starring bob weir. a founding member of the grateful dead, weir has been a long strange trip his entire life. >> it started in his teens when he left california for life on a ranch. weir has gone back to those times for his album "blue mountain." you'll see him perform at the king's theater in a moment but, first, here is anthony mason's conversation with him. >> reporter: bob weir's new album of cowboy songs is his first solo record of original material in 30 years. but the roots of his new music go back even further, before his time as a founding member of the grateful dead to the early 1960s when weir had a teenage dream of finding a home on the range. >> i thought it would be a terribly romantic thing to do to which di. >> reporter: you were 15 ? >> i found my way to wyoming and living on a ranch out there and living in a bunk house. i was the kid on the ranch so i got to shovel a lot of stalls. >> reporter: the nights, he says, were long and quiet. >> there wasn't -- wasn't much to do but tell stori

. ♪ >> bob weir is breathing new life into the old capital theater.'t heard much music since his former band, the grateful dead last played here in the 1970s. >> we had a fairly short but illustrious run. this place was always at the top of the list. we knew we would have a good night. >> how many people does this hold? >> it's 1800 capacity. >> peter shapiro has been promoting concerts for 16 years but his life's dream has gone to have his very own rock palace. >> a lot of gold, a lot of black, a lot of blood red. >> beyond the color or the architecture and custom wall paper, shapiro saw something more in the old capital theater when he bought it two years ago. >> how do you define a rock palace? what is that in >> a rock palace has to have had janis joplin play there, pink floyd, the stones. that kind of history because i think it's still here in the air. >> such as off of route 95 in portchester, new york the capital's location, 30 miles from manhattan isn't exactly entertainment mecca. but in its hey day as a music hall the capital drew rock's new

. >> he's drifben to acclaim with stephen king, grateful dead's bob weir who co--wrote an album withm in his home in new york. when did you start? >> i was 17 and heard johnny cash on a record and it was the first time i thought this is a language i understand. this is something that is for me. ♪ all the other girls here are stars you are the northern lights ♪ >> reporter: josh ritter was raised in moscow, idaho, the son of two neuroscientists. >> we grew up, my brother and i, around the kitchen table hearing adventure stories about science. >> but you went to college to study neuroscience. >> i did. and i ran into chemistry and realized that dream would have to die. >> that was a painful realization. >> i remember calling my parentings and saying i don't think i ooh going to be a scientist, guys. i'm sorry. >> what did they say, they said all along they knew there was no chance. >> reporter: instead he studied the history of songwriting and then moved to providence, rhode island, taking jobs in a land fill and luggage factory playing any open mike night that would book him. an irish

bass git artist phil esh and bob weir. >> there's going to be 63 65,000 people here. >> something like that. >> which is why his bandmates agreed to have the last stop be here at soldier field. two shows in santa clara, california, last weekend opened the tour with help from keyboardist bruce hornsby and phish lead singer trey anastasio. >> these guys are all in a good place. >> peter shapiro is the tour's promoter. >> the fans all knew the 50th anniversary was coming. the fans wanted something. it was the right thing to do. this was the right way to do it. >> did you think when you started it would be this big? >> we thought it would be great. this weekend we're going to be going live to concert venues around the country. we'll have 200,000 people. >> sound checks were under way on stage amid preparations for a worldwide pay-per-view transmission satellite radio and live streaming of the performances. that's appropriate because the grateful dead was never a top 40 band. never much of a studio band either. live performance

acclaim from high-profile fans like stephen king, cameron crowe, the director, and the grateful dead's bob weirrform in a moment, but first i talked with him at his home in brooklyn, new york. when did you start writing songs? >> i was 17 and i heard bob dylan and johnny cash sing "go from the north country" on a record and it was the first time i thought, this is a language that i understand, this is something that is for me. ♪ all the ♪ >> reporter: josh ritter was raised in moscow, idaho, the son of two neuroscientists. >> we grew up, my brother and i, around the kitchen table hearing what were adventure stories about science. >> but you went to college to study neuroscience. >> i started, yeah. yeah. and i ran into organic chemistry and realized that that dream would have to die. a painful realization. it was. i remember calling my parents and saying i don't think i'm going to be a scientist, guys. sorry. >> what did they say? >> they said all i long we knew there was no chance. >> instead, he studied the history of song writing. and you went straight from college to providence? >> yeah. >>

took off after they played with the dead's bob weir in 2012. >> it established a lot of great energy of the people around him and picked up momentum there. >> reporter: weir and the dead gave the go ahead. >> when they blessed it, it was like how could we not do this? >> the album is benefiting the red hot organization, the aids charity that put out its first fund-raising record, "red, hot, and blue, " in 1990. you probably weren't thinking you'd be here 25 years later. >> after i finished the first, i didn't think -- i was like, i'll never do this again. >> then red hot co-founder joe carlin got a call from george michael's manager. >> said, george really wants to do something around the aids crisis. he has a song he wants to donates to you. >> "too funky" became a worldwide smash and would anchor their second record geared to club kids deeply affected by aids. >> then it was too great to look back. >> "day of the dead" is the 20th red hot album. the dessners had no trouble attracting art ifts. >> we had a wish list of artists. once word got out, artists started coming to us. >> inc