The Jerry Garcia Birthday Band features Jerry Garcia Band members Melvin Seals, Jacklyn LaBranch and Gloria Jones along with Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead/Ghost Light guitarist Tom Hamilton and Widespread Panic drummer . The group reunited for a pair of shows this past August in Vail and pro-shot video featuring their rendition of “Shining Star” has been posted on the Jerry Garcia YouTube channel.
Hamilton sings lead on the R&B song that was first made famous by The Manhattans in 1981. The Jerry Garcia Band debuted their take on the tune on April 19, 1991, performing it 60 times through their final tour in 1995. The Jerry Garcia Birthday Band was originally put together for a concert honoring the late Grateful Dead frontman’s 75th birthday at Red Rocks in 2017 and performed again in Vail on August 17 and 18, 2018. Next up for the group are a pair of Like A Road Leading Home: Celebrating Jerry Garcia shows at The Warfield in San Francisco on January 11 and 12.
Watch the Jerry Garcia Birthday Band perform “Shining Star” below:
