On Wednesday, Thanksgiving eve, Rosebud headlines at Felton Music Hall in a show they’re calling “Friendsgiving.” Cooper and keyboardist Kane contribute original songs that fit snugly with the Dead-oriented material the band plays about half the time. So Rosebud, to me, is kind of more true to the spirit of the Dead because we’re always introducing new material, as the Dead would have.” I didn’t want to see them have a limited repertoire of 150, 200 songs, or whatever it was. “When you used to go see the Dead, you never knew what material they were gonna do, and they were always pulling out something new. “It’s all played in the style of the Dead,” Cooper said of his Rosebud project. The band also mixes in originals, many of which are written by Cooper, who has recorded several albums of his own material. But the mission of Rosebud is even broader than that. That band - Cooper, Lachlann Kane, Fred Rodriguez, Andy Birchett and Mark Corsolini - certainly covers Dead tunes, but they expand that set list to include music from various Dead spinoff groups and projects, including the Jerry Garcia Band, Kingfish, and even the bluegrass one-off Old & In The Way. The Cats - named for the Dead classic song “China Cat Sunflower” - is strictly a Dead tribute act, playing only songs that the Dead would have played during their 30-year reign from the band’s beginnings in the Haight in San Francisco in the mid 1960s to Garcia’s death in 1995. The crucial difference between the China Cats and Rosebud has to do with repertoire. On Wednesday, Cooper will play with his other five-piece band, Rosebud, named for Jerry Garcia’s distinctive guitar. As the spiritual and literal home to the Grateful Dead Archive, Santa Cruz enjoys more than its share of Dead acts, both homegrown and touring, to the nationally well-known Dark Star Orchestra, to the Los Angeles-based Jerry’s Middle Finger, to Santa Cruz’s own China Cats.Īt the center of the Dead subculture in Santa Cruz sits singer, guitarist and songwriter Scott Cooper, one of the five musicians who make up the China Cats - with Matt Hartle, Steve Sofranko, Roger Sideman and Michael Owens. One chronicler of the Dead tribute scene has counted almost 60 bands in California alone regularly gigging as a Dead tribute act. Listen via iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher, or in the player below.But nowhere is the tribute-act phenomenon as rich and varied than in the realm of the Grateful Dead. Also, if you use iTunes, please consider posting a review as it really help get the word out.

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I had a great time chatting with them and think that you will enjoy them as well. Pardon as I take a moment to send a shoutout to my new friends, Aaron, Mel, & Apple over at the No Simple Road podcast. So, polish off the egg nog and break into the bubbly, cos we're gonna party like it's 1969. We've got the Rock & Roll, Blues, and, my personal favorite genre, Face-Melting Jams. This month we take a look at a few of those New Year's Eve performances and play some choice cuts to help you close out your year. Sometimes, spectacle would accompany the strike of midnight but really, the Grateful Dead is all the spectacle we Deadheads need. Once upon a time, in Grateful Dead land, the eve of the new year was celebrated with a festive concert appearance, perhaps even a run of concerts. It's December and, on top of the various religious holidays ahead, we close out and usher in a new and hopefully better year.

China cat sunflower new years eve