Good music for a great cause is always something to be Grateful for. 

And that’s doubly true with Grateful: The Music Plays the Band, the various-artists compilation of Grateful Dead covers – plus Jerry’s Middle Finger offering its interpretation the Garcia Band’s interpretation of Eric Clapton’s “See What Love Can Do” – benefitting Grateful Guitars Foundation’s music-in-schools efforts. 

The highest light is Katie Skene and Andrea Whitt’s pedal steel-infused, countrified soul of “Candyman,” a real gem that reminds listeners of the power new voices can lend to old songs. 

The 17-track compilation also features such Dead family members as David Nelson (“Friend of the Devil”) and Oteil Burbridge (“Stella Blue”); tribute acts like Bertha: Grateful Drag (“One More Saturday Night”); Dark Star Orchestra (“Jack Straw,” “Morning Dew”) and Cubensis (“The Music Never Stopped”); and left-field cuts including La Horsa Bianca singing “China Cat Sunflower” -> “I Know You Rider” in their native Ukrainian, Afro Dead’s Cuban-leaning “Dark Star” and Doom Flamingo’s ethereal “Touch of Grey.” 

So let the songs fill the air and support a good cause at the same time. You’ll be Grateful you did. For in a world where virtually nothing is surprising, Grateful: The Music Plays the Band contains some nice surprises.