“Ridin’ that train…” Those Grateful Dead lyrics also apply to a couple of bands in Steamboat – Heads All Empty and Worried Men – who are riding the Grateful Dead train with their song repertoire. Below we offer an inner look at what makes their blossoms blooming…
Heads All Empty
Casey Jones, you better watch your speed. Especially when double-drummed Dead band Heads All Empty hits the stage with their soulful guitar licks and vocals harkening back to the glory days of the Grateful Dead. Covering the Dead, the Dead, and more Dead, the band includes John Miller on keys, Willie Samuelson on bass, Job Gibbs on guitar, Pat Waters and Gabe Hedstrom on drums, and JR Adams on guitar and vocals. Expect harmonies and jams that’ll keep you gyrating, Dead-style the whole show.
Coming together in 2023, the band’s two ringleaders are arguably Adams and Gibbs. A longtime Beatles fan, Adams got into the Dead for their songwriting and later jamming. And he loves the synergy they’ve all found in Heads All Empty. “It didn’t take long for us to really click,” Adams says. “I think this band has a great appeal because we all have different approaches and styles but somehow it all seems to work. It just felt like we had something from the beginning when this lineup came together.
“There’s something to be said about not trying to sound just like the Grateful Dead,” he adds. “We really couldn’t do that if we tried so it seems like a better approach for us to just bring our own way of playing to the catalog of the Dead.”
Waters, who began playing drums in high school and is an equally gifted guitar player and singer, loves that fact that they have two drummers who complement each other, just like the Dead, and that their singing seems to work. “I think what sets this band apart from other Dead bands is the vocals,” he says. “We have four strong singers that can sing lead or harmony. And playing with another drummer is more fun than I ever imagined. The way the guitars, bass and keys play off each other rhythmically and harmonically is one of the greatest things about the Dead…and being in a Dead tribute band like this.”
Moving to Steamboat in 1990, Gibbs was more of a Dead head from the get-go and has always been a fan of their improvisation on stage. With their fanbase continuing to grow, he admits the group evolves and learns every time they get together and that he loves their evolving learning process, which often means giving each other space during improvisations.
“It’s so much fun,” says Adams, who especially enjoys “the slow and spacey” songs they play. “We all get excited when we have a gig approaching. It’s different every time which I think really makes it addictive. It’s been so amazing getting to see the Deadheads come out show after show. We’ve made a lot of new friends, and the vibes are always high.”
Worried Men
As one of the longest running bands in Steamboat, Worried Men jams tunes from the Grateful Dead with the best of them (except, perhaps, for John Mayer). But they’re also adept at covering other artists, from the Allman Brothers and Willie Nelson to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. As an acoustic trio it features Jon Gibbs on guitar and vocals, Randy Kelley on guitar and mandolin, and Willie Samuelson on bass, adding Ron Wheeler on drums when they rock it up a notch (and Pat Waters whenever he books them at Schmiggity’s).
“I love playing in both bands, both Worried Men and Heads All Empty, but they do have some differences,” says Gibbs, who’s been in Steamboat for 35 years. “Worried Men likes to take the songs and give them a little kick in the rear. The tempos may be a little faster. We’re guitar based, without any keyboards, so Randy Kelley and I share lead guitar solos in certain songs. Randy has been known to play harmony guitar lines over some of my leads as well.” Gibbs also stresses that they’re not strictly a Dead cover band, even though they love playing them. “We enjoy playing the Dead but also play Santana, Phish, Beatles, Guy Clark, Jimmy Buffet, Western swing and more,” he says. “We’ve been a band for 25 years, so we’ve been around the block a time or two.”
That block has resulted in a unique, tight sound, no matter who they’re covering. “They’ve worked out some cool arrangements and guitar harmonies for Dead songs and non-Dead songs alike that are always fun to be a part of whenever I get to join them,” says Waters, who always has a big grin on his face when he gets to pound the drums behind them. “One of the band’s main strengths is its variety of songs and genres. The Dead songs are great, but they really round it out for people who aren’t totally into the Dead.”
