BIOGRAPHY
The Jerry Garcia Band formed in 1975, growing out of club dates Garcia had played since 1970 with keyboardist Merl Saunders, bassist John Kahn, and a rotating cast of collaborators. Kahn stayed on as the band's one constant member, later joined by keyboardist Melvin Seals from 1980 onward, while a string of drummers, including Bill Kreutzmann, passed through the lineup over its twenty-year run. The group released just one studio album, 1978's Cats Under the Stars, alongside a self-titled 1990 live record, and has been the subject of extensive archival live releases since Garcia's death in 1995. Its repertoire leaned heavily on covers alongside Garcia-Robert Hunter originals like "Mission in the Rain" and "Cats Under the Stars," some of which crossed over into Grateful Dead sets.