Contacts

Agency RA: Tom Baggott (802) 989-7200
Promo, PR & Web Marketing: Michael Benjamin (508) 642-0439
Tour Management & Production: Tom Major (508) 728-3944

Grateful Dread Biography

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From the shores of Martha’s Vineyard comes a new island sound. Not really new, maybe…more of a fusion of a couple of old favorites…one from San Francisco and one from the island of Jamaica. A new twist is more like it. Call it a joint venture between the music and vibe of the Grateful Dead and the idiom and feel of Bob Marley. The result is an infectious dance party that is nothing if not pure fun.

For years, the Grateful Dread band has been packing clubs on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, enthralling sellout crowds with their unexpected hybrid of Grateful Dead songs played with reggae and ska grooves. They were as surprised as anyone to discover the amazing broad-based appeal of the music, as evidenced by the melting pot of college kids, aging Deadheads, wistful Boomers, teenagers, and even little kids that started coming to their sold out shows and making club owners deliriously happy. They discovered that one doesn’t need to be a Deadhead to enjoy the music and love the show. Clearly, much of this enthusiastic support for the Grateful Dread is due to the universal appreciation for Marley, what he represented, the island groove and the timeless folk rock of The Dead, but the players and performances themselves deserve a lot of credit here. These guys on stage may have originally gotten together to simply have a good time, but these are serious players who have racked up substantial credits along the way as band members, sidemen, and session players, including stints with Carly Simon, Mick Taylor, Bo Diddley, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Susan Tedeschi, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chuck Berry and The Roches.

Drummer Tom Major, founder of the successful world beat/rock band Entrain and vocalist / guitarist Mike Benjamin pulled together a crew of friends in high places to make the Grateful Dread project hard to not take seriously. Benjamin worked with Major in Ehtrain, but on his own following that stint, he has shared the stage and studio with such greats as Mark Cohn, Delbert McClinton, Patty Labelle, Will Lee, Vicky Sue Robinson, Paul Shaffer, Bo Diddley, James Taylor, The David Letterman Band, The Blues Brothers, Carly Simon, Susan Tedeschi and many others. The Mike Benjamin Band even had the great honor of performing at President Bill Clinton’s 60th birthday party. In addition to Entrain, Tom Major was the featured drummer on Bo Diddley’s 40th anniversary album, “A Man Amongst Men,” which also included Mark Knopfler, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Richie Sambora, Johnny Johnson and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. He has also worked with Carly Simon, including TV appearances on the “Today” show, “Good Morning, America,” and two prime-time specials. Other performance credits include gigs with Blood Sweat & Tears, Chuck Berry, Mick Taylor, and Papa Chubby. He also founded White Collar Crime, the successful NYC R&B club band, whose regular members included Southside Johnny’s rhythm section, the David Letterman Band horn section, as well as members of the Max Weinberg Seven and the Blues Brothers. In addition to Major and Benjamin, journeyman guitarist Jon Zeeman, keyboardist Wes Nagy and West Indian bassist M’Talewa round out the band. Zeeman has toured, recorded and performed with such notables as Susan Tedeschi, Janis Ian, The Burns Sisters Band, Chris Spedding, and the Allman Brothers Band.

Nagy—who has toured with artists like Bo Diddley, Mick Taylor, Gary U.S. Bonds, Lou Rawls, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and more— also produced music in LA for shows like, Drew Carey, Felicity, West Wing, Providence, American Dreams, Early Edition, Cupid and Sports Night before “retiring” to a quieter lifestyle on Martha’s Vineyard, where he continues to write music for independent films and projects when not laying down keys for the Grateful Dread. M’Talewa, who earned his name— which means “The Foundation”— during his years performing and recording with numerous international Caribbean artists, migrated to Boston in 1995 from Antigua, West Indies. Over the last decade and a half, he has lent his considerable bass playing talents to the work of Jah Spirit, PanNeubean Steel, Jamm Down, Hot Like Fire, Peter Tork, Matt Jenson, PJ Adamson, Kiddus I, Chinna Smith, Souljahs, The Ghetto People Band and many more. A master of the many Island rhythms, he presently plays bass with Entrain and The Grateful Dread, providing a true reggae feel and a solid groove.

With all of this history and experience, the members of Grateful Dread draw from one of the most beloved and influential songbooks in American music, playing songs that are immediately recognizable but that have been transformed by original arrangements and island beats that make them even more danceable. Add to that a healthy dose of improvisation and an extensive repertoire and you have a show that is never the same each time the guys tale the stage. As the DNA of the music is so accessible and well-known, it is common to find other artists sitting in with Grateful Dread in any town they perform in. Pure fun…