The Grateful Dead inspires

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Kate Everson

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David Hickey In Concert. Photo: Submitted

EMC Entertainment - Quinte West -David Hickey has gone to 150 Grateful Dead concerts.

"I was one of the Deadheads," he proudly admits.

Although born in Hamilton he went to San Francisco in his Volkswagen van with his two dogs and followed the band wherever it went.

"I was with the band so much it was part of my life," he said. "I was immersed in it."

Hickey now gives concerts of his own with quartz singing bowls, symphonic gongs representing the planets, a vibraphone and a santoor. He wears a tie-dyed shirt and looks like a child of the 1960s.

"I have a little Jerry Garcia doll beside me at all my concerts," he admits.

Hickey started the Crystal Journey tours after Jerry Garcia died in 1995.

"The spirit called me to go back out," he said. "I needed to be free. I quit my job, sold my house and packed the van. I love to be on the road."

Hickey has been giving concerts across Canada for the past ten years. He started out in 2001 selling Tibetan bowls at his shop in Hamilton, then people started asking if he could play them. He got some amazing crystal bowls that really blew him away.

"The sound envelopes you," he says. "You go into a vortex."

Hickey says when he first heard the crystal bowls being played he went into the sound and never came out.

"The sound that comes out is so pure," he says with a smile.

The concerts have turned into a business and he has produced eight CDs. He will be doing his 1,000th concert this year, having played in tiny spaces with a few people to a New Year's concert of 300 where they "miked" the bowls. "It was phenomenal," he says.

He has just built his own recording studio and concert venue in his parents' home in Hamilton, called The Crystal Cave. There are crystals stuck in all the walls and it is all underground. Although it only holds 15 to 20 people, the acoustics are amazing.

Hickey is holding his first concert in Quinte West this Sunday, February 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Old Church Theatre (former Johnstown Church). Tickets at the door are $30.

"This is the only concert where you can bring your yoga mat and lie down, if there is room," he says. "We want people to feel welcome and relaxed."

He said while tie-dyed shirts are preferred, anything will do. He notes they were originally designed for colour therapy, to awaken the consciousness. He now has two friends who make tie-dyed shirts for him.

"The intention is to create a sense of community," he says. "That's what I felt like when I went to the Grateful Dead concerts."