On the Documentary
I started [shooting footage] around when I was just finishing college, without intention of really knowing what I was doing... recording recording sessions or jam sessions, backstage and onstage.... It wasn't until a couple of years ago at my father's urging that we started thinking of this as a project.
...And I thought, "Well, if I could somehow stitch all this together and maybe shoot some interviews... be it more documentary style, maybe we could have something." So I brought that back to [my dad] and he said, "No, honey, I'm not sure about this talking thing. It's about music. I hate it when films about music... keep the 30 seconds of the [the song] and 6 minutes of a historian or critics talking about what that music was. Just make it about the music."
On Jerry Garcia
I think people think they know who Jerry Garcia is, but they don't. I don't know if I know who Jerry Garcia is, but [in the film] that's the Jerry Garcia that I know.
I wanted to deconstruct that whole mythology [of Jerry Garcia as a legend].... I feel like people are going to get a glimpse of the very human-centered witty, funny, hysterical, clever and perceptive guy that he was, in sweatpants and a T-shirt.
On Her Father, David Grisman
He was very involved in the beginning.... He... really gave me the freedom to make the film that I wanted. And I really think that space is difficult as I'm sure it was for him.... But he was there along the whole way. He's very proud of the film and he [couldn't] believe... the fact that it could be of an interest to [anyone] outside the family and friends.
On David and Jerry
They hung out. They smoked pot. They ate food. They played good music. But it was always about the music.... We're not trying to explore every facet of [Jerry's] life in this film. Or my father's, for that matter, so it's about their friendship as it related to music because that's all they did.... This is how they hung out together.
...There are things that I didn't put on tape that I think are too personal, like my father was the only musician asked to play at both Jerry's wedding and at his funeral, and there's footage of both.... But those things are sacred.
On Winning an Award
I won the Audience Choice Award at the Newport Film Festival, which is the first time that this film was put in front of a group of people.
...I was totally shocked [when I won the award], and I think it's better than any award I could be given because it comes from the people. I think that I made this for people--I didn't make this for critics. I didn't set out [to make] a great film. I set out to make a personal film, so that was a great validation.
On Music
I'm not a Deadhead. I have an appreciation for music, I have a[n]... appreciation for the Grateful Dead, but I'm not into that music, so I... wanted to make it for them, but I didn't want to make it exclusive for that community. I don't think you have to be interested in the Grateful Dead to be interested in this film because it's not about that.
...I think that... the music in the film, will... hopefully heighten interest in American-written music, which [has] a short-lived history in this country.... American-made music is a big part of our culture, and storytelling... [came] out of times of adversity, depression.... I think it's... something that you can always rely on if the lights go out, you know? People can always join together and sing and play guitar. I think these two guys have a... place in history on that level. In music and American music... I think [Jerry and David] are pioneers.
