Grateful Shred features a loose-knit circle of top studio session musicians.

The permanent Shredders and core four “first call” players are bass player extraordinaire Dan Horne Music (Circles Around The Sun, Jonathan Wilson, Cass McCombs), vocalist-guitarist Austin McCutchen (The Western Stars, The Velvet Bonebreakers) and vocalists and guitar rippers Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch (both of Mapache).

Add a rotating cast of drummers (like Richard Gowen of The Growlers) and keyboardists (like Lee Pardini of Dawes and Jerry Borgé of Ziggy Marley), and you’ve got the essential formula.

Los Angeles-based Grateful Shred manage to channel that elusive Dead vibe: wide-open guitar tones, effortless three-part vocal harmonies, choogling beats, and yes, plenty of tripped out, Shredded solos. The look, the sound, the atmosphere. It’s uncanny. “It’s more of a ‘take’ on the Dead than a tribute band,” says bassist Dan Horne. “We end up sounding almost more like the Dead because we approach it in this free-spirited way.”

Far from being a historical re-enactment, Grateful Shred’s laissez faire vibe infuses the band with a gentle spirit, warmth, and (dare we say it) authenticity. From their killer merch game to their eminently watchable YouTube channel, they’re clearly having a rad time and spreading the love. Strangely enough, in a world overflowing with wax museum nostalgia and Deadly sentimentalism, we need the Shred, now more than ever.