Grateful Dead members to tour with John Mayer as Dead & Company

A month after completing a series of "farewell" concerts, the Grateful Dead are going back on the road.

Billboard reported that three of the band's members — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — are forming a new group with John Mayer, who will be playing guitar. The new band, Dead & Company, will make their debut at a concert on October 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York with more dates to follow.

"It's kind of late in the year to put together a tour but we're gonna try," Weir said. He said that a handful of his Grateful Dead bandmates wanted to "get back out on the road and keep doing it," and once Mayer was in, it was "the cherry on the sundae that made this project look like a good idea."

Mayer started practicing with the band in March, putting his own album on hold in hopes of touring with them. Two years ago, Mayer told Rolling Stone that he was listening to the Grateful Dead "nonstop" after discovering one of their songs on Pandora.

Phil Lesh, bass guitarist for the Grateful Dead, will not be joining Dead & Company.

Image via INFphoto.com