After a meteoric rise from obscurity to a national touring band, Los Angeles-based Grateful Shred has made the most of its time in the spotlight. The lineup, featuring Dan Horne and Austin McCutchen alongside keyboardist Adam MacDougall, guitarist John Lee Shannon and vocalist Mikaela Davis, 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 that features Shred members starting an impromptu set in the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl before a Dead and Company show in 2017. They didn’t get too far before drawing so much attention that the police shut them down. Instantly creating Shred-cred, this was a bit of good fortune that doesn’t get past McCutchen. “We’ve been dealt some pretty good cards,” he states. “It’s been cool to roll with it and push forward and continually make stuff happen. Things have gone our way. Even that video happened magically. It was put together at the last minute, and boom!”
Grateful Shred released their first full studio album “Might As Well” on their own label- Liberty Hair Farm Records June 2025. The album resurrects tracks performed by Grateful Dead, and The Jerry Garcia Band - some well known and some deep cuts all that never received formal studio treatments. All were reengineered through Shred’s lens of sun-bleached harmonies and freewheeling improvisation. Featuring vocals from acclaimed vocalist Mikaela Davis, the project transforms archival blueprints into an indie-Americana odyssey. The project, spearheaded by bassist/producer Dan Horne, was recorded at Glendale’s UHF Studio in March 2025. Unfurling like a kaleidoscope of reimagined Dead lore, each track honors the Grateful Dead’s artistry while injecting Shred’s DNA– telepathic cohesion, pedal steel sheen, and an ironclad swinging rhythm section.
In addition to the studio release, Grateful Shred have recently launched a new series of live releases: “Dan’s Dubs”. These are hand selected Grateful Shred shows mixed and mastered by Dan Horne available on Nugs.Net.
Grateful Shred manage to channel that elusive Dead vibe uniquely, with wide-open guitar tones, effortless three-part vocal harmonies, choogling beats, and yes, plenty of tripped out, Shredded solos. The look, the sound, the atmosphere is uncanny. Far from being a historical re-enactment, Grateful Shred’s laissez faire flow 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 real good time spreading the love. Strangely enough, in a world overflowing with wax museum nostalgia and Deadly sentimentalism, we need the Shred, now more than ever.
Grateful Shred is: Austin McCutchen (vocals and guitar), Dan Horne (bass, pedal steel, vocals), Mikaela Davis (vocals), Adam MacDougall (keys and vocals), John Lee Shannon (guitar), Corey Rose (drums)
