Bands

Helena, MT

Helena's four-piece Dead band, named for the Haight address, built on improv.

Seattle, WA

Seattle psychedelic jam quartet born as a Jerry Garcia tribute and still anchored there.

Asbury Park, NJ · since 2023

Mark Diomede's cosmic dance band — Dead, rock classics, and originals from the 5th dimension.

Boston, MA · since 2015

Boston's touring Dead tribute since 2015, with a 250-song book and no two nights alike.

Providence, RI · since 2024

Providence jam band on Dead, JGB and deep funk, with a first-Friday residency at Prudence in Bristol.

Milwaukee, WI · since 1990

Milwaukee's Dead band since 1990, with 20-plus Summerfests and three own albums.

Vienna, VA

Northern Virginia jam veterans playing the Dead across DC, Maryland and Virginia rooms.

Raleigh, NC · since 2019

Raleigh outfit formed in 2019 that recreates whole Grateful Dead concerts, not hit sets.

Portland, OR

A Portland band drawn from four generations of Deadheads, in steady rotation at McMenamins rooms.

Athens, GA · since 1999

Athens, Georgia veterans who walk onstage with no setlist and take the Dead wherever it goes.

Longmont, CO

Longmont Dead band whose name is just "creek water" said slow, playing roughly 100 nights a year.

Barrington, NJ

South Jersey Dead collective that uses the catalog as a launchpad, brewery by brewery.

Los Angeles, CA · since 1987

LA's oldest Dead tribute: born 1987, 4,000-plus shows, every era, a different setlist every night.

Philadelphia, PA

A six-piece Philadelphia-area Dead tribute working the suburban brewery and tavern circuit.

Easthampton, MA · since 2014

Western Mass Dead and JGB band since 2014, danceable tunes plus jazzy improv, with rotating bassists.

Fort Collins, CO · since 2009

Fort Collins veterans who braid the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd catalogs into one unpredictable set.

Nyack, NY

Nyack's high-energy Dead tribute, famous for three-hour marathon blocks of music.

Boulder, CO · since 2025

A Boulder County crew splitting the difference between Dead improvisation and Widespread Panic grit.

Milwaukee, WI

Five Milwaukee players who treat Dead tunes as launch vehicles rather than a set of covers.

Austin, TX · since 2010

Austin's Dead band, chasing the whole catalog two long sets at a time since 2010.

Denver, CO · since 2009

Colorado quartet that braids Grateful Dead and Phish into single seamless setlists.

Allentown, PA

Allentown, PA Grateful Dead tribute working Lehigh Valley breweries and North Jersey taprooms.

Seattle, WA

A Seattle electric quartet built for the psychedelic, danceable end of the Dead catalog.

Cleveland, OH

A six-piece Cleveland mainstay playing the Dead somewhere in Northeast Ohio nearly every week.

Crested Butte, CO · since 2018

Crested Butte six-piece named for an Althea lyric, with two drummers and four-part harmony.

San Diego, CA · since 1989

Grateful Dead every Monday at Winstons in Ocean Beach since 1992 — San Diego's longest club residency.

Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati jam band playing the Grateful Dead catalog around southwest Ohio.

Portland, OR · since 1999

Portland's Dead institution since 1999, treating the catalog as a launch pad.

Lafayette, IN · since 2015

Lafayette, Indiana Dead tribute born in the band's 50th-anniversary summer, with a 1950s streak.

White Plains, NY

The Dead-set alter ego of White Plains' Blue Roadhouse Orchestra, built on feel rather than note-for-note.

Los Angeles, CA · since 2016

LA six-piece that plays the Dead loose and harmony-heavy; now a national touring act.

Washington, DC · since 2017

The DC area's busiest Dead tribute, grown out of the city's weekly Grateful Dead open jams.

Lynbrook, NY · since 2004

Long Island's Grateful Dead tribute since 2004, from Brooklyn Bowl to the Westbury stage.

Indianapolis, IN · since 2008

Indianapolis Dead tribute built on long-form improvisation and setlists that never repeat.

St. Louis, MO · since 1976

St. Louis institution and, at fifty years running, the longest-lived Dead tribute in the country.

Philadelphia, PA · since 2019

Philly's high-energy Dead tribute, born from a one-off 2019 tribute night that stuck.

