The Hartle Gold Band

Matt Hartle has run this rotating ensemble out of Santa Cruz for years, pulling players from the wider Bay Area scene — members of Railroad Earth, the Jerry Garcia Band, RatDog and David Grisman's circles have all passed through it. His own guitar playing gets compared to Garcia, Santana and Kimock, which is the company the band keeps. Since Mother's Day 2017 they have held down Grateful Sundays on the Crepe Place's garden stage, a weekly Dead night the regulars call church. Hartle also fronts Painted Mandolin, Shady Groove and The China Cats, so his own calendar runs wider than the songbook — the Sunday night is the Dead one.