What’s the first thing that comes to mind with the words “Painted Mandolin”?
For some, an image of an instrument with psychedelic swirls looking like the stringed version of Janis Joplin’s Porsche. Others might think of the line “Rubin was strumming his painted mandolin” from the song “Rubin and Cherise,” written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. But for Santa Cruzans and Bay Area music fans, it’s probably both wrapped together with the four-piece acoustic act steeped in Americana goodness.
For Painted Mandolin, it’s a name left open to the listener’s interpretation.
“I’m totally into imagery in music,” says Larry Graff, band co-founder and guitar player.
The four-piece jam act kicks off 2025 with a show at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center this Saturday with American roots blues group Buffalo Blues Trio. Inspired by the Grateful Dead, Painted Mandolin plays acoustic versions of covers from a cornucopia of genres—along with plenty of originals. With an ever-evolving setlist, no two nights are ever the same.
This Saturday will be the only show in Santa Cruz for the next three months, and to honor this the band has a couple tricks up their sleeves.
“We’re going to premiere two songs we’ve never played before,” Graff says. “I won’t say what they are but one is an old, traditional gospel and the other is an Allman Brothers tune.”
And for all the dancers and twirlers out there—you know who you are—don’t worry. There will be plenty of space to feel the beat.
“The Kuumbwa is a special room and an incredible treasure we have right here in Santa Cruz,” Graff says. “We take out half the chairs so you can choose to sit or dance.”
Celebrating their 10th year as a band, Painted Mandolin originally was only supposed to be a one-time thing.
“Our first gig was the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving at the old Don Quixote’s [now Felton Music Hall],” Graff remembers. “Originally the whole thing was based on acoustic Jerry Garcia stuff.”
A Deadhead since 1977—the first song he ever learned on guitar in college was the Dead’s “Cold Rain and Snow”—Graff (who also plays in the Banana Slug String Band) recruited Matt Hartle on second guitar. A fellow Deadhead, Hartle also plays guitar in local Grateful Dead cover band the China Cats and hosts Grateful Sundays weekly at Felton Music Hall.
Joe Craven, the third original founding member, keeps the music going on mandolin, fiddle and percussion. While not a Deadhead per se, Craven has his own firsthand Grateful Dead connections, having played in the David Grisman Quintet for over a decade along with several years in the Grisman Garcia Band.
Five years ago they brought in Dan Robbins on bass, completing the current lineup.
“These guys are all virtuosos,” Graff declares.
On any given night audiences can hear Painted Mandolin elegantly flow through a setlist of Garcia and Hunter tunes, bebop their way to Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and then kick up the dust with Billy Strings, Phish and more. However, it’s their originals that has solidified the band as more than just a novelty.
Drawing inspiration from Robert Hunter and Bob Dylan, Graff’s lyrics are packed with imagery. The 2023 album Sweet Rain sculpts scenes of nature (“Bird Dreams”), being in love and traveling the country without a care (“Love in a Rose”), and dreaming of “staccato poems dancing in the sky” (“Sweet Rain”). It’s danceable, salt-of-the-earth music with its roots planted firmly in the dirt so fans can keep their heads in the clouds.
“We’re definitely a dance band,” Graff says. “When writing music I want it to stay within the Painted Mandolin groove. How does it fit in with fiddle, stand-up bass and acoustic guitar?”
While the band currently does not have any plans to immediately go back into the studio, Graff says it’s always on the table. Like every other working musician, he admits part of the problem is the recording industry itself. It’s hard for independent artists to recoup studio expenses when music is free online and most of a band’s revenue is made on touring and merchandise.
However, Painted Mandolin won’t let something like money stop them as they keep on truckin’.
“It’s possible. We’re playing the new songs live a lot and people seem to like them. So I hope so.”
Painted Mandolin plays at 6:30pm on Jan. 18 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Center St., Santa Cruz. $28.52 adv. 831-427-2227.
