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The North Country doesn’t get nearly enough live music credit — but when a room like the Waterhole steps up with a booking like this, it’s worth the drive. Gratefully Yours, the New Paltz-based Grateful Dead tribute, rolls into Saranac Lake on Friday, April 24, 2026 for a night of improvisation, communal energy, and the kind of set that changes depending on who’s in the room. Doors at 7:30 PM, music at 8:30 PM. This one is 21+.
About Gratefully Yours
Gratefully Yours has been doing this since 2012, and they’ve figured something out that a lot of tribute acts never do: the Dead were never really about the songs. They were about what happened between the notes. This five-piece — Alex Mazur on keys, Nate Calzetoni and Robert Schiff on guitars, Mike Manuele on bass, and Jude DeFalco on drums — leans hard into that philosophy. The improvisations stretch, the jams find their own shape, and no two shows land in the same place.
The thing that sets Gratefully Yours apart from the tribute circuit is the dream set list concept. The band takes audience submissions and builds their sets around what the room actually wants to hear. If you’ve got a must-play, show up ready to make your case. They’ve been a consistent presence at Upstate NY venues for over a decade, and the crowd they draw knows how to be a crowd.
Venue Info
The Waterhole Music Lounge at 48 Main Street in Saranac Lake is exactly what a North Country music bar should be — unpretentious, locals-first, and committed to live sound in a way that a lot of bigger markets have quietly abandoned. It’s a room where the artist and the audience share the same air. For a band like Gratefully Yours, that intimacy isn’t a limitation; it’s the whole point. Saranac Lake itself is worth the trip if you haven’t been — the town sits at the edge of the Adirondacks and has a quiet energy that fits a long, wandering jam set better than most places you could name. Check the venue at saranaclakewaterhole.com for parking and logistics. More North Country shows are worth keeping an eye on this spring.
Tickets & Pricing
Tickets are $14 in advance and $16 at the door. This show is 21+ and on sale now. Advance tickets are the move — the Waterhole fills up for the right show, and Gratefully Yours qualifies.