Formed in 2013, for a one-off gig, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRad) has transformed into a full-on touring band. Joe Russo, former drummer of Further, sits front and center in the band. Together with Dave Dreiwitz (from Ween), Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, they play the most upbeat rock n’ roll Grateful Dead I have ever seen.

Forget space Dead or bluegrass Dead this is funky -party-rock n’ roll-dead. Totally different from any other Dead cover band you have ever seen. What is most impressive about JRad is their ability to seamless blend and jam both Dead and other covers songs from Phish, ABB, Zeppelin and more. During a show in January, the band debuted their first original song.

Here is Joe Russo doing Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is currently on tour – check out tour dates here. I am so excited to see them at the end of April for their first Red Rocks show. Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat for live shots from the shows.