China Cats A Very Grateful Halloween Dance Party

“The China Cats aren’t a cover band,” says Nicholas Meriwether, archivist of the Grateful Dead collection at UC Santa Cruz. “They approach the Dead’s work with the same kind of reverence and sophistication that the Dead themselves showed in their own forays into American roots music. “When you listen to the Cats,” Meriweather adds, “old favorites take on new lives, revealing facets that will delight and amaze even jaded listeners. These guys aren’t copycats — their sets demonstrate how the Dead’s music now is a part of the great American songbook, alongside the giants who first inspired the Dead.”