China Cats

Greatful Dead tribute China Cats will play in the Crystal Bay Casino’s Red Room at 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23. Tickets are $15. This will be China Cats first appearance at Crystal Bay since 2018.

This Bay Area tribute band performs the songs of the Grateful Dead with spirited jams that carry their own genuine personality while paying homage to their musical forefathers. The band has featured many guests and shared the stage with Jerry Garcia Band organist Melvin Seals several times since 2014; as well as former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux.
Lead guitarist Matt Hartle brings experience from collaborations with Dead-family musicians, has an acclaimed body of original material, and is a founding member of Santa Cruz-based Shady Groove. Matt has shared the stage with guitarists including Henry Kaiser and Stu Allen, and is a current member of Painted Mandolin with Joe Craven. Scott has several solo albums to his credit with his band, Scott Cooper & the Barrelmakers. Keyboardist Steve Sofranko is a regular in Stu Allen & Mars Hotel. Roger formerly played bass in David Gans & the Sycamore Slough String Band and has performed with artists such as Michael Kang, David Nelson, Henry Kaiser and Frank Wakefield. Drummer Michael Owens is an in-demand player who is versed in New Orleans, jazz, reggae and African drumming.

“The China Cats aren’t a cover band,” says Nicholas Meriweather, former archivist of the Grateful Dead collection at UC Santa Cruz. “They approach the Dead’s work with same kind of reverence and sophistication that the Dead themselves showed in their own forays into American roots music.”

“When you listen 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.”