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This subscription will end at 11:59pm PST on 1/22/13.

Last year's Dave's Picks succeeded far beyond our own expectations and became a true fan favorite, with each volume selling out in a matter of weeks. Now's your chance to become a Dave's Picks 2013 subscriber. Not only are you guaranteed all four releases for 2013, you get free domestic shipping plus the ultra-happenin' Subscribers-Only Bonus Disc that will be mailed with one of Lemieux's choices - in 2012, the Bonus Disc, sent out with Dave's Picks, Volume 2 was a fantastic collection of tracks from the July 29, 1974 show at the Cap Centre in Landover, Maryland. All Dave's Picks releases are mastered from the original tapes by Jeffrey Norman and include an informative and fun booklet containing notes about the show and archival photos. The good news is that an extra thousand copies of each release will be pressed to accommodate the heavy demand. The 2013 Dave's Picks releases will be numbered and limited to 13,000 units each. Dave is promising some great things for 2013 - so don't be left out!

Hey now. For those of you who prefer print to video or who are just tired of seeing me babble away beside the water (likely the latter...), we figured we'd write a few words about Dave's Picks 5, and what's ahead. The long and short of it is that if you're inclined to pick up Dave's Picks 5 and/or the 2013 subscription, you're in a for a huge treat. The first show, 11/17/73 at UCLA, is a major, heavyweight Grateful Dead show, one of the best of any year, and being top-of-the-heap from the 1973, that's saying a lot. It's one of these shows that every time I've heard it in the past decade+, I've wondered why it's not been released. I almost feel a need to apologize for taking so long -- 40 years! This is really prime Dead. First set material worth noting is one of the hottest, most inspired versions of "Here Comes Sunshine" ever, and a "China>Rider" that's up there with the best of 1973-1974, and that's saying something. The second set features the best of the three "Playing>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playing" musical palindromes, with every second of it exciting and interesting. And they top that off with a late-show "Eyes Of The World" that is remarkably hot and energetic. I say this without hyperbole, but to my ears and many others, this is a top-40 Grateful Dead show of all time. And the sound quality of this one is perfect, full, clear, great bottom end, and overall terrific.

We don't have much planned beyond DP 5, but I've previously hinted about a major batch of 1969 and 1970 tapes that were recently returned, and we hope/expect to get some of that out in 2013. I'm not trying to be coy or cryptic on the contents and possibilities, but we're in the midst of backing these tapes up and sorting through them. Once this is complete, we'll know what we have. What we've heard so far has shocked us in its excellence in terms of performance quality, song list, and sound quality. So, if you like peak-era Grateful Dead, with huge versions of major songs that you (and we!) have never heard before, this lost-batch of tapes is for you. Expect news on that within a few months.

- David Lemieux

Unveiling Dave's Picks Volume 6

We're really bad at keeping secrets around here so just imagine how hard it's been for us to contain our excitement about the 2 now complete shows, once missing reels for more than 40 years, that have been selected to make up Dave's Picks Volume 6. The first major return of material to the vault since 2005's Houseboat Tapes, Dave's Picks Volume 6 will feature 2 complete shows with never-before-heard material from 2/2/70 Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO and 12/20/69 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. Long a mystery, the riddle of the 2/2/70 set list has now been solved and the music restored to its proper - and spectacular - sequence. 2/2/70 is also notable as the first show without Tom Constanten. Tom, however, makes his return to give his first-hand perspective on 12/20/69 in this volume's liner notes. Pigpen fiends, ask and you shall receive. Both shows feature loads of Pigpen including a major 35+ minute "Lovelight" from 12/20/69. Recorded by Bear with an excellent mix and sound quality, this very special release feels like a return to the classics.

If you've been curious about the subscribers-only bonus disc, this one is the stuff of lore as well. Like Dave's Picks Volume 6, the last-ever Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore Auditorium - 12/21/69, was once missing reels, but we've acquired the elusive first reel to go with the end of the show that we've always had. This jam-packed CD, featuring 75 minutes of music (almost 40 minutes of never-before-heard), includes one of only three versions of "Smokestack Lightning" from 1969. You most certainly won't want to miss out on this highly collectible Dead!

The only way to guarantee you'll get these historic releases is to get a Dave's Picks 2013 subscription. The subscription offer ends January 22, 2013 at 11:59PM PST, so grab one while you can!