Madison, WI

Madison's hard-rippin' Dead tribute, big on experimental setlists and soulful vocals.

Brooklyn, NY · since 2013

Brooklyn's muscular reinterpretation of the songbook — not a recreation.

Kansas City, MO · since 2019

Kansas City's improv-first Dead band, more interested in reinterpreting the catalog than copying it.

Fredericksburg, VA

Keller Williams' bluegrass project: "Loose interpretations of Grateful Dead songs done in a bluegrass style."

Philadelphia, PA

A Philadelphia-area Jerry Garcia Band tribute chasing classic JGB grooves and deep cuts.

Tucson, AZ

A Tucson quartet playing the Jerry Garcia Band and Legion of Mary songbook rather than the Dead's.

Neptune, NJ

The Solar Circus and Juggling Suns guitarist, leading a rotating Jersey band through the songbook.

Dallas, TX

Dallas-Fort Worth Dead tribute with unusual arrangements and the odd original.

St. Petersburg, FL · since 2024

Tampa Bay all-star Dead band formed in 2024 from Uncle John's Band and Dead Set Florida.

Wilkes-Barre, PA

Northeastern Pennsylvania jam band playing mostly Dead with Allmans mixed in.

Palo Alto, CA · since 2020

Palo Alto band born in a park in 2020: two guitars, two drummers, the Dead as ultimate bar band.

Marlborough, MA · since 2004

Former Dark Star Orchestra members' marathon two-set Dead shows, every Wednesday in Pembroke.

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco collective behind Grateful First Fridays on Haight Street.

Worcester, MA

Worcester five-piece Dead tribute working New England's halls, breweries and festivals.

Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh Jerry Garcia Band tribute named for a line in 'Reuben and Cerise'.

Chicago, IL · since 2014

Chicago's Garcia's regulars, playing deep cuts and full-show recreations since 2014.

Taunton, MA · since 1997

Taunton, Massachusetts Dead band that marked 25 years by playing Europe '72 whole.

Arcata, CA · since 2015

Humboldt County Dead band since 2015 that throws its own three-day Camp Rosewater festival.

Worcester, MA · since 2017

Worcester five-piece digging through the whole Garcia solo book - JGB, Legion of Mary, Garcia & Saunders.

Bay Area Dead cover band working pub and brewery stages from Hayward to Grass Valley.

Queens, NY · since 2023

Born in the Citi Field parking lot in 2023; dream setlists and heady improvisation.

Denver, CO · since 1987

Colorado's longest-running Dead tribute, playing the catalog continuously since February 1987.

Kansas City, MO

A Kansas City acoustic trio of jazz players running the Dead songbook through fiddle, guitar and bass.

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia-area five-piece, 20-plus years on Dead and Dylan, touring upstate NY as an acoustic duo.

New York, NY · since 2009

Tri-state Dead tribute since 2009 and the band behind Free Dead in the Park.

Hoboken, NJ

Hoboken Dead band with folk-bluegrass roots; first act to play inside the Liberty Science Center planetarium.

San Rafael, CA

The Bay Area's house band for the Dead — deep jams and a fresh setlist every night.

Birmingham, AL · since 2010

Birmingham jam quintet that runs Dead, Phish and Panic through the same improvising engine.

Columbia, SC

Columbia SC instrumental quartet that improvises on the Dead in set-length excursions, no vocals.

Chicago, IL · since 1999

Chicago's premier Dead act, with a long history of touring alongside Melvin Seals and Tom Constanten.

Melrose, FL

Melrose, FL quartet (sometimes a trio) playing Jerry- and Dead-inspired '60s and '70s rock.

Frederick, MD

An all-star Mid-Atlantic band splitting sets between the Dead, the Allmans and The Band.

Santa Cruz, CA

Matt Hartle's Santa Cruz ensemble, holding down Grateful Sundays at the Crepe Place since 2017.

Nashville, TN · since 2014

Nashville's Dead institution, holding down Grateful Monday at Acme Feed & Seed since 2014.

Albany, NY

The Capital Region's Grateful Dead band, from Lark Hall to the Glove Theatre.

Nashville, TN · since 2022

Nashville's high-energy Dead tribute, built by three players who spent two years learning the book.

Fort Collins, CO · since 2019

Fort Collins five-piece that improvises the Dead's catalog rather than recreating specific shows.

