In this episode, hosts Dennis Strazulo and Tami Larson explore the journey of Sunshine Garcia Becker (Furthur, Sunshine Garcia Band) on her mission to curate an all-female Grateful Dead tribute band, with the purpose of expanding the involvement of women as key players in the live music scene. Sunshine is joined on the show by drummer Anna Elva (Smokedaddies, Mark Karan’s Buds, West Grand Boulevard, Stu Allen & Mars Hotel), bass player Jen Rund (Jenerator, Talley Up, Mangobu, Lumanation), keyboardist Richelle Scales (The Richelle Scales Project) and rising star, guitarist Bella Rayne – all successful musicians playing with other bands. The ladies are joined by “token” male, Zach Nugent (Dead Set, Melvin Seals JGB), honored to be supporting the group and recalling his wonderful experiences playing alongside women with Melvin Seals JGB. Together they form the newly named band, American Beauties (formerly China Dolls), visiting with Tales From The Green Room before their debut performance at Ashkenaz in Berkeley, CA during International Women’s Month.
Band members share their personal journeys, the importance of female representation, and the struggles and progress of women in live performances. The conversation is interspersed with humorous and heartfelt moments, ultimately emphasizing the ongoing efforts to foster a supportive environment for female musicians and lauding Sunshine’s tireless efforts creating American Beauties.
Check out members of American Beauties during GD60 weekend (8/1-3) and during The Daze Between (8/1 - 8/9) in SF & Sonoma County & Zach Nugent during The Daze Between in Concord, NH, Killington, VT, Middlebury, VT, Newton, NY, and Middletown Springs, VT
Upcoming Shows
Jerry Day After Party - August 2, 2025 - Norton & Harrington (Jerry Garcia St.), San Francisco, CA - 6pm
w/ Sunshine Becker, Jon Chi, Anna Elva, Angeline Saris, Jordan Feinstein
Sunshine Garcia Band, HopMonk – August 7, 2025, Sebastopol, CA - 8pm
w/ Sunshine Becker, Jon Chi, Scott Guberman, Angeline Saris, Jerry Saracini, Bella Rayne
See Bella Rayne with Shakedown Citi, August 9, 2025 at The Hamilton Live, Washington, D.C.
Highlights
Spreading love and kindness and joy and being silly with each other. That's really what's gonna get us through. So, when you are lost or distraught or in the darkness for a little too long, just ask yourself, what can I do? What am I good at? What do I love doing.. and do that.
~Sunshine Garcia Becker
I spent a lot of time in Melvin Seals and JGB. And a third of that band is women. I had the most spiritual and wonderful and warm and special experiences of my life on stage, off stage with the women in JGB.
~Zach Nugent
Everybody here knows exactly how it started for me. And I would say that being thrown into that is such a big part of my story and being literally thrown in headfirst. I learn so much still every day from everybody that I play with. And I say that I'm still pretty malleable and just pick up on a little bit of whatever I can.
~Bella Rayne
The last maybe six months, I've had at least two people tell me they've never seen a woman play drums. We play for these kids and those are some of my favorite ones because there's so many little girls there and they don't get to see bands often…for them, the one or two times they ever see a band, to see at least one woman on stage…I love that.
~Anna Elva
Links
Music
Foolish Heart – Sunshine Garcia Band Live at Sweetwater Music Hall – 2016-08-09
Jessica Fierro, Amy Berry, Ezra Lipp, Peter Lavezzoli, Matt Hartle, Mark Karan, David Gans, Robin Sylvester, John Paul Mc Lean, Danny Eisenberg, Sam Johnston, Jordan Feinstein, Mitch Stein
Midnight Moonlight - Sunshine Garcia Band - Daze Between Festival - 2022-07-09
Sunshine Becker, Halina Janusz, Lisa Marlsberger, Stephanie Salva, Corrinne West, Zach Nugent, Jon Gold, Justin Purtill, Rodney Newman.
Thank you, Sarah Travis and Ashkenaz!