Many locals who know Georgia guitarist Jimmy Herring from his work with Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit and Project Z may be surprised to learn that he's now former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh's right-hand man. But no one is more surprised than Herring himself."I never really even imagined that this would happen," he says.

After his mid-'90s tenure with ARU, Herring had firmly cemented his reputation as a talented and dependable guitarist whose proclivities range from out-jazz to standard blues and rock. He then went from ARU to Frogwings, which included the Allman Brothers' Butch Trucks and nephew Derek Trucks. He was then asked to join Jazz Is Dead with Mahavishnu Orchestra/Miles Davis drummer Billy Cobham. He even spent a summer in the Allman Brothers Band, replacing Dickey Betts.

In early 2000, Herring crossed paths with Phil Lesh and Friends. "My friends Warren [Haynes] and Derek [Trucks] were already playing with Phil some," says Herring. "Phil has this thing for Southern guitar players, and Phil changed guitar players a lot. Warren and Derek said, 'Call Jimmy Herring; he's the one.' I got a call, and I sent him the first ARU live album."

After a successful audition, Herring toured with the band in April 2000. "I thought that was it, because Phil was changing guitar players all the time," says Herring. "But then, lo and behold, he called back and said, 'We're thinking about putting together a core band. Would you be interested?' Then we played with Haynes, and the chemistry was so good we all knew this is what we should do."

Herring was familiar with the Dead's music after devouring it in preparation for Jazz Is Dead. But he never listened to it growing up, and he never saw the Dead live. He'd been attracted to the more "aggressive, in-your-face" sounds of Al DiMeola, Dixie Dregs, Return to Forever, Jeff Beck, Michael Brecker and other fusion/jazz artists.

Still, Herring says immersing himself in Dead music has been a rewarding challenge. "I think [Dead music] is unbelievable," he says. "It's something that didn't hit me right away because, when I was younger, I wanted to hear more aggressive stuff."

Phil and Friends cultivates personal growth -- and Herring is blossoming as a result. Their new album, There and Back Again, features "Again and Again," a collaboration between Herring and Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Seemingly always on the road with Lesh, Herring hopes to get back to work with the Atlanta-based Project Z, which includes ARU alumni Hampton and Jeff Sipe, as well as Count Mbutu and Derek Trucks. But time may be the only thing missing from Herring's bag of tricks.

"This [Phil] gig is extremely satisfying to me musically," says Herring. "We work a lot. Not as much as in the ARU days -- I was playing 280 to 300 gigs a year there for a while. Then I never saw my family. Now I can see them quite a bit. I still feel that when I get home from a six-week gig, the last thing I want to do is tell my son, 'I'll play baseball with you next month,' and go get in a van and drive around for Project Z gigs." u