Grateful Dead family gets to the heart of the beat in rock documentary Let There Be Drums!

Justin Kreutzmann has been working on “Let There Be Drums!” for years. But in many ways, it’s the movie he was born to make.

The son of Grateful Dead co-founding drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Justin has made his name as a filmmaker in recent years specializing in music documentaries. With his latest film, he gives viewers an intimate look at the world of rock ’n’ roll drumming and the people who keep the beat.

Arriving in select cinemas and on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video from Greenwich Entertainment on Friday, “Let There Be Drums!” finds Justin in conversation with both his father and fellow Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, as the filmmaker connects artist-to-artist with people he’s known his entire life.

“When I talked to dad and Mickey, it was just about trying to get the good stories that you knew were in there and just tie the whole family, drummer, drumming thing together,” Justin Kreutzmann said. “They’re both really good interviews, so it soon falls away that you’ve known each other since before birth, basically."

Executive-produced by Bill Kreutzmann and Hart, “Let There Be Drums!” also features members of the Grateful Dead extended family, including Jay Lane of Ratdog, and Bobby Weir and the Wolf Bros., who has also sat in with Dead and Company. The director’s children, Alivia and Lukas Kreutzmann, also appear alongside their father and grandfather.

The film features a cavalcade of iconic drummers, including Stewart Copeland of the Police, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Beatle Ringo Starr. But much of the film is dedicated to giving voice to the children of drummers.

Some second-generation interview subjects went on to become drummers themselves – such as Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, and Phil Collins’ son, Nic – while others, including Mickey’s daughter Reya Hart and Mandy Moon, daughter of the Who drummer Keith Moon, have found different creative outlets.

Kreutzmann said he was struck by the commonality he found between himself and these subjects.

“It’s like we were having the same sort of conversations and some of us went one way, some of us went the other, but everybody who’s at least in the film has a creative outlet and like Reya (and I), we get to work with our dads as opposed to just being compared to them,” Kreutzmann said.

“Let There Be Drums!” also continues the creative partnership between Kreutzmann and John Densmore, drummer of the Doors. Kreutzmann’s film “Break on Thru: A Celebration of Ray Manzarek and the Doors” had its world premiere at the 2018 edition of the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival, where it took home Best Feature Film honors.

“John’s just a really articulate, smart guy, and brings so much amazing stuff to the rhythm of a piece,” Kreutzmann said. “Because he can really lay it down, what rhythm does to your body. So he was just perfect (for ‘Let There Be Drums!’). It was just like calling a friend and getting him in your movie — and your friend happens to be John Densmore of the Doors.”

The film is an invaluable historical document. Since he started work in 2019, four of Kreutzmann’s interview subjects have passed away: Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, Little Richard drummer Charles Connor, Jerry Allison of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and Sandy Nelson, whose song “Let There Be Drums!” gave the film its title.

Kreutzmann tells his tale with precision and economy, crafting an insightful narrative in just 94 minutes.

“It was all about rhythm,” he said of his editing process.

“It was just about watching it and feeling like we’re moving forward," he added, "and everything is clicking and everything made sense."

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Grateful Dead family featured in rock documentary Let There Be Drums!