Bands

Denver, CO

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

Reno, NV

Reno's Roger Scime and Rick Winfield plus guests, channeling the Dead's Summer of Love.

Kenilworth, NJ

Grateful Dead tribute out of Kenilworth, NJ.

Dallas, TX · since 2017

Dallas jam-rock that runs the Dead alongside the Allmans, the Crowes and Widespread Panic.

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.

Perkiomen, PA

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

Chagrin Falls, OH

Chagrin Falls acoustic act recreating real Dead setlists as psychedelic Americana.

Raleigh, NC · since 2019

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

Myrtle Beach, SC · since 2025

Mike Greene's Grand Strand acoustic trio, mixing Dead and Garcia Band with Dylan and the Allmans.

Portland, OR

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

St. Cloud, MN · since 2015

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

Athens, GA · since 1999

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

Fort Collins, CO · since 2007

Fort Collins five-piece that works the Pigpen end of the Dead songbook and its country roots.

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.

Boulder, CO

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

St. Petersburg, FL

Florida Dead tribute chasing the sound, feel, and spirit, with room for spontaneity.

Cincinnati, OH

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

Fort Collins, CO · since 2009

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

Boulder, CO · since 2025

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

Yorktown, VA

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

Bozeman, MT · since 2019

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

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.

Montclair, NJ · since 2015

Montclair string band exploring the life's work of Jerry Garcia.

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.

Chicago, IL

Chicago Dead tribute working a five-state Midwest circuit of bars and brewpubs.

Philadelphia, PA

Philly band that plays Dead tunes, reggae tunes, and Dead tunes turned reggae.

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 2015

San Diego seven-piece built for '70s Dead - two drummers, a Donna, Europe '72 and Spring '77.

Cincinnati, OH

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

Dallas, TX · since 2005

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

Atlanta, GA

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

Columbus, OH

Columbus Dead project with a core band, a guest list, and a monthly open Super Jam.

Portland, OR · since 1999

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

Philadelphia, PA · since 2013

A Philadelphia deadgrass five-piece with dobro, field drum and a monthly Mermaid Inn residency.

White Plains, NY

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

Louisville, KY

Louisville's psychedacoustic Dead tribute, stripping the catalog to a rootsy acoustic core.

Minneapolis, MN

Three Twin Cities frontwomen trading leads on the Dead catalog over a crack backing band.

Norfolk, VA · since 2012

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

Washington, DC · since 2017

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

Charlottesville, VA

A Charlottesville band playing Grateful Dead music around town, by its own plain description.

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.

Silver Spring, MD

A DC-suburb act working the Grateful Dead songbook through Montgomery and Howard county rooms.

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.

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.

Kansas City, MO · since 2019

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

Philadelphia, PA

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

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.

Lincoln, NE

A rotating Plains-states Dead and JGB crew that tapes and posts nearly everything it plays.

Chicago, IL · since 1991

Chicago's veteran jam band, writing originals with John Perry Barlow and weaving Dead songs throughout.

Washington, DC · since 1983

DC-area jam band named for an Anthem of the Sun deep cut, running on two drummers since 1983.

Contoocook, NH · since 2013

New Hampshire mashup specialists who weld the Dead's catalog onto Zeppelin, the Who and Pink Floyd.

Baltimore, MD · since 2018

Maryland players who stay inside 1965-1970, the Pigpen years and the primal jams.

Marlborough, MA · since 2004

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

Prescott, AZ

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

Philadelphia, PA

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

Lansing, MI

An eight-piece Lansing crew with a 50-year age spread and a country-flavored groove.

Detroit, MI

Detroit-area quartet the Dead's own Dead Covers Project picked as its 2023 headliner.

Frederick, MD · since 2020

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

Portland, OR

Portland's tribute to Jerry Garcia, named for a Cats Under the Stars deep cut.

Chicago, IL · since 2014

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

Portland, ME

New England's Jerry Garcia Band tribute, built on three-part harmony and Hammond organ.

Dallas, TX

Dallas crew playing the Jerry Garcia Band songbook, gospel backing vocals and all.

Pittsburgh, PA · since 2021

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

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.

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.

Philadelphia, PA

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

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia mashup of the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead, drawn from the city's busiest players.

La Porte, IN · since 2009

Northwest Indiana jam band working the lakeshore brewery circuit since 2009.

Richmond, VA · since 2015

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

Springfield, IL · since 2013

Springfield's fast, funky Dead and Jerry Garcia Band dance party, running since 2013.

Detroit, MI

Detroit's tribute to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, with a standing gig at the Cadieux Cafe.

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.

Roanoke, VA · since 2016

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

Columbus, OH · since 2019

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

Tulsa, OK

A big Tulsa porch-pickin' band that plays the Dead on banjo, fiddle, mandolin and washboard.

Holyoke, MA

Grateful Dead tribute out of Holyoke, MA.

Newark, DE

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

Frederick, MD

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

Greenville, SC · since 2016

Greenville six-piece that segues the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead into one another.

Chicago, IL

Chicago's deadicated bluegrass quintet, picking the Dead and Old & In The Way songbooks.

Cleveland, OH · since 1988

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

Griffith, IN

A Northwest Indiana Dead tribute and jam band playing the Region's small-room circuit.

Chelsea, MI

A Washtenaw County band playing Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia classics on free-music nights.

Nashville, TN · since 2014

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

Biloxi, MS

A Mississippi Gulf Coast Dead cover band working Biloxi and Bay St. Louis rooms.

Worcester, CT

Grateful Dead tribute out of Worcester, CT.

Nashville, TN · since 2022

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

Eugene, OR

A Lane County act that brings Haight-Ashbury era Dead music to the 3 Legged Crane in Oakridge.

Mendham, NJ · since 2014

Northern New Jersey trio playing the Dead and the music that grew out of it, since 2014.

Fort Collins, CO · since 2019

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

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.

Media, PA

A Philadelphia-suburb Dead cover band that posts a full setlist and recording after every show.

St. Louis, MO · since 2016

St. Louis Dead band born from a one-off Jerry birthday party that never quite ended.

New Brunswick, NJ

New Brunswick six-piece playing Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band across NJ and Staten Island.

Philadelphia, PA

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

Rogers, AR · since 2008

An eight-piece Northwest Arkansas collective that has played the Dead with rotating friends since 2008.

Tampa, FL

A Tampa Bay outfit devoted strictly to Jerry Garcia's solo and Jerry Garcia Band repertoire.

Chicago, IL · since 2010

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

Hoboken, NJ

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

Omaha, NE

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

Morristown, NJ · since 2018

Northern New Jersey's fast-rising Dead tribute, packing rooms since 2018.