Relix
Encyclopedia
Relix magazine was launched in 1974 as newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead
concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide amount of artists. It is the second longest, continuously running music magazine in the United States after Rolling Stone
.
The first issue featured a black and white drawing of a large skull in the center with a horned, winged creature below it and marijuana leaves sprouting around it. On the upper left it says: "Dedicated to the memory of the world's sneakiest tape collector-Tricky Dicky." The issue cost $1.25. With only 50 initial subscribers, Kippel printed 200 copies. However, once word spread of the magazine, subscriptions rose quickly. The first issue was released shortly after the Grateful Dead announced a hiatus. The timing was auspicious as Dead Relix now became the only way for Deadheads, who frequently only saw each other on tour with the band, to stay in touch and up-to-date with band and its members' happenings. The group's hiatus also created the opportunity for Dead Relix to broaden its coverage as it came to include other Dead-esque bands on the San Francisco scene like New Riders of the Purple Sage
, Commander Cody
and Hot Tuna
.
"The key to all this is that as people who live for and by music, we should see and listen to other music, and that is the purpose and function of RELIX: to be the eyes and ears for our readers, and to report back and show and tell you, our readers what's going on around the music scene WITH AN OPEN MIND and we at RELIX do hope that you, our readers, will have an open mind for music."
In 1979, the Blues Brothers, The Who
, and even Blondie
appeared on the cover. However, the Grateful Dead were never too far removed from Relix as pictures and interviews with the Dead still appeared in the magazine just with less frequency.
Tamarkin's tenure with Relix was brief, lasting only two years (today, he remains a contributing editor). His replacement was Toni Brown. While Brown appreciated Tamarkin's adjustments to the magazine, she recognized that Relix was straying from its Deadhead roots. Her first act was to put "Dead" back into the title although it appeared in small print above the "R" in Relix. Brown, who married Kippel in 1980, took his job as publisher and assumed full responsibility over the future of the magazine.
When the Grateful Dead released In the Dark in 1987, the band’s popularity grew exponentially with the help of radio airplay and "Touch of Grey" becoming the group's first song to chart. It played sold-out stadiums. The media became more involved with the Grateful Dead scene as did the police and the government's Drug Enforcement Administration. Deadheads were targeted for drug use and gained something of a negative reputation. Relix recognized the profiling and tried to educate Deadheads about how to avoid the police and what to bring (and not bring) with you to shows.
, prompted Kippel to start a record company which he called Relix Records. Now, the Relix corporation was flourishing. Relix kept close ties with the record stores that were buying their magazines, merchandise, and now, the albums of the artists it represented. Relix records existed for 20 years and released over 120 records including ones many magazine favorites, such as Jorma Kaukonen
, Hot Tuna, Free Grass Union, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Wavy Gravy
, Commander Cody and many more. Brown also created a forum in the magazine for readers to correspond with incarcerated Deadheads, many who were convicted of non-violent drug offences.
. Mick Skidmore heard an unreleased copy of Junta
and decided to write a review. He closed the piece with, "I hope we get a chance to hear more from these extremely talented musicians in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, this tape comes highly recommended." Phish is now one of the most popular bands in the country and frequently appears in the magazine's pages.
's death on August 9, 1995, Relix was once again the focus of media attention. Relix put a close up picture of Garcia on the cover which was used by media outlets all over the country. Publisher Toni Brown remembers, "Wherever I looked, Relix was there. I admit that it bolstered sales to heights we'd never seen, but I would have preferred to have Jerry back." People looked to Relix for how to cope with the loss of Garcia, the band and its constant tours, tours that were for many provided their livelihood in selling handmade/homemade merchandise and food.
Relix began focusing on a wider of array of bands including but not limited to Dave Matthews Band
, Phish
, Widespread Panic
, Blues Traveler
, Free Grass Union, The String Cheese Incident, moe.
, The Disco Biscuits, Leftover Salmon
, God Street Wine
and Strangefolk
. In 1998, Relix celebrated its 25th anniversary. Brown, in the editorial for the closing issue of 1998, marveled at Relixs survival and her tenure. She writes, "For many years, I thought that once I completed the last issue of our 25th year, it might be a good time to move on and find myself a new adventure. I never realized the existing adventure would still be fresh and exciting and that the party would go on for so long." She stayed on as editor of the magazine for the next few years.
In August 2000, Kippel and Brown decided they were ready for a new direction and sold the magazine to Wall Street executive Steve Bernstein. With that change also came new editor (Aeve Baldwin), art director, marketing and advertising departments. The office was also moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The new team prepped readers for a new Relix in the February 2001 issue explaining that the April issue would have an entirely new design and also some content changes. Baldwin originally joined the Relix team when Bernstein persuaded her to take the position when he bought the magazine. She and Bernstein had met in Japan where he had worked for several years and, on the side for fun, was one of her writers at Tokyo Classified, an English-language magazine based in Tokyo where she was the editor). Josh Baron, previously the executive editor who had been with the company since 2001, took over as editor-in-chief in 2007 where he remains today. In 2001, Relix also purchased Jambands.com, a daily news website devoted to improvisational music that helped popularize the term 'jamband' in the late '90s.
Under Bernstein's leadership, Relix served as the basis of Zenbu Media Group, which included productions such as The Jammys, The Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, world music magazine Global Rhythm
and heavy metal magazines, Metal Edge
and Metal Maniacs
. In February 2009, Bernstein folded Zenbu Media due to financial difficulties. The entire staff of all four magazines was let go. As Relix went to print with what was likely its last issue (April/May 2009), a group of the magazine's employees along with Peter Shapiro
created Relix Media Group (LLC) and bought the Relix and Jambands.com from Bernstein. Shapiro had previously owned jamband-oriented club Wetlands in New York City, produced concert films such as I Love All Access and U2 3D
, the first live action film brought to big screen movie theaters. Shapiro currently owns Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, a bowling alley, concert venue and restaurant.
The group included Baron, the editorial team of Mike Greenhaus and Dean Budnick
, advertising team of Rachel Seiden and Cole Boyle along with Shapiro. Relix releases eight issues a year, each with a compilation CD inside featuring artists from that particular issue and up-and-coming bands. In 2007, Relixs 190-issue archive entered the vault in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
concerts. It rapidly expanded into a music magazine covering a wide amount of artists. It is the second longest, continuously running music magazine in the United States after Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Origins
Les Kippel was part of a group of Deadheads who formed the First Free Underground Grateful Dead Tape Exchange so that they could collect and trade live Grateful Dead concerts. As the popularity of trading live concerts on tape increased, a practice the Grateful Dead allowed and ultimately encouraged, Kippel realized that he needed to get more organized. He started a newsletter to help his fellow tape-traders connect rather than all of them having to go through him. He and friend Jim McGurn came up with the name Dead Relix because each Dead tape, for them, was a relic. Jerry Moore became the editor-in-chief of Dead Relix, a relatively small magazine dedicated to taping and tape collecting the Grateful and bands of a similar ilk. The first issue was released in September 1974. Kippel used a high school's printing shop to make copies of the hand-typed magazine.The first issue featured a black and white drawing of a large skull in the center with a horned, winged creature below it and marijuana leaves sprouting around it. On the upper left it says: "Dedicated to the memory of the world's sneakiest tape collector-Tricky Dicky." The issue cost $1.25. With only 50 initial subscribers, Kippel printed 200 copies. However, once word spread of the magazine, subscriptions rose quickly. The first issue was released shortly after the Grateful Dead announced a hiatus. The timing was auspicious as Dead Relix now became the only way for Deadheads, who frequently only saw each other on tour with the band, to stay in touch and up-to-date with band and its members' happenings. The group's hiatus also created the opportunity for Dead Relix to broaden its coverage as it came to include other Dead-esque bands on the San Francisco scene like New Riders of the Purple Sage
New Riders of the Purple Sage
New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. Their best known song is "Panama Red"...
, Commander Cody
Commander Cody
Commander Cody may refer to:*The stage name of George Frayne, leader of the rock and roll band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and, informally, the band itself...
and Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna is an American blues-rock band formed by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane. It plays acoustic and electric versions of original and traditional blues songs.- Jefferson Airplane side project :...
.
Transitions
At the end of 1978, Relix underwent a major transition that propelled it from more of a newsletter to a true magazine. The change started with a new editor. Jerry Moore left the magazine and Jeff Tamarkin replaced him. Tamarkin had bigger plans for Relix. He felt it needed to branch out and he wanted to broaden the coverage to include more different types of music—punk, metal, new wave, even pop. Kippel gave him free rein to expand as he wanted. Dead was dropped from the title and the subject matter changed dramatically. The result was a greater readership and many angry Deadheads. Kippel attempted to appease the worries of Relixs longtime supporters in a letter from the publisher in the Jan/Feb 1979 issue. He writes:"The key to all this is that as people who live for and by music, we should see and listen to other music, and that is the purpose and function of RELIX: to be the eyes and ears for our readers, and to report back and show and tell you, our readers what's going on around the music scene WITH AN OPEN MIND and we at RELIX do hope that you, our readers, will have an open mind for music."
In 1979, the Blues Brothers, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and even Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
appeared on the cover. However, the Grateful Dead were never too far removed from Relix as pictures and interviews with the Dead still appeared in the magazine just with less frequency.
Tamarkin's tenure with Relix was brief, lasting only two years (today, he remains a contributing editor). His replacement was Toni Brown. While Brown appreciated Tamarkin's adjustments to the magazine, she recognized that Relix was straying from its Deadhead roots. Her first act was to put "Dead" back into the title although it appeared in small print above the "R" in Relix. Brown, who married Kippel in 1980, took his job as publisher and assumed full responsibility over the future of the magazine.
When the Grateful Dead released In the Dark in 1987, the band’s popularity grew exponentially with the help of radio airplay and "Touch of Grey" becoming the group's first song to chart. It played sold-out stadiums. The media became more involved with the Grateful Dead scene as did the police and the government's Drug Enforcement Administration. Deadheads were targeted for drug use and gained something of a negative reputation. Relix recognized the profiling and tried to educate Deadheads about how to avoid the police and what to bring (and not bring) with you to shows.
Merchandise and record company
To keep the magazine profitable, Kippel began dealing an array of collectibles geared towards Relix readers. This prompted him to create a merchandising divisions of the Relix company called Rockin' Relix/Relix International. This led to many ties in the music merchandise world and Kippel gained connections all over the music scene. In 1980, Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert HunterRobert Hunter (lyricist)
Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
, prompted Kippel to start a record company which he called Relix Records. Now, the Relix corporation was flourishing. Relix kept close ties with the record stores that were buying their magazines, merchandise, and now, the albums of the artists it represented. Relix records existed for 20 years and released over 120 records including ones many magazine favorites, such as Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.-Biography:...
, Hot Tuna, Free Grass Union, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...
, Commander Cody and many more. Brown also created a forum in the magazine for readers to correspond with incarcerated Deadheads, many who were convicted of non-violent drug offences.
Phish and Relix
In October 1989, Relix covered the band PhishPhish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
. Mick Skidmore heard an unreleased copy of Junta
Junta (album)
Junta is the first official studio release from the American rock band Phish. The album was independently recorded and released on tape in 1988, and did not appear in stores officially until May 8, 1989. The album was re-released by Elektra Records on October 26, 1992...
and decided to write a review. He closed the piece with, "I hope we get a chance to hear more from these extremely talented musicians in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, this tape comes highly recommended." Phish is now one of the most popular bands in the country and frequently appears in the magazine's pages.
Relix life after Jerry
Following Jerry GarciaJerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
's death on August 9, 1995, Relix was once again the focus of media attention. Relix put a close up picture of Garcia on the cover which was used by media outlets all over the country. Publisher Toni Brown remembers, "Wherever I looked, Relix was there. I admit that it bolstered sales to heights we'd never seen, but I would have preferred to have Jerry back." People looked to Relix for how to cope with the loss of Garcia, the band and its constant tours, tours that were for many provided their livelihood in selling handmade/homemade merchandise and food.
Relix began focusing on a wider of array of bands including but not limited to Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
, Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
, Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
, Free Grass Union, The String Cheese Incident, moe.
Moe.
moe. is an American jam band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are: Rob Derhak , Al Schnier , Chuck Garvey , Vinnie Amico , and Jim Loughlin ....
, The Disco Biscuits, Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
, God Street Wine
God Street Wine
God Street Wine was a jam rock group from New York City. The band broke up in 1999. The band toured the U.S. with H.O.R.D.E. four times and opened for the Black Crowes and Allman Brothers...
and Strangefolk
Strangefolk
Strangefolk is a rock-oriented jam band originally from Burlington, VT. Since forming in 1991, they have released five studio albums, two live albums and one live concert DVD...
. In 1998, Relix celebrated its 25th anniversary. Brown, in the editorial for the closing issue of 1998, marveled at Relixs survival and her tenure. She writes, "For many years, I thought that once I completed the last issue of our 25th year, it might be a good time to move on and find myself a new adventure. I never realized the existing adventure would still be fresh and exciting and that the party would go on for so long." She stayed on as editor of the magazine for the next few years.
In August 2000, Kippel and Brown decided they were ready for a new direction and sold the magazine to Wall Street executive Steve Bernstein. With that change also came new editor (Aeve Baldwin), art director, marketing and advertising departments. The office was also moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The new team prepped readers for a new Relix in the February 2001 issue explaining that the April issue would have an entirely new design and also some content changes. Baldwin originally joined the Relix team when Bernstein persuaded her to take the position when he bought the magazine. She and Bernstein had met in Japan where he had worked for several years and, on the side for fun, was one of her writers at Tokyo Classified, an English-language magazine based in Tokyo where she was the editor). Josh Baron, previously the executive editor who had been with the company since 2001, took over as editor-in-chief in 2007 where he remains today. In 2001, Relix also purchased Jambands.com, a daily news website devoted to improvisational music that helped popularize the term 'jamband' in the late '90s.
Under Bernstein's leadership, Relix served as the basis of Zenbu Media Group, which included productions such as The Jammys, The Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, world music magazine Global Rhythm
Global Rhythm
Global Rhythm is a New York-based monthly music and lifestyle magazine featuring coverage of world music, film, cuisine and travel. It is published monthly and circulated across North America, Europe and hundreds of other locations worldwide....
and heavy metal magazines, Metal Edge
Metal Edge
Metal Edge was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. It was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of Glam metal's success.Both Metal Edge and its sister publication, Metal Maniacs, ceased operations in 2009....
and Metal Maniacs
Metal Maniacs
Metal Maniacs was a heavy metal magazine founded in 1989 by Mike G. and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. It was focused largely on covering extreme metal, with emphasis on the black and death metal genres...
. In February 2009, Bernstein folded Zenbu Media due to financial difficulties. The entire staff of all four magazines was let go. As Relix went to print with what was likely its last issue (April/May 2009), a group of the magazine's employees along with Peter Shapiro
Peter Shapiro
Peter Shapiro is a freelance music journalist, who has written for Spin, URB, Music Week, Uncut, Vibe, The Wire and The Times.-Literary works:*The Rough Guide to Hip-hop*The Rough Guide to Soul and R'n'B...
created Relix Media Group (LLC) and bought the Relix and Jambands.com from Bernstein. Shapiro had previously owned jamband-oriented club Wetlands in New York City, produced concert films such as I Love All Access and U2 3D
U2 3D
U2 3D is a 2008 American-produced 3-D concert film featuring rock band U2 performing during the Vertigo Tour in 2006. The film features performances of 14 songs, including tracks from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb , the album supported by the tour. The concert footage includes political and...
, the first live action film brought to big screen movie theaters. Shapiro currently owns Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, a bowling alley, concert venue and restaurant.
The group included Baron, the editorial team of Mike Greenhaus and Dean Budnick
Dean Budnick
Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture.-Ticket Masters:...
, advertising team of Rachel Seiden and Cole Boyle along with Shapiro. Relix releases eight issues a year, each with a compilation CD inside featuring artists from that particular issue and up-and-coming bands. In 2007, Relixs 190-issue archive entered the vault in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.