Searching For Jerry Garcia - Album Title

Album Title

In a Rolling Stone Magazine article, Proof explained the album's title:

While recording his solo debut, late D12 rapper Proof found inspiration in an unlikely person — the late jam rocker Jerry Garcia: "I was watching Searching for Bobby Fisher and Mark Hicks (D12's manager) put in a Jerry Garcia documentary," says Proof, who also serves as Eminem's right-hand rapper. "In this movie, he talked about never doing the same show twice. I did that to D12 sets overseas. Plus, he didn't care about record sales — he just wanted to make fans happy."

In a nod to their similarities, Proof, born DeShaun Holton, named his debut Searching for Jerry Garcia. The album was released August 9, 2005, the tenth anniversary of Garcia's death, on Proof's independent label, Iron Fist Records. "I called his estate, and I couldn't believe they gave me permission !" says the rapper. "They didn't ask for money. So I'm like a disciple, preaching the gospel of Jerry Garcia. The dude is phenomenal."

Besides Garcia, Proof also gives a shout-out to Nirvana's late frontman in Searching's closing track, "Kurt Kobain" . "The circumstances of Kurt's death are freaky to me. I don't think he killed himself," Proof says. "But I'm not trying to keep Elvis alive, and I'm not saying that Tupac is in Cuba."