Nashville-based jam band Aiko is ready to raise the Grateful Dead with two concerts in Park City.

The first performance, which is part of the Canyons Village 2024 Forum Fest, will start at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, at Canyons Village, and the second is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 6, at the Marquis, 427 Main St., said the band’s bassist Ben Anderson.

“The July 4 show is for families, and it’s Fourth of July night,” he said. “We have to thank the Canyons Village Management Association, Mountain Town Music and the Forum Fest for having us back.”

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Anderson is also looking forward to the July 6 performance.

We got together in Nashville, Tennessee, when we were in college and said, ‘Let’s do this thing.’” Ben Anderson, bassist and founding member of Aiko

“It’s at the newly opened Marquis in the heart of Main Street,” he said. “The lights and sound systems are on the next level. It’s a Saturday night, and it is ticketed but very accessible.” 

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These particular performances are also special because Aiko, one of the nation’s premiere Grateful Dead cover bands, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, according to Anderson, who lives in Park City.

“It’s unbelievable, man,” he said. “We got together in Nashville, Tennessee, when we were in college and said, ‘Let’s do this thing.’ We played fraternity and sorority houses and the local clubs in Nashville.”

Back then, Aiko — Anderson, drummer Ross Mason and guitarists and vocalists Steve Ballenger and Ted Pattison — were just learning the magic of the Grateful Dead’s music.

“I think ‘Bertha’ or ‘Melt With You’ were the first Grateful Dead songs we ever played,” Anderson said. “Back in the day we would do other songs by Jimmy Cliff or throw in a Talking Heads song and then do some Neil Young before coming back with the Grateful Dead.”

Other Dead tunes Aiko played during the early days included “Cumberland Blues,” “Samson and Delilah” and “Scarlet Begonias” into “Fire on the Mountain,” according to Anderson.

“There really weren’t other bands playing the Grateful Dead back then,” he said. “Now, and I love this, there are tribute bands of all sorts. You have bluegrass bands playing the Grateful Dead. You have reggae bands, pop bands and EDM and DJs sampling the Grateful Dead in their sets. Even hip hop bands are sampling.”

Like the Grateful Dead’s music, the Aiko performances are joyful gatherings, Anderson said.

“It’s as much as a celebration of our lives individually and jointly, and it’s a celebration of the music,” he said. “It’s a celebration of the culture and the community that the Grateful Dead created indirectly. They were just about making great music and having fun, and that’s what Aiko has been all about.”

Anderson also reiterated the Aiko performances also are tributes to the Grateful Dead legacy that changed the face of live music, which started with the late iconic promoter Bill Graham and ran all the way down to the band’s late sound designer and artists Owsley Stanley, known to fans as “The Bear,” who recorded many of the band’s “Dick’s Picks” and “Dave’s Picks” live releases. 

“They created a lot of what live touring is today with the sound systems, the lights and bootleg recordings, and a lot of people in society still don’t know how important and impactful the Grateful Dead is in the canon of American music,” Anderson said. “They were also one of the first rock bands to do Americana — a total pivot when they did ‘Workingman’s Dead.'”

While Aiko’s lineup today consists of founding members Anderson and Mason, along with guitarist Steve Krafft, keyboardists Scott Fernandez and Ben Anderson II as well as vocalists Michelle Yahn and Jessie Krafft, a long list of musicians from around the country will join these 40th anniversary performances.

Some of these artists include singer-songwriter Anders Osborne and a horn section from New Orleans, featuring saxophonist Brad Walker, who has played with Jon Batiste and Dumpstaphunk; trombonist Alex Wasily from Dumpstafunk who has played with Dave Matthews, Ziggy Marley and Lenny Kravtiz; and John Michael Bradford on trumpet who is known for his work with Herbie Hancock, Harry Connick Jr. and Leslie Odom Jr., Anderson said.

“I’m so honored that these artists are coming from all over the country to play with the band, and not just on a couple of songs,” he said with a laugh. “There will be 13 to 14 people on one stage, playing 40 years of Aiko.”

The opening trio for the July 6 show might as well be the headliner, Anderson said.

The lineup includes Stanton Moore of Galactic, singer and songwriter Eric Krasno (see accompanying story) and Will Blades.

“Stanton is one of my favorite drummers and one of the greatest drummers on the planet,” Anderson said. “Then you have Eric Krasno from SouLive, Lettuce and Phil Lesh and Friends, who has also played a lot with Bobby Weir and Billy Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead. 

And then you have Wil Blades, one of the great (Hammond) B3 players on the planet.”

Anderson loves having the opportunity to take the stage with these artists to play his favorite music.

“We take this very seriously,” he said. “We’ve never been a touring band, so when we do play, we pay attention to every detail, from the hype music you hear before we take the stage to the marketing and every note in the songs — including the phrasing and transitions and the set lists,” he said.

But Anderson also pays attention to the deeper issues that some of the songs address.

“I was just listening to some Marvin Gaye to sort of meditate my way into our interview,” he said. “I was listening to ‘What’s Going On’ with ‘We’ve got to find a way to bring some lovin’ here today,’ and ‘War is not the answer. Only love can conquer hate,’ right? And that’s our message as big as anything. It’s to bring the love, the light and the great music of the Grateful Dead back to Park City. We’re thrilled to celebrate our 40th here, and in the words of the Dead, ‘We will get by. We will survive.'”