Splintered Sunlight has been playing note-perfect Grateful Dead tribute sets since 1992, long enough that founding member Butch Sochorow's Jerry Garcia-style lead guitar and voice have become their own kind of institution among Deadheads rather than just an impression act.
The band takes its name from a lyric in "Box of Rain" and runs an authentic double-drum kit lineup alongside Mike Kennedy handling the Bob Weir role on rhythm guitar and vocals, working from a rotating catalog of more than 200 songs across the Dead's 30-year run.
They've actually shared stages with real members of the band itself — Bob Weir, Donna Jean Godcheaux, Tom Constanten — plus longtime Dead collaborators Merle Saunders and Jimmy Herring, a level of blessing that separates them from the average tribute act.