This episode focuses on the rapidly approaching Fool’s Paradise extravaganza and includes interviews with festival promoter Paul Levine, as well as performers Eric “Benny” Bloom of Lettuce and Tom Hamilton of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Levine discusses how the seeds of the festival’s location were planted when an Umphrey’s McGee festival (which also featured Lettuce) was moved from a civil war fort to the idyllic St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, FL two years ago. He talks about his career as a promoter, about working with Lettuce to curate the festival (“we’ve always enjoyed working together… doing things to promote and advance funk music”), and about an excursion which this year will be offered to Fool’s Paradise attendees (“you can go on a boat for a couple hours and have wine and beer with some of the guys from Lettuce”). Then a portion of last fall’s Lockn’ Festival enters the episode where Benny Bloom talks about meeting, then playing with Lettuce for the first time. Bloom talks about how he would quickly become a key part of the band and assume the trumpet role full-time, and about why he particularly enjoys playing for the funk/jam band world. The dynamic Tom Hamilton, who will be performing with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead at this year’s Fool’s Paradise, steps up to the plate next and talks about the boundless spontaneity of the band. He also compares what its like playing in a band with the drummer as the “Point Man” in Almost Dead to being the “Point Man” himself in Billy and The Kids, the ensemble with the Dead’s own Bill Kreutzmann. The entire Hamilton interview is included in Episode 20 of Inside Out WTNS.

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