Grateful Shred heads to SLO with unique spin on jam classics

As jam band Grateful Shred prepares to launch their winter tour, they’re kicking it off in the same setting the band was built in — a room full of friends ready to hang and jam out. On Friday, Dec. 5, the Los Angeles-based group will bring its eclectic sound to SLO Brew Rock, opening a new run of shows that reflects how far the band has come since its earliest days.

Grateful Shred wasn’t built to be a big touring act. It started with bassist Dan Horne and guitarist Austin McCutchen, a couple of musicians living in Echo Park, Los Angeles who were simply playing music they loved as tribute to Grateful Dead. 

The duo soon brought in guitarists Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch to expand their lineup of possibilities around the Los Angeles area. “We started playing local shows in Los Angeles just to fill in time,” Horne said. “We started booking bigger venues… and it kind of grew from there pretty naturally over a couple years.” 

Their performances have expanded throughout California, playing venues in Los Angeles, Mono Lake, Mount Shasta and the Bay Area.

Those early days set the tone for what the band would become: relaxed, communal and centered around the idea that music doesn’t need to be overthought. 

“The idea behind the band is to keep it loose, have fun,” Horne said. “Can’t take it too seriously.”

Finding their sound 

Over the years, Grateful Shred has rotated players in and out, but the current lineup has given the group a renewed sense of identity. With Mikaela Davis, John Lee Shannon, Adam MacDougall and drummers Chris English and Corey Rose, the band has built a sound that’s both easygoing and intentional.

“Everyone has a mic now and we all sing,” Horne said. “Everyone gets to sing a lead, and it’s probably fun for the audience to see what everybody has to say.”

That collective approach extends into how they interpret the Grateful Dead’s music. Instead of recreating the band note-for-note, they lean into the spontaneity of jamming to what feels natural.

“We don’t try to think about it too much,” Horne said. “There’s a vocabulary that floats around the Grateful Dead world… a center point where we all meet.”

They aim to honor the sound and style of the Grateful Dead while incorporating their own relaxed flare to help them stand apart. 

The band chooses songs from different time periods, sometimes changing up how they play them while using a style that feels natural and fun to them. Their setlists are planned but flexible, shaped by the moment rather than a strict framework.

“It’s mostly spontaneous,” Horne said, “We have a batch of songs set out for a show… but then sometimes we see where the night takes us.”

This year, Grateful Shred released “Might As Well”, their first full studio album. The project reimagines Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band songs that were never formally recorded in a studio, giving the band space to explore their own take on the material.

“It just seemed like a fun project,” Horne said. “These were songs we’d been playing live and thought represented our take on the Dead.”

The album is a collection of cover songs that the band feels are their strongest when performing live.“

We love being in the studio, and it’s a natural thing for us, so we just decided that would be fun,”  Horne said.

Rooted in Community

Every Grateful Shred show draws a diverse age range. The band sees longtime Deadheads who may have seen the Grateful Dead a hundred times, mixed in with younger fans hearing these songs in a new context. 

“It’s cool to have the full gamut,” Horne said. “We’re a younger band compared to some of the other Dead cover bands… we keep it light and high energy.”

As they open this next tour, Horne said the band is focused on expanding their sound and improving their interpretations to continue bringing people together.

“Our productions are getting bigger, our tours are getting bigger,” he said. “We just hope people keep coming to the shows.”

If there’s a word that captures where Grateful Shred stands now, it’s one Horne kept coming back to: community.

 “We’re about community… bringing people together,” he said. “Come out to the shows, have a good time with your friends — it’s all a big party.”

Grateful Shred will bring the San Luis Obispo   community together at SLO Brew Rock on Friday, Dec. 5, opening a new chapter of their live shows with the same spirit that started it all.