He may be best known as one of the voices and guitarists for The Grateful Dead, but these days, Bob Weir, 60, spends as much time with his band RatDog as he does on world causes. Whether it's getting young people to register to vote or getting information out about the environment, it seems like there's little rest for the Weir-y.

I recently spoke with him by phone from his California home about his political and environmental effort and how that whole jam band thing got started.

I know you stay pretty busy with touring during the year. How many shows will you have done by the end of the year?

"When the year's over, it's probably gonna end up along about 80 or 90."

So, not too hectic ... not like the old days.

"Well, you know, actually we tour as much as The Grateful Dead used to."

You've introduced some new songs over the last year or so -- "Money for Gasoline," "Tuesday Blues" -- do you know how many new tunes you've brought out?

"I don't. I haven't been counting, but there are a couple more that we need to ... basically I need to learn two or three more tunes that we've been working on."

Do you bring them out as you write them?

"Yeah."

I talked with you earlier this year and we talked a bit about your process for releasing new music these days -- you do it in a live format and aren't looking at the studio like you used to. Is that the same thinking that it's not the traditional releasing format?

"Well, it's the old style where you wrote a song and then you played it. I guess I told you that we live square in the middle of the file trading demographic so it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to invest the time and money and do a carefully groomed recording when once we've sold one, everybody has it. (laughs)"

I was also wondering, looking at the live avenue -- I don't know how involved you are with the new Grateful Dead channel on Sirius. Maybe that's another outlet?

"That will be, but more for our live recordings, I think ... we'll get around to doing studio recordings as well. We're waiting for Mark to get better and then we'll do a flurry of recording. We have, sort of, a plan for it. We will actually go into the studio. What exactly we're going to do with that is still up in the air." (Note: RatDog guitarist Mark Karan has taken a temporary leave of absence to battle throat cancer.)

How involved are you with that channel on Sirius -- is it just doing interviews every once in a while?

"Yeah, pretty much. I'd like to be more involved. It's kinda fun working with those folks, but I've got a band to feed and all that kind of stuff."

I know you're looking down the road and not where you've been.

"Right."

I did want to look back for one moment though. I've read in past interviews with you about how The Dead weren't really the "Godfathers of the Jam Band" thing as jamming was around before you.

"Yeah!"

I wanted to ask, at what point did jamming become a part of your music. Was it there in the beginning, even as far back as The Warlocks?

"Yeah, it was. When I was a kid, I was listening to Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I was, like, 17 and it hadn't dawned on me yet that I could actually step into that world. After a stint -- we had about a two-month gig I think it was in Belmont at a roadhouse when we were The Warlocks. Toward the end of that, and certainly during the beginning of the acid tests, we started stretching tunes out just cause we could and the people on the dance floor seemed to enjoy that. So, we just went there. It seemed like the natural place to go. At first, it was kind of monochromatic -- we'd hammer along in a single key, maybe rocking back and forth between two chords or something like that. Over the years -- actually, in fairly short order we developed an ability for playing short chord changes. At that point, it's best that you have the jazz ammo."

I would think that had to be somewhat intimidating, in the beginning. I would guess there became a comfort level with knowledge of your instrument and comfort with the rest of the guys in the band?

"Ehhhhh ... it was adventurous, but everything we did back in those days was pretty adventurous. We were up for the challenge certainly."

I know a lot of your time is spent with political and environmental projects and groups such as HeadCount. What are some of the groups you're working with these days?

"Well, I'm working with HeadCount. Um, I'm doing a benefit for the Rainforest Action Network in about a week and I have another project that's going to be fairly large, but I ... it's a tale that's a little while on the telling and it's not ready to tell yet, but it's taking a fair bit of my time."

Is that another environmental project?

"Yeah, pretty much."

There's the stereotype that the environmental side has gone along with, not only The Dead, but the culture. I was wondering how your interest in it got started. Was it always there?

"Yeah. Christ, back in my high school days I was involved with the American Friends Service Organization ... or ... let's see ... well, I was doing volunteer work back in high school and when we started -- when we moved to the Haight-Ashbury we were always doing benefit concerts for the Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinic or a legal fund or whatever. Being part of the community, you have to be part of the community. And if you have the ability to raise money or awareness for stuff that we all felt was worthy of people's attention, we just did it. It seemed natural. It still does."

It seems like you get more involved with them. You have roles outside of just performing benefits and doing that end of it.

"Well, having the experience of working with people over the years and seeing this project succeed and this project fail -- why did this succeed and why did this fail? After a while, you get to know the ropes of that area of an endeavor and have more to offer than just your services as a fundraiser and you can help organize and direct."

There could be the view of -- you're getting hands on ... I guess I'm wondering where your motivation comes from as far as, here you are in a position where you could sit back and do benefits or maybe something from the stage or go at it in that matter, but instead you've gotten more involved with them and are on boards of directors ...

"Well, at this point, I have more to offer than just what I do on stage. I've got opinions and, like I said, a great deal of experience now in what makes things work in outreach and those areas of the effort."

Taking a more active role ...

"Yeah. I give what I have to give."

On a side note to talking from the stage, I noticed from times I saw The Dead, and even with RatDog, very little if anything is said to the crowd -- just let people know you'll be back or maybe a thank you. Is it a matter of letting the music do the talking or ...