Miami, FL · since 2012

Miami's jazz-and-funk-leaning Dead band, monthly at Guanabanas.

East Providence, RI · since 2008

Rhode Island's long-running Dead tribute, with a monthly acoustic night in Johnston.

Newark, DE

Newark, Delaware jam band whose Grateful Dead Nights are a standing fixture at HomeBase in Wilmington.

Denver, CO

Melvin Seals & JGB guitarist Dave Hebert's rotating-cast Garcia and Dead project.

Morrisville, PA

Lower Bucks County six-piece that has been jamming Dead and Garcia Band tunes for over 30 years.

Pleasantville, NJ · since 2023

Pleasantville, NJ Dead tribute built from Chinacat Jubilee players, with a rotating lead guitarist.

Perkiomen, PA

Philadelphia-area jam band that bends Dead classics toward rock, blues, jazz and folk.

Brooklyn, NY · since 2023

Chris Mackin's rotating collective of New York jam players, resident at Brooklyn Bowl.

St. Cloud, MN · since 2015

St. Cloud five-piece named for the Dead's most famous segue, onstage since 2016.

Boston, MA

Boston DIY-collective Dead project with four long Grateful Dead covers on Citizens' Loft's 2023 comp.

Boulder, CO

Boulder veterans of four other Front Range Dead bands who turned a weekly jam into a working band.

Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati jam band centered on the Dead but happy to detour into Allmans, Phish and Panic.

Bozeman, MT · since 2019

A Bozeman six-piece built on three-part harmonies, born from a one-off Dead night at the Filling Station.

Grateful Dead and Dire Straits mash-up tribute; setlists pull classics from both catalogues.

Santa Fe, NM

Long-running northern New Mexico Grateful Dead band, playing two sets outdoors at The Bridge.

Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn jam collective playing Dead-leaning sets in Central Park and around the city, announced by drop rather than calendar.

Dallas, TX · since 2005

Dallas Dead band since 2005, carrying a 230-song book into Deep Ellum theaters.

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Dead tribute working the acoustic end of the songbook, two to eight pieces.

since 2015

Tri-state five-piece working the high-energy end of the Dead book in small NJ and NY rooms since 2015.

Washington, DC

DC-area all-star band devoted to Jerry Garcia, with the Jerry Garcia Band at its center.

Athens, GA · since 2012

Athens, Georgia crew playing only Jerry Garcia Band material — a cover band of a cover band.

since 2018

Inland Empire Dead band since 2018, two drummers, a fixture up the hill at Mt. Baldy Lodge.

Traverse City, MI

A big northern Michigan outfit with dual lead guitars and twin bassists on the Dead's catalog.

San Francisco, CA

RatDog and Other Ones guitarist Mark Karan, leading a Bay Area band through Dead songs and more.

Chicago, IL · since 2010

Chicago Americana roots-rock five-piece that plays its own songs with a Deadhead's sense of the jam.

Six-piece Dead tribute working the NJ/NY border, built on vocal harmonies and jazzy jams.

Larchmont, NY

Westchester jam band with the Dead as the biggest thing in a wide book — and a regular at Garcia's.

Prescott, AZ

A Prescott quartet that runs the Dead catalog through a Joe Russo's Almost Dead lens.

Pittsburgh, PA · since 2021

Pittsburgh jam collective welding Dead repertoire to an '80s DIY punk ethos.

Berkeley, CA

Stu Allen's Wednesday band at Ashkenaz, working the Jerry Garcia Band book with a revolving cast.

Columbus, OH · since 2019

A five-piece Columbus band working the full 1960s-to-1990s catalog at Woodlands Tavern.

Newark, DE

A Newark, Delaware jam band splitting its sets between the Dead and Jerry Garcia.

Seattle, WA

Seattle jazz and jam heavyweights who recreate whole Grateful Dead albums live.

Cleveland, OH · since 1988

Cleveland jamband since 1988, mixing originals with Dead and Allman Brothers improvisation.

Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh five-piece, Dead-heavy sets with Phish, Beatles and Dylan, two decades deep at Moondogs.

Five North Jersey players who met answering a Deadhead call at Montclair's Meat Locker.

Caldwell, NJ

Caldwell, NJ jam band playing Grateful Dead at the Orange Lantern's Grateful Tuesday night.