Wake the Dead

Emerging in 2025 from Alexandria, Virginia, Wake the Dead rouses the DMV with the Grateful Dead songbook and the wider universe around it. With Greg Melchoir-Fisher and Jonathan Smiley on guitar and vocals, Ian Lipner on bass and vocals, John Sullivan on keyboards, and Steve Oppenheimer on drums, the band rocks the songs that get crowds excited and social and delivers the jams that impress real Deadheads.

The repertoire is 90% Dead and the covers they made their own, with selective detours into adjacent favorites like the Allman Brothers, The Band, Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Dylan, JJ Cale, Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

Wake the Dead is a Grateful Dead cover band that plays paid venues, festivals, breweries and small venues throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia and is also available for private engagements for the Dead's biggest fans.