CRYPTICAL bends all minds and bodies in its performance of—and expansions on—classic Dead songs. Performing at Bay Area venues of all sizes, from the intimate Connecticut Yankee in San Francisco to AT&T Park (for the SF Giants Jerry Garcia Tribute Night), the members of CRYPTICAL create as faithful a glimpse as possible into the spirit of the live Grateful Dead experience.

Come on down, dance, share the music, share the love, and help us make each CRYPTICAL performance the next best thing to a Dead show!

• LEAD GUITAR – RICH BRODSKY

Rich Brodsky has been a mainstay of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene since the early 1980's. As lead guitarist for such notable jambands as The Vicious Hippies, Buffalo Roam and the popular Grateful Dead cover band Grapefruit Ed, Rich has played to packed bars, nightclubs and festivals throughout the United States, firing off his fiery psychedelic blues licks for thousands of happy, dancing fans for over 25 years. As a founding member of The Vicious Hippies, Rich and the Hippies criss-crossed the country with counterculture icon, Wavy Gravy in 1988 as part of the infamous "Nobody for President" tour culminating in a legendary performance and rally at Lafayette Park across from the White House. From The Wetlands in New York City to The Fillmore in San Francisco, Rich has been fortunate enough to share the stage with such notable bands and musicians as War, The Radiators, Martin Fierro, Kingfish, Zero, John Cipollina, Sons of Champlin, Pete Sears, The Neville Brothers and many more.

Rich also composes and produces original electronic ambient music as Atomic Skunk, and is wrapping up production on his 3rd album due out in early 2011.

• RHYTHM GUITAR - BARRY ERDE

Barry was a founding member and the long time rhythm guitarist for both the Bay Area's Live Dead and the Minds Eye, one of the New York area's most beloved psychedelic blues/rock outfits. A devoted following had the band playing such landmark venues as The Bottom Line, My Fathers Place, Wetlands and Max's Kansas City and landed them on the bill with such notables as Hot Tuna, Keith & Donna, Kingfish, Merl Saunders, Blues Traveler and Al Kooper. Influenced by the likes of Bob Weir, Jorma Kaukonen and Richard Thompson among others, Barry's unique approach to guitar playing brings a subtle layer of color and texture to the "musical stew".

• KEYS - MITCH STEIN

A founding member of both Live Dead and Cryptical, Mitch Stein is one of the West Coast's most in-demand keyboardists. He has played piano since the age of 4, and has performed and/or recorded with such jazz, blues, rock and funk greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Paul McCandless, Frank Morgan, Jaco Pastorius, Bob Weir, David Grisman, John Cipollina, Martin Fierro, Narada Michael Walden, Merl Saunders, Melvin Seals, Norton Buffalo, Peter Albin, Nick Gravenites, Charles Neville, Jim Keltner, Todd Rundgren, Derek Trucks, Peter Cetera, Gary Burton, Leland Sklar, Scott Page, Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Karl Denson, Jon Anderson, Luther Tucker, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Max Weinberg, The Greyboy Allstars, Branford Marsalis, John Entwistle, John Lee Hooker, Little Jimmy Scott, Buddy Rich, Les Claypool, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Tootie Heath, Zero, John Heard, Rob Wasserman, Dark Star Orchestra, Harvey Mandel, Al Foster, Von and Chico Freeman, Steve Rodby, Papa John Creach, and many others. One of Mitch's more memorable gigs was when he was hired to perform solo jazz piano at Mick Jagger's daughter Karis' wedding, and another was when his trio played at a private birthday party Mick threw for Jerry Hall the following day. Mitch is the exclusive composer of DeadRingers, classic Grateful Dead ringtones for cell phones.

• BASS - STEPHEN RAMIREZ

Stephen Ramirez was a veteran of the Northeast club and concert circuit before making the Bay Area his home. Among the artists he has performed or recorded with are the Zen Tricksters, Live Dead, the Volunteers, the Jeff Mattson Band, the Honest Tom Pomposello Band, the Reptiles (with David Gans), the Broken Angels, the Gans-Rawlins Band, Vince Welnick and Friends, Henry Kaiser and Eric Thompson, Truth in Dosage with Bob Bralove and Tom Constanten, Eugene Chadbourne and the Ernest Tubb Memorial Tribute Band, Malcom Mooney and the Tenth Planet, Mike Lawson, Groove.org, Greg Lamboy, and the Toni Brown Band featuring John Beland (Flying Burrito Bros.) and Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead).

• DRUMS – PETE LAVEZZOLI

Pete Lavezzoli was born 1968 in South Florida, and became a professional drummer and singer in his late teens. After meeting bassist Bubba Newton in 1989, the two worked together as a rhythm section in various bands before forming Crazy Fingers in 1990, and he's been with them ever since. Pete also plays drums with singer/songwriter Teri Catlin. Pete is also an author with two books to date. His book on Duke Ellington, The King of All, Sir Duke, was published in the US and UK by Continuum Books in 2001. His second book, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West, about Ravi Shankar and India's influence on Western music (including interviews with Mickey Hart, David Crosby, Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar, and others), was published in the US and UK by Continuum in 2006, and in India by Harper Collins in 2009. This book won the ARSC (Association of Recorded Sound) award in 2007 for Best Historical Research.