Is five times the charm? Easy Jim keeps selling out at Belly Up Aspen

Grateful Dead tribute band Easy Jim returns to Belly Up Aspen at 9 p.m., Saturday, July 26, riding a streak of four sold-out shows at the venue.

“We’re a Grateful Dead band, but we have our own style, that’s what sets us apart from other local groups,” Ben Wright, a Carbondale-based drummer, said. “We see ourselves as a vessel to help keep this music alive. We’re not just repeating the music.”

There are six Colorado-based members of the band: Kevin Reinert on vocals and bass, Dwayne Dodson on guitar and vocals, Tyler Lucas on guitar and vocals, Julian Young on keyboard and vocals, and Chris Chalmers and Wright on drums, along with Rob Jones serving as the sound engineer.

Following the Grateful Dead’s tradition of never playing the same show twice, Easy Jim leans into the spontaneous riffs.

“There are a lot of moments where we are improvising a song, or segueing from one song to the next, where we are not exactly sure what is going to happen,” Wright said. “That’s exciting for us — and for the audience.”

Bassist Reinert designs a new set list for each show from Easy Jim’s more than 100 Grateful Dead songs to keep every performance fresh.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Wright adds of Reinert’s creativity.

The band draws inspiration from the Dead’s 1989 performances — a period many fans view as a creative high point after Jerry Garcia’s recovery from a diabetic coma in 1986. 

Grateful Dead songs from 1989 include “Crimson, White & Indigo,” “Downhill from Here,” and “Truckin’ Up Buffalo.” 

In 1965, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann formed the Grateful Dead in Palo Alto, California. Wright stressed that band members do not perform as characters of Garcia or Weir. 

“We’re all switching things up, listening to each other, and making sure we hit the parts the audience knows,” Wright said.

While The Easy Jim band stays local, largely due to their day jobs, band manager Wright said they are open to traveling for gigs. 

“A tour would be a dream come true for us someday — just going across the country would be pretty cool,” he said.

In terms of the upcoming show, the band promises to “bring the high energy” they always bring to Belly Up Aspen. 

“We want to have fun with it!” he said.

The band’s accessible admission price is $12 for general tickets and $30 for reserved seating. This is an all-ages show. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Tickets are available at bellyupaspen.com. More Easy Jim news at easyjimband.net.