"Yeah. I have nothing to add. Basically, what I'm trying to do when I'm on stage is let the characters in the songs tell their stories. I'm sort of blissfully unaware of the fact that I'm on stage performing. I'm not even there. I may look like me, but I'm not."

Was it always that way?

"Um ... somewhere in the ... I turned that corner somewhere in the '80s, I think it was. Late '70s into the '80s it just started to happen."

We touched on some of the things you're working on. Going back to the environmental side, what are some of the things people need to do? Does it come down to education and learning more or getting involved?

"It will come down to individual effort on all our parts. If we want this planet to survive, we're gonna have to work from our hearts and our minds to make it work."

What kinds of changes have you noticed over all these years -- after getting started in high school? Have you seen a progression -- better or worse?

"It ebbs and flows, but about the same number of people are involved in trying to make the world a better place now as there were then, back in the '60s, '70s. There was the civil rights movement back then. The stakes are higher now. A lot of the issues are the same. Are you working just for yourself, yourself and maybe your family, or are you working for the greater good of all? Some people don't see the point in that and other people do."

It also seems to appear more around elections. Does it seem to ebb and flow with that? "Eh ... I haven't really taken much note of that. I'm gonna be involved in this election cycle."

What is your involvement?

"I'm trying to get kids registered to vote, because it's their future. Younger folks will generally be a little more expansive in their world view than older folks -- that's been my experience. I tend to trust younger folks a little more in those regards than older folks so my outreach is going to be toward the younger side of our population."

You've also done a couple books for children -- does that tie into it, working toward a young age?

"Yeah. It occurred to me -- actually when my sister brought the notion of doing the books to me, it seemed to me that if you can reach them young, it'll be ingrained in their worldview."

Do your children fit as an inspiration for it?

"Well, my children weren't around when I first started doing it, but they're certainly an inspiration now."

I didn't know if you -- let's see what reaches them the best way and work that in.

"Right. I may do more children's books now that I've had kids."

You've written two?

"Two."

When was the last one?

"Like 10 or 12 years ago."

Do you see the environment being one of the leading issues for the upcoming election?

"I don't know why it's not now. That's gonna be my thrust. Sustainability is gonna be one of the issues that I hammer on the most."

When you see people talking -- it's not just toward global warming, but a lot has been toward hybrid cars. Are people looking in the right direction?

"I went out and bought a hybrid and it's not getting the gas mileage I was hoping for, so I'm thinking, 'OK, well, I'll stick with this until the hydrogen fuel cell cars come around.' Still, I ride a bicycle when I can. Of course, I live way the hell up a very steep hill and sometimes I just don't have it in me. (laughs)"

To get back home?

"Right. There's now a human ... I think I'm gonna buy a human/electric hybrid bicycle and if that works for me, then maybe I'll get a cart and do my grocery shopping and stuff like that, weather permitting, with that rig."

It seems like the way we've created our living structure -- if you go to Europe, you can walk everywhere. You can't do that here.

"Right. That's true."

That's one of the problems.

"China is trying to build their new cities that way, as well."

Going back to that -- do you see that people are looking in the right direction, or do you see, with all the work you're doing, that we should be looking elsewhere?

"There are lots of places to look. Solar technology -- there's going to be a third generation coming out. Even now, I have a friend who has a box you can put on the back of a solar panel that will double its output. It's a cute little bit of electronics slight-of-hand. I've got a roof full of solar panels that I'm sitting under right now. I'm going to be installing all of that and it's relatively cheap, too. So there's a lot of technology that exists that will help and there are new things coming down the pipe with dizzying volume and speed. One of the things that I'm going to be doing with my new project is trying to sort through all of those and pick a few of the best and then try to install production in economically depressed areas. I'd love to see places like Iraq and Afghanistan lead the world out of its environmental difficulties. I'd like to see the shadowed areas of the planet lead the rest of the areas to the light. I'd like to replace the absurd unemployment rates those areas with peace and prosperity. Replace the economic depression ... I think it can be done. It's something that I'll be trying to architect with the group that I'm working with."

I know you said you weren't ready to talk about the new project, but is this something that you're looking at getting going next year?

"It's gonna take a while to get it up and going. There's a lot to it. It's in the organizational stages. It's going to have to be for-profit in order for it to be sustainable. There isn't enough money on earth to be given to make a project like this sustainable. So, it's going to be for-profit and we'll have to start relatively small and attract venture capital and give ownership to the people who do the work and maybe skim a little off the top and make another installation somewhere else."

Obviously, I don't know much about it, but I do wish you luck with it.

"Well, thank you."

And briefly, musically, is all of your focus right now on RatDog?

"Yeah."

Are there any other side things going on? I know you've mentioned a trio a few times.

"Every now and again that trio ... it's a fun little outfit. It's got legs. I may be doing more with those guys."

So what do you have planned for the rest of the year?

"We'll do another month or so of touring and I don't know ... there's a benefit event or two and then it'll be Christmas and a new year."

Time flies when you're having fun.

"Right."

I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.

"You bet."

Thank you. Bye.

"Bye."

Bob Weir & RatDog will perform at Ovens Auditorium on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, $35 and $55. For more information, go to ovensauditorium.com.