Bands

Helena, MT

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

Stamford, CT

Fairfield County Dead band with ties to Stella Blues Band and Laughin' Bones.

Seattle, WA

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

Kansas City, MO

Kansas City's Dead band, house favorites at Mike Kelly's Westsider and the Royals' Dead Night.

Manitou Springs, CO

Southern Colorado's Jerry Garcia Band tribute, built by the founders of Shakedown Street.

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.

Boca Raton, FL · since 1990

South Florida's Grateful Dead band since Halloween 1990, playing every week.

Longmont, CO

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

Los Angeles, CA · since 1987

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

Yorktown, VA

Yorktown acoustic sextet playing the Dead and Allman Brothers on unplugged instruments.

McDonough, GA

McDonough, Georgia bar band pairing Grateful Dead jams with classic rock favorites.

Austin, TX · since 2010

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

Charleston, WV

Charleston, West Virginia band billing itself as celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead (mostly).

Boston, MA

Jerry Garcia Band tribute out of Boston, MA.

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.

Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Dead tribute that has climbed from brewery patios to the Variety Playhouse.

Portland, OR · since 1999

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

Hayward, CA · since 1992

Bay Area veterans since 1992 playing the Dead, the Airplane, and Quicksilver.

Lafayette, IN · since 2015

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

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.

Baltimore, MD

A Baltimore Dead tribute that has held down York Road bars and Maryland theaters for fifteen years.

St. Louis, MO · since 1976

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

Madison, WI

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

Asheville, NC

Asheville quartet that plays only the Garcia-sung side of the catalog, 150-plus songs deep.

Detroit, MI

Metro Detroit JGB tribute led by guitarist Matthew Cole, holding down second Thursdays at Bowlero.

Kansas City, MO · since 2019

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

Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Beach seven-piece covering every Dead role, Pigpen and Donna included.

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.

Wilkes-Barre, PA

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

Mystic, CT · since 2018

Southeastern Connecticut six-piece that grew out of a monthly Dead night in 2018.

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Garcia tribute run out of a West Mt. Airy compound, with Dead, JGB and Dylan in the sets.

Frederick, MD · since 2020

A Frederick five-piece that runs the Dead catalog through funk and soulful psychedelia.

Bay Shore, NY · since 1990

Long Island's Dead band since 1990, with a standing date at the Boulton Center.

Pittsburgh, PA

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

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.

Denver, CO · since 1987

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

Laguna Beach, CA · since 2017

Laguna Beach Dead band, born from a local jam session, working the town's bars since 2017.

North Smithfield, RI

A six-piece out of North Smithfield playing Dead tunes around Rhode Island, Mass and Connecticut.

Philadelphia, PA · since 1992

Philadelphia's Dead band since 1992, a Stone Pony and Ardmore Music Hall fixture.

Richmond, VA · since 2015

Richmond six-piece recreating the Dead's catalog plus the covers the band made its own.

Birmingham, AL · since 2010

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

Chicago, IL

Chicago Dead tribute drawn from area session players, at home at Reggies and out in the suburbs.

Gloucester City, NJ

Grateful Dead tribute out of Gloucester City, NJ.

Roanoke, VA · since 2016

Roanoke's Grateful Dead tribute since 2016, a fixture at 5 Points Music Sanctuary.

Holyoke, MA

Grateful Dead tribute out of Holyoke, MA.

Blacksburg, VA · since 1986

Blacksburg's Dead band since 1986, started when a birthday party's band no-showed.

Albany, NY

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

Clearwater, FL · since 1989

Florida's longest-running Dead tribute — Thursday-night church since 1989.

East Providence, RI · since 2008

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

Akron, OH

Akron's only Grateful Dead tribute, and it has already graduated to the Civic Theatre stage.

Tempe, AZ · since 1994

Arizona's longest-running Dead band, going since 1994 and stocked with JGB players.

Morrisville, PA

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

Baltimore, MD

Baltimore jam band built on Dead roots, with Dylan, Steely Dan and blues worked into the sets.

Las Vegas, NV · since 2015

Las Vegas Dead and Garcia band with a running residency in the Tuscany's Copa Room.

Syracuse, NY · since 1996

Syracuse Dead band going since 1996, with two drummers and a deep Dead-family songbook.

Burlington, VT · since 1983

Burlington Dead band whose two founders have been at it since Boston in 1983.

Athens, GA · since 2018

Athens, Georgia Grateful Dead act formed in 2018 around a drums-and-bass core.

Fort Collins, CO

Fort Collins jam five-piece whose covers lean Dead but roam country, folk and psych.

Santa Fe, NM

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

Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma City band listed in the national Dead tribute directory; name nods to the Acid Test.

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.

Jacksonville, FL · since 1989

North Florida's longest-running Dead band, playing psychedelic Dead sets since 1989.

Norfolk, VA · since 2012

Hampton Roads six-piece that has played nothing but Dead since 2012, off a 100-song list.

Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati quartet that plays the Pigpen years — jug-band blues, organ and harp.

Austin, TX

Austin-area Dead cover band with a country-fried Texas accent on the catalog.

Minneapolis, MN · since 2011

Minneapolis lifers who have played Grateful Dead music every single Sunday since 2011, past show 750.

Jackson, WY · since 2010

Jackson Hole's eight-piece Dead band, named the night they found it at the Knotty Pine.

East Lansing, MI

East Lansing string band playing the Dead catalog on mandolin, dobro, banjo and guitar.

Seattle, WA

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

Oak Bluffs, MA · since 2005

Dead tunes with a reggae groove, live from Martha's Vineyard for two decades.

Cleveland, OH · since 1988

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

Griffith, IN

A seven-piece Northwest Indiana band whose setlists run, in their own words, from Dark Star to Dolly.

Pittsburgh, PA

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

Omaha, NE

An Omaha five-piece that works the small-town Iowa and Nebraska circuit playing mostly Dead.

Atlanta, GA · since 2005

Atlanta jam band and Lake Claire mainstay that folds Dead and Neil Young into R&B and reggae.