In West Marin County, California, on Saturday afternoon, a benefit performance by Skeleton Krewe, a unique trio (Stephen Inglis, Barry Sless, and Rob Barraco) in which each member possesses decades of high-level Grateful Dead-esque experience, was enhanced by the presence of two powerhouse musical guests (Pete Sears and Jay Lane), both of whom have displayed their own improvisational prowess seemingly forever. The resulting two-set performance at the bountiful and colorful Farm Stand at Forest Knolls was a benefit for the nearby San Geronimo Cultural Center. Alternating nicely between acoustic slack-key guitar-led ballads, mid-tempo tunes, and hard-hitting rock ‘n’ jam selections, the show explored a wide range of aural latitudes, Grateful Dead and otherwise. An exercise in cohesiveness, all five bandmates communicated and gelled musically as if they’d been performing together for years.
After some initial noodling, which in essence was a quick sound check, “Sugaree” came out, crisp and clear, and was epically performed. A brisk version of another Grateful Dead piece of music, “They Love Each Other,” followed, before the band took on the spritely “Nothing Left to Prove,” an Inglis original. Next, with a slack-key-tuned acoustic guitar in hand, Inglis led a sweet version of the Dead’s “Ramble on Rose.” The keyboard-versatile Barraco took lead vocals next on “Old Coast Highway,” one of several songs he wrote with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter for Barraco’s 2007 solo release. Back to slack-key styling, Inglis performed “E Ho'omalamalama,” a song he co- penned, which was followed by Dennis Kamakahi’s “Koke'e.” Changing gears again, the set closed with a fun version of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.”
The second set also started with a duo of Garcia ballads – “Bird Song” and “Lazy River Road” – followed by Inglis’s “Music Is a River” and Hunter/Barraco’s “When You Say When” (“You wear the moon and the stars around your finger / They rise and they shine when you tell them to.”). A long closing sequence defined by plenty of ethereal instrumental gymnastics began with “Don’t Let Go,” a classic first recorded by Roy Hamilton in 1958 that the Jerry Garcia Band later adapted and turned into a crowd favorite. “Don’t Let Go” morphed into the Dead’s tender “Days Between,” then “The Wheel,” and a segue back to “Don’t Let Go.” An encore of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” concluded the show.
A Honolulu native, Inglis is an award-winning singer/songwriter steeped in several music styles. Equally at home on the acoustic and electric guitar, Inglis soaked up classical piano as a boy, moved into an appreciation of hard rock, discovered the Grateful Dead in time to catch 14 Dead shows before Jerry Garcia’s passing, and then picked up and mastered the slack key guitar (a guitar-picking technique that makes use of loosening or "slacking" some of the strings to create a new tuning). As a Hawaiian slack-key master, Inglis has collaborated and toured with such slack-key notables as Dennis Kamakahi, