August 10, 2021.
This morning we learned of the passing of our old friend and sound engineer Matt Turkovich back in his hometown of Shinnston WV.
He was there pretty much at the beginning and through the end of our live era. Turk always loved sound, and mixing and experimenting was his passion, even as we fidgeted around with low-budget gear and limited amounts of it to boot. In the handful of shows we did, we blew up the power supply to his Allen & Heath mixing board once and a borrowed power amp at another, both due to crappy generators to make power available at the remote sites we were playing.
Music was huge piece of his life, especially recording. He recorded our rehearsals, he recorded our shows. And he bootlegged LOTS of Grateful Dead shows, his other passion. Not too many years after the band parted ways, Turk moved back home to northern West Virginia and worked at a local music store for many years, while writing songs and jamming in off-hours with his singer/songwriter niece Holly.
He’s suffered through hard health struggles these past few years, and now our comrade suffers no more. With luck he has found his way to whatever great heavenly jam session Jerry Garcia is leading.
May the vibes be sweet dear old friend – rest in paradise.