China Cats bring the Dead’s music to life
‘Energy loop’ connects tribute band to Deadheads
The joy of the jam. Deadheads have always embraced it. And so they embrace the Grateful Dead tribute band the China Cats. Each performance is a new, communal journey. There’s one coming up on Dec. 29 at Redwood City’s Club Fox.
The term “tribute band” can mean a lot of different things, from look-alikes to carbon copy sound to simply using the original artist’s work as a jumping-off point. The China Cats fall more into that last category.
“Grateful Dead music has become a genre,” said lead guitarist-vocalist Matt Hartle, reached by phone at his home in Santa Cruz. “It’s like in jazz — there are standards. Grateful Dead has become the same way. There are certain roles with the instrumentation.
“The China Cats, we play straight Grateful Dead sets and in understanding the genre, there’s a real trick to knowing what is essential to making the song be that song. Then the rest of it, there’s so much room for improvisation.”
The China Cats started in 2008, with Hartle joining in 2010. Having studied jazz at the University of North Texas, he relishes the band’s proclivity for spontaneity. “It’s not just about one person taking a solo. It’s about a group improvisation and a group dynamic at all times.
“On these tunes, anything can happen. There are certain things that are specific, and certain things that are wide open to interpretation. It’s never about going back.
It’s always looking to the present moment that we’re having. Every time the China Cats play a song, it’s a new experience. We’re not playing the 1973 version of the song or the ’79 or the ’92 version. We’re playing the 2017 version of the song.”
The China Cats attract a wide age range. “At our shows, there’s people that were there for Grateful Dead concerts and people who are just getting into the band now. It’s a very universal type of music. Grateful Dead music has a timeless appeal.”
Hartle points to the songwriting as one reason for that appeal. “Grateful Dead
music is not about anything immediately topical. It’s about age-old concepts, about just being a human being on planet Earth.”
Jerry Garcia’s inventive, eclectic playing was also key to the Dead’s allure. “He started off as a banjo player,” Hartle said. “That’s another timeless thing about it. He and David Grisman — picture a person with Spanish ancestry and a Jewish guy, both hippies, traveling in the Deep South, in like 1971, hunting down Appalachian music.
“So that kind of folk thing is there in the Dead’s music, too, but then completely psychedelicized.
Grateful Dead captures the true spirit of Americana, because all types of music are represented, from folk to reggae to disco. It runs the gamut.”
Hartle, who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, didn’t have to take a crash course on the Dead when he joined China Cats. “Throughout the course of my life, Deadheads have always just been there for me, teaching me these songs — and the music has seeped in organically.”
Hartle displays a knack for dazzling with Garcia-style riffs. And renowned Santa Cruz luthier Scott Walker helped Hartle match
the purity of Garcia’s guitar tone.
Seeing the Dead play live for the first time was a revelation for Hartle. “From the moment they were tuning up their instruments, they were noodling around, and went into a little something from what was happening. And from that very first moment, I could see, oh wow, these guys have been doing this so long, they’re instantly communicating with random notes that are coming out from just getting in tune. It was apparent right from the get-go just how incredible this music was. It was shocking to me how amazing and beautiful it was.”
The China Cats have been joined on stage by Dead compadres Donna Jean Godchaux and Melvin Seals. When the band prepares a set list, the main goal is to make it diversified. In 2016, they played more than 120 different songs. “That keeps it fresh for us and for the people who see us over and over again,” Hartle said. One popular Dead tune is “China Cat Sunflower.”
Hartle, 46, is a busy musician, playing not only in the China Cats, but displaying various aspects of his skills in Shady Groove, Santa Cruz’s Dead, Spirit of the ’70s (featuring Jerry Garcia Band music) and Painted Mandolin (focusing on Garcia’s acoustic side, with a lineup including Joe Craven of the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman band).
The China Cats bring the Dead’s music to life. “When you get enough people who were Deadheads and took LSD and danced to the band’s live music, they dance in a certain way that’s very free. And if there’s enough people that already know how to do that, then the people that haven’t really experienced it, it spreads, it rubs off, that freedom.
“There’s a sense of community and audience participation,” Hartle said. “It’s an energy loop. The people who are there feed us energy. We’re playing and feeding it back to them. If it goes well, then it explodes from there.”
Deadheads dig the Cats. “They are the most loving and appreciative fans you can imagine. It’s a very positive vibe at all times. It’s so rewarding, seeing the joy on people’s faces when we play and they cut loose.”