Grateful Dead fans who’ve noticed more than a few similarities between Game of Thrones and the beloved jam band are finally vindicated, as author George R. R. Martin has confirmed the connection in a recent interview at New York’s 92nd Street Y. “I’m certainly a fan of the Grateful Dead,” Martin told Salon‘s Laura Millerlast fall. “My wife Paris is perhaps more of a fan of the Grateful Dead than I am.”

He discussed how his love of music impacted his earlier novel The Armageddon Rag, as well as why the series bears traces of his Dead Head-dom. “I have Grateful Dead lyrics rattling around in my head all the time,” he says. ” ‘Ripple’ is one of my favorite songs of all time… [quoting the song] ‘There is a road, no simple highway.'”

And yes, the Weirwood trees are named after Mr. Bob Weir.

Watch footage of the interview below: