Music fandom reached cult status with the Deadheads, a name lovingly bestowed upon those whose devotion to legendary band the Grateful Dead has never strayed. It’s not common to find fans of other bands that has seen their musical heroes in concert dozens, even hundreds, of times.

The members of St. Louis-based quartet the Schwag have taken their Grateful Dead devotion to the next level. The band The Schwag was initially created so members Jimmy Tebeau (bass, vocals), Stu Allen (guitar, vocals), Nate Carpenter (keyboards, vocals), and Cannon DeWeese (drums) could crank out the music of their favorite artists.

The Schwag will play the Industry, 211 Iowa Ave., at 8 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $5 for those 21 and over, $6 for ages 19-20.

Tebeau got sucked in right after attending his first Grateful Dead concert in 1989, which blew him away with its energy. He has since seen the band 77 times.

“I had been to more than 100 concerts up until then, but this show was different,” Tebeau said. “What those guys could do with music and how it affected such a large audience was incredible.”

With many tribute bands — regardless of source material — the experience mainly consists of musicians recreating exactly what the original band laid out. While the Schwag does perform Grateful Dead songs, it is a strongly improvisational performance.

The band’s fondness for invention lies in several members’ past training in jazz. For Carpenter, it was also the passion he had for Grateful Dead’s “sense of exploration and freedom.”

There is no set list, and the way a song is performed is likely to change each time the band plays it. Tebeau calls it an act of perpetuating the “jam approach” to the music, using the song as a basic chart.

“When we started out, we tended to recreate the songs, but we decided to have more fun with it,” he said.

Not until the 1995 death of Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia did the idea of a tribute band really catch on. The Schwag went on the road shortly following, carrying the slight fear that a great amount of interest in the band would be lost, given the circumstances of the time. Much to the band’s surprise, awareness of both the Dead and the Schwag actually peaked, which allowed for the opportunity to tour the country.

In addition to touring, the Schwag, a select few other bands, and thousands of fans gather annually at Camp Zoe in Salem, Mo., to revel in their love for all things Grateful Dead at Schwagstock. The festival — reminiscent of Woodstock — is in its 13th season. This amalgamation of music, art, and the chance to “let your hair down” draws between 4,000 to 7,000 fans.

“Some people just come to see us at the festival, and only after that do they come to a regular show,” Tebeau said.

One could say that, for Deadheads, the Schwag is performing a public service of sorts, continuing to perform and bring the music to fans old and new.

“In a way, it’s fulfilling the desire of people who want to experience the band again — almost like musical therapy,” Tebeau said. “It’s especially great for the people too young to have seen the Grateful Dead with Garcia.”