Bearly Dead: More Than a Tribute

Richmond’s active Dead scene means we’re treated to a frequent rotation of tribute bands that make the local Heads gather around the many small stages all over town. The hometown heroes, Suggesting Rhythm, consistently fan the flames at our local hotspots, and regional flagships like Last Fair Deal from VA Beach and Better Off Dead from Baltimore visit from time to time to get a taste of the Richmond flavor.

But there’s one Dead tribute band keeping a busy schedule of dates across the entire country, yet continues to come back to Richmond for more.

Bearly Dead – an energetic outfit formed in Boston, but deep into a journey that’s taking them to stages from coast to coast – has made a name for themselves by using the Dead’s music as a launching pad for their own live experience, and Richmond has proven to be one of their favorite places to play.

I had the chance to sit down with Bearly Dead’s guitarist, Nick Swift, during their most recent Richmond visit. We talked about the band’s origins, how they moved from local tribute to touring attraction, and what keeps them coming back to Richmond. 

Where It All Started

According to Swift, each member of the band took different paths to arrive at playing the Dead’s music live. He credits his dad for forming his earliest musical memories, naming classics such as Bruce Springsteen, The Who, and Tom Petty as early favorites, but he also grew up with Without a Net in frequent rotation in his dad’s six-CD changer in the car. 

Once Swift was old enough to attend shows in person, that’s when he knew he wanted to play music himself, specifically naming Phish as the first live band to truly immerse him in the world of live music. 

“Having a contemporary band that you can go see live – doing the thing – that whole sensory experience when you’re in the crowd,” Swift said. “You can smell the smoke, you can hear the cheers, you can feel people bumping into you, and obviously the music and the lights. Everything about it becomes much more three-dimensional. And I think that moment [seeing Phish live] was where I was like, ‘This is this is where I want to live.’”

Bearly Dead formed in Boston in April 2015, and before long had a growing audience of local fans. Swift got the chance to play with the band as a substitute later that year and quickly learned the Dead’s catalog went deeper than he realized.

“I remember thinking that, I thought I knew a lot of Grateful Dead songs and it wouldn’t be a problem,” he said with a laugh. “They sent me the setlist, and it was like 25 songs, 20 of which I had no idea how to play, or really some of them I'd never heard of. And I realized, ‘Oh I don't know nearly the catalog of this music that I think I do.’

So I crammed for two days and just learned it all. And I was certain that they would be like, ‘Okay, next,’ you know, because I didn't come in knowing the tunes, but it was quite the opposite. They were like, ‘Wow, you’re one of the best subs we’ve ever had.’”

The chemistry was immediately apparent and Swift joined the outfit as they settled into a residency at their local venue, Thunder Road. Their popularity and unpredictable stage shows frequently brought large and energetic crowds to the club for several years, but the pandemic in 2020 halted that momentum. Thunder Road shut its doors and never reopened, like so many other venues and businesses in the wake of pandemic lockdowns.

Taking the Show On the Road

As live music remerged, the band began to explore other markets outside of Boston, becoming a staple in the festival community in the Northeast while playing regular shows in some of the most prestigious venues in Massachusetts. Eventually, their love of the music and their shared chemistry sent them further down the road. 

Touring is a hard grind, and while most Dead bands in major markets can draw a crowd of some kind, it’s difficult for cover bands to break into new areas. 

“What people might not realize is that it's tough to get booked outside of your market because there's a Grateful Dead cover band in every city in every market or all around the United States,” Swift said. “There's probably 3 or 4 of them. You'll reach out to a club and the club will be like, ‘We already got a Dead band,’ – click.”

The wheels turned slowly at first, but before long, the group regained the momentum they built before COVID. Before hitting the road full-time, Swift was a software designer, but Bearly Dead began booking more and more shows. The day finally came when the core group of five members looked at each other and made the call to take their show on the road, for real. 

“Everyone kind of had their own thing they did, and that group of five people, we all kind of looked at each other, like, ‘Are we gonna do this? Like, really do this, like this is now our priority and everything else sort of goes on the backburner?’ And we just nodded our heads and said yeah, let’s do it.”

It didn’t take long for the band’s new tour schedule to bring them to Richmond. Their first visit came in April 2023, and as soon as they pulled into town the vibes stuck right out to them. 

“We came down here and we just met so many really kind people. Really crazy, fun crazy people, like just this scene was happening, it felt alive,” Swift said. “And we felt like we got a really great response from the people who came. It felt like we should always be playing in Richmond. This is awesome. So yeah, every time we’re booking a tour down the southeast, we gotta make sure we stop in Richmond.”

Planting a Flag in Richmond

They’ve since revisited Richmond three times, including two separate two-night stands, gracing the stage at Main Line Brewery for each gig. Their most recent Richmond show in March 2024 saw them play for just one night, but it was yet another night of great jams and good vibes. 

On a cold day before the turn of Spring, the local Heads filled Main Line’s inside stage for our latest chance to jam with Bearly Dead. As soon as they took off, you could hear the last two years of the road in their playing. The grind of a touring schedule is no easy feat, but every gig is another chance to work out the jam muscles. 

As someone who attended each of their three visits to Richmond, I could hear how their playing had progressed. By this night, they were tighter than I had ever heard. Precise energy throughout the night that kept the crowd swinging until the very end. 

Michael Butler channels the inner Pig Pen in all of us by hyping the crowd up during the opening “Deal”. Kris Yucker is the most recent addition to the band on the keyboards, and his playing ties into the styles of everyone around him all while adding his own flair every step of the way. Fun fact, Kris’s first show with Bearly Dead was their previous Richmond visit in November 2023. 

Dave Drecker lays the groundwork with authority via his thundering bass sound, and Tyler Brooks rounds out the rhythm section with excellent drumming that builds the foundation of their booming sound. Swift stands as the lone guitar player, a change up from the usual two guitar arrangement of the Dead, but something that helps set this outfit apart from many of their counterparts. 

The band effortlessly weaved around the different eras of the Dead, hitting classics like “Easy Wind”, “Ramble On Rose”, and “Althea” for an excellent first set filled with their trademark energy and some crowd favorites. The fun continued into set two, kicking off with “Dancing in the Streets”, which featured an extended jam that went into Type 2 territory (to borrow a Phish phrase).

Again, the chemistry they’ve built to perform a jam as free as this only comes from continuous playing on the road. The unpredictable experiences that push individuals beyond just knowing the songs or staying in tune. The experience of living in the music and letting it flow through you naturally. Something only the road can teach a musician.

These guys aren’t trying to recreate the Dead experience. They’re building their own thing, using the beloved songbook of the Dead as a foundation. As Swift put it, he couldn’t label himself or most of his bandmates as Deadheads, but instead, they use the Dead to channel their eclectic range of influences to form something new. 

“We all love the Dead and appreciate the Dead, but most of us come from slightly different musical backgrounds, whether it's 70’s hard rock, funk, Prince, or punk. I think that's what gives us our unique sound,” Swift said. “None of us are coming in trying to sound like Phil Lesh or to sound like Jerry Garcia. It’s Bearly Dead, you know, barely Dead.”

Bearly Dead’s raucous live shows are rocking venues and festivals coast-to-coast and all year round. They’ve managed to form their own spin on a well-oiled machine, and in the end, that’s what the Dead is all about — keeping the spirit alive and finding new ways to enjoy what we love. 

Bearly Dead is on tour now! Don’t sleep on these guys!