Bearly Dead brings the music of the Grateful Dead to new life with their unique take on the band’s expansive discography.
Courtesy of isaac9s/seancasini photography, bearlydeadmusic.com
Bearly Dead returns to River Street Jazz Cafe
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Bearly Dead comes to the River Street Jazz Cafe in Plains on Saturday, October 5, with the show starting at 9 p.m.
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WILKES-BARRE — On Saturday, Oct. 5, Bearly Dead returns to the River Street Jazz Cafe. This national-touring group prides itself on not being just any Grateful Dead cover band. This Boston-based quintet takes the music in its own way.
No, Bearly Dead doesn’t try to impersonate Jerry Garcia or mimic the tracks. In the spirit of the timeless pioneers of psychedelic rock who were known for never playing their own songs the same way twice, Bearly Dead puts their own spin on the band’s wide discography with upbeat, high-energy performances across the country.
“Our approach is not to sound like the Grateful Dead at all,” said guitarist and vocalist, Nick Swift in his phone interview with The Times Leader. “We don’t rewrite the tunes, but we’ll mess around the parts — keyboard players will pick up guitar parts, we’ll play songs at different tempos.”
Bearly Dead explores the full spectrum of The Dead’s music that inspired generations of musicians. Attendees are in for a full-spectrum concert with masterful talent and danceable fun. Bearly Dead honors the Grateful Dead by giving a fresh take on the band and its members’ expansive catalog of music. Bearly Dead has 250+ songs in their catalog and continue adding to their repertoire.
“The songs are so well written and so good that they kind of serve themselves. Like jazz standards, you can play it any way you want,” continued Swift.
“We play our own music, we just use The Dead platform to do it,” said drummer Tyler Brooks. “If Jerry Garcia was alive, I feel like we wouldn’t want to see people copying it. He’d want to see what people can do with the music.”
Tyler Brooks founded Bearly Dead in 2015 while stuck in his rehearsal space during the “Snowpocalypse” winter of that year. On the night of GD50, the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary celebration that was meant to be the group’s last performance as a band, Brooks had a revelation. Realizing this could be the end, Brooks wanted to keep the music he loved alive. … and this was the perfect time to start a Grateful Dead tribute band.
Bearly Dead stayed busy playing in the New England region but, when COVID shut everything down, they were forced to readjust. They held a residency in the Greater Boston Area to play every Wednesday, and the shows were selling out every week. However, after the whole band caught COVID from some poorly placed Stanley fans, they were forced to shut down for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, when they came back the residency just didn’t have the same momentum and Bearly Dead had to make a choice about the future of their band.
“It was either A. Hang the hat up, or B. Switch to a different model of business. In doing so, we’ve started growing and getting into new markets,” explained Brooks.
“So, we were at this crossroads of ‘What do we do?’ And we looked around and thought, ‘Alright, this core element of our band is young and hungry and wants to do the full-time music thing,’” said Nick of their turning point inspired them to hit the road.
The Bearly Dead currently consists of Tyler Brooks (Drums, Vocals), Dave Becker (Bass, Vocals), Nick Swift (Guitar, Vocals), Kris Yunker (Keys/Organ/Synth, Vocals) and Michael Butler (Vocals, Percussion).
“The band has shifted a lot over the years,” said Swift. “Things have changed, now our approach is more trying not to sound like the Grateful Dead and bring our own spin to the music.”
When Tyler Brooks started Bearly Dead, he thought the Grateful Dead was done touring. Even though they’ve continued to make appearances since GD50, one of the main reasons Brooks started the band was to continue the legacy of the Dead’s music, even if the band was no longer playing.
“The music’s always been around for me, I’ve always loved it. I play it because, even though Dead and Company are still playing, I still think the work we are doing is important.” said Brooks. “One of my earliest memories would be listening to it in the car on vacations — they imprint on you more than some other stuff.”
Nick Swift too has a long connection to the Grateful Dead. His first real performance was a one-off in his driveway with his dad and his college buddies playing their music. His dad imparted the musical inspiration of the Grateful Dead onto him.
“For me, my dad was a pretty big Dead Head. Not massive, but he went to 50-60 shows in his day. He had the 6-CD changer in his car growing up, but almost always there was one or two Grateful Dead CDs in there,” said Swift.
Bearly Dead just set out on their cross-country Harvest the Wind tour this fall and will be making their way across the Northeast and all the way to the West Coast. Bearly Dead always enjoys making a stop in Wilkes-Barre when they’re out on the road.
“It’s been so much fun! The people we meet along the way are great.” said Brooks. “This is our third year doing a tour of this extent. We’re learning a lot as we go.”
When they made the decision to set out on the road, they booked a weekend run involving staying in hotels, no longer limiting themselves to venues within a few hours of home. Starting out, it was challenging to find venues willing to take on a new Grateful Dead tribute band, since many already had a local one. But Wilkes-Barre was one of the first places Bearly Dead booked outside of their home base, and now the River Street Jazz Cafe is a regular stop on their tour route.
“It was hard to find someone to bring us in, and River Street Jazz Cafe was the venue that was like, ‘Yeah, come on!’” said Nick Swift. “The first night there was a packed house, and we thought it was awesome! It’s an important stop for us.”
2025 will mark Bearly Dead’s 10th anniversary, and they have a lot in the works for the future. They can’t confirm anything yet, but they’ll definitely be doing more touring, along with some surprises to come.
Bearly Dead continues branching out to new regions — not just New England anymore, but also the Southeast, Midwest, and beyond. They also continue to grow musically as they travel and love bringing joy to Dead fans.
“You have to (love what you do). It can be pretty unglamourous on the road so if you’re not loving it, it’s not for everyone. There are some days harder than others but there’s a magical thing that happens when you’re on the road, especially when you’re with people you enjoy — and we all love each other in this band!” said Swift.
“We all love it. We’re all out there, and we all believe in what we’re doing. We see the effect the music has on people, and that’s what drives us!” said Tyler. “For the same reason people buy tickets to the shows — they love the music — and that’s why we’re playing it, too.”
Bearly Dead also handles everything themselves, from manning the merch table to doing their own tech. “The name of the game when you don’t have all those tools and assistance is maintenance; it’s not burning out, it’s not injuring yourself, not pushing yourself too hard. It’s a balancing act, touring,” said Brooks.
In many ways following in the footsteps of the Grateful Dead, Bearly Dead is going wherever the music takes them. They’re looking forward to continuing to refine their systems and operate at a level that allows them to keep growing, both individually and as a band.
Experience the Grateful Dead’s music like you’ve never heard it before, when the Bearly Dead returns to the River Street Jazz Cafe on Saturday, Oct. 5, with the doors opening at 8 p.m. This show is for ages 21 and up. Tickets are available at https://riverstreetjazzcafe.com/shows/bearly-dead-show/.