Situation Pete (July 14, 2000-2002) - Pete showed up at Nelson Ledges and made himself indispensible by learning how to assemble and disassemble "the beast" while blindfolded. He got his nickname from the notorious Saratoga Springs "Pumpernickel" show..."Um...Pete?....uh, we have a situation, Pete." He took on the recording postion before being pushed into managerial duties. He also designs posters, passes and logos for DSO.

Kevin Lynch (2002-2004) - Kevin balanced his time between DSO, The Allman Brothers Band and other touring bands. He now runs his own Tour Management software company called Virtual Tour Management as well as working with local promoters and nationally touring acts.

Robbie Williams (2003-2005) - Robbie was the go-to guy in charge of everything from organizing load-ins and load-outs to finding a place for the Orchestra Express to park at three in the morning. He was on board as road manager from the 2003 Colorado tour until October 2005.. He came equipped with a motto "Every Day Is A Holiday" and a demeanor to match.

Tiny (2000-2006) was on tour with DSO from August of 2000 through August 2006 under a number of positions. He has driven the equipment truck across the country and loaded in thousands of pounds of equipment. He was Road Manager for a while after Robbie left and lays claim to introducing John and Scott when he was playing in his own band Jaharis Window. He also did his fair share of Tie-Dying for the band as well as performing as an opening act at DSO shows.

TOUR MERCH PEOPLE:

Sprout (1998-1999) - Sprout was the first tour merchandise person by virtue of being the only one who wanted the job. She left when Maraat retired.

Jen Wilson (1999-2002) - Nej handled merchandise after Sprout left. During this period DSO added frisbees, lighters, glasses and kids clothes to the many tie dyes that Phil Brown and Tiny produced. Nej handled them all plus kept track of the mailing list.

Scott Jones (2002-2003) - Bones took over merchandise and roadie duties with a winning personality and a smile to match. In actuality, he had only one fault; he was Canadian, a fact that kept him from returning for the 2004 tour. Seems the border police have a long memory.

ROADIES & OTHERS:

Debbie Knight (1998-2006) - Debbie had been helping out since the beginning. At one time she handled the "Booster Club" mailing list.and drove the "big rig" on tour. She was also John's equipment tech and drove the RV across the country.

Jeff Foege (1999) - Jeff Foege (sounds like Fogey) was a fan from the word go and because he had time to kill went along on the first few tours as part of the roadie/support team. He and Beau were indispensible during the Colorado tours of 1999. Now he's just another Midwest boy who has settled in Colorado.

Bubba (2001) - We met Bubba at Nelson Ledges a long time ago and when it came time to find some roadies his name floated to the top. Unfortunately he had to leave mid-tour to take care of some unspecified urgent familiar matter. Recently spotted in Ohio holding a barbecue fork.

The Dude (2001-2005) came on board as the band's bus driver on February 5th, 2001 and made an instant impression. Somehow, after manhandling the bus for hundreds of miles, he found the energy to make the general rounds inside the venue! And who else can wear shorts all winter, even when it's 30 below? He left in Spring 2005 but several Dude sightings have been reported since.