Paul Bell - Keyboard & Vocals

Paul Bell - Electric Waste Band

Paul Bell has been playing music since age 5. Classically trained; his improvisational piano style straddles the borders between ragtime, boogie-woogie,and the blues. Influenced by players like Bruce Hornsby, Thelonius Monk, Jimmy Smith, and Richard Wright, Paul learned the Dead's music while going from show to show watching them perform, so after he approached EWB at the end of their set in 1995, it was a perfect fit for him to join Electric Waste Band. Paul also played keyboards and composed songs for The Last Exit Band, who's songs have been licensed to various TV shows, and Paul released a solo album titled Hourglass in 2008, on which he played guitar and keys and wrote all the songs. Paul teaches piano locally.

E-Mail Me The Last Exit Band Hourglass

Mark Fisher - Guitar & Vocals

Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher is a San Diego music Legend. He and his brother's band, Fish and The Seaweeds, have been a local staple for decades. Mark's guitar playing is a true force of nature as he takes the proverbial snake through the woodpile in new and interesting ways. Mark started wowing EWB audieces in the summer of 2004 and has been going strong ever since.

Ed Fletcher - Drums & Vocals

Ed Fletcher

Ed Fletcher still remains one of the hardest working musicians in San Diego, as he is now currently working on his second album in his original project, Naked Funk, with bass legend Lige Curry of Parliament Funkadelic. "Naked Funk started as a recording project between just Lige and I," Fletcher states,"but now, after three years of expanding and growing, and with guitar greats on our side such as Blackbyrd McKnight(Headhunters, Miles Davis, Parliament) and Jose Serrano(Santana)the band has become quite the live experience!" Ed joined the Waste Band in 1996 and provides the punchy, danceable rhythms which EWB is known for. His album "31 Flavors" is a rare album that is sure to become a cult classic.

Robert Harvey - Guitar & Vocals

Robert Harvey Electric Waste Band

Electric Waste Band founding member Robert Harvey has been playing guitar for close to 30 years and has been performing live since 1989. As a kid playing in the school band, Robert knew there was something more to live music than the rigidity of replicating live that which had been rehearsed. Though guitar solos were exciting, it was upon his discovery of the music of the Grateful Dead that Robert found his niche. For Robert, ensemble improvisation is what live music is all about as every night has the potential to be magical when the band is firing on all cylinders. Creating in the moment, playing something that's never been played, taking a musical journey and bringing it back home are the concepts supporting jam-based music that make taking the risk worth the effort.

E-Mail Me Tick Tac Toast

Bob Rosencrans - Bass & Vocals

Bob Rosencrans - Electric Waste Band

Bob's odyssey with the music of The Grateful Dead included a longtime stint with EWB's brothers in arms: The Travel Agents, as well as many appearances with EWB throughout the years as well as side projects like Tic Tac Toast and Sockatuna. Sonically, he lies on the border somewhere between a baby's heartbeat and an earthquake. The fragile thunder peels from his Bass cabinet nightly and is sure to cause many melting faces in the future.

Grateful Spirit

Jerry Garcia

Band History

       The Electric Waste Band began rocking the San Diego area in the summer of 1989. Their unique improvisational interpretations of over 150 Grateful Dead tunes soon made The Electric Waste Band San Diego's favorite Grateful Dead tribute band.

     The high energy sound the band produces is the result of the enthusiastic crowds that gather each and every Monday night at Winston's for the last 15 years. Rather than play the traditional licks, the band focuses on the unique fact that unlike any other band, The Grateful Dead does not have a definitive version of their songs. Any other tribute band is delegated to playing the signature licks and solos that we all know by heart. The Dead's music is a luxury for musicians in that it provides endless oppurtunity for exploration. The Electric Waste Band prides itself in the fact that; where the Dead would guide you safely up the hill and back down, The Waste Band, once leading you up the hill, pushes you over the cliff! High Voltage Dead is the mantra...

   In addition to their regular weekly appearences at Winston's, the band has played many memorable music festivals and opening slots through the years. Some hightlights include:

Regular Appearences:

 

Festival Appearences:

 

Opening Slots:

 

 

Waste Band Line-Up:

Paul Bell - Keyboards & Vocals

Mark Fisher - Guitar & Vocals

Ed Fletcher - Drums & Vocals

Robert Harvey - Guitar & Vocals

Bob Rosencrans - Bass & Vocals