Grateful Shred

After a meteoric rise from obscurity to a national touring band, Grateful Shred has made the most of its time in the spotlight. The initial lineup alongside Shred core two Austin McCutchen and Dan Horne, woke the Grateful Dead cosmos with a unique laid-back harmony driven sound. The band literally went from playing the Shakedown Street vendor area prior to Dead and Company shows to touring the United States.

The moment that sent the band’s popularity soaring is the “Busted at the Bowl” video, a YouTube video with nearly 500K views; the video features Shred members starting an impromptu set in the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl before a Dead and Company show in 2017. They don’t get too far before drawing so much attention that the police shut them down. Instant "Shred-Cred."

The thing is, Los Angeles-based Grateful Shred manage to channel that elusive Dead vibe: wide-open guitar tones, effortless three and four-part vocal harmonies, choogling beats, and yes, plenty of tripped out, Shredded solos. The look, the sound, the atmosphere. It’s uncanny. “It’s more of a ‘take’ on the Dead than a tribute band,” says bassist Horne. “We end up sounding almost more like the Dead because we approach it in this free-spirited way.”

Founded one night in 2016, the band came about almost by accident. Singer/guitarist McCutchen had a residency at The Griffin in Atwater Village; his band was out of town, so he drafted some friends to play a set of Dead covers, and the band, in one form or another, have been together ever since.

This past pandemic year, McCutchen and Horne decided to shake things up. Their biggest move was adding a second drummer to the lineup; Alex Koford (Phil and Friends, Terrapin Family Band) joined long time Shred collaborator Austin Beade on drums as the band doubled down on its rhythm section. Koford’s vocals were a huge benefit to the band and by the end of 2021 performances, his contributions were prominent throughout the nightly setlists.

Another huge part of the 2021 lineup was keyboardist Adam MacDougall. MacDougall, a member of Circles Around the Sun with Horne, brings instant credibility along with his spacy keyboard grooves and adds yet another vocalist to the mix.

Far from being a historical re-enactment, Grateful Shred’s laissez faire vibe infuses the band with a gentle spirit, warmth, and (dare we say it) authenticity. From their killer merch game to their eminently watchable YouTube channel, they’re clearly having a rad time and spreading the love. Strangely enough, in a world overflowing with wax museum nostalgia and Deadly sentimentalism, we need the Shred, now more than ever.

Ryan Scott is a New York-based musician, and most notably, a guitar man. He’s been described as a genius, axe murderer, and shredder extraordinaire.  Ryan embodies rock ‘n roll and soul in its purest form, influenced by the blues-rock guitar lineage, New York’s Jazz tradition, New Orleans R&B, Brazilian psychedelia, and much more. His mastery of technique, groove, and aesthetic are undeniable. With a technical expertise way beyond his years, he delivers freshly crafted tunes and wildly energetic live performances.  After a performance at the 2017 Ground Up music festival, David Crosby tweeted, “Saw one of the most crazy good ROCKING guitar player singers ever last night. I think his name is Ryan Scott.”  Ryan Scott is his name and Crosby isn’t exaggerating.

 

Ryan has been playing music professionally for over two decades and he’s only 36.  He began playing at 10, his first bar gig at 12. As a teen he was mentored in jazz by master bebop guitarist Bruce Forman, travelled overseas with jazz ensembles and won a blues guitar competition at 14.  In 2001, Ryan moved to NYC diving immediately into the city’s jazz scene.  At 18, he was one of the youngest musicians around sharing the stage with the likes of Chris Cheek, Joel Frahm, John Ellis, Chris Thile, Marianne Faithful.  Over the course of the following decade he did various session work(Aoife O’Donovan), writing and production for TV shows (Louie, Nat Geo, TBS), TV ads(Google, Budweiser, GMC) club gigs and side man affairs. Though Jazz was Ryan’s concentration, it’s the Blues, Hip Hop and Rock ‘n Roll that solidify his spirit captured in his most current projects. 

 

In January 2019 Ryan digitally released his first album in 10 years, A Freak Grows in Brooklyn, recorded on cassette in his Brooklyn studio and home.  An endeavor entirely of his own, he is credited as writer, engineer and sole musician on the album (vocals, guitars, bass, drums, and keys).  With this completely grass-roots release, his songs are being played on radio stations around the world and by nothing more than word of mouth, he has accumulated listeners and fans in 56 countries and growing. He is ready to take it on the road.

 

This August marks the end of a three year weekly residency at Rockwood Music Hall where Ryan had the opportunity to perfect his solo electric performance.  He continues a monthly residency with a full band at Brooklyn’s beloved Sunny’s Bar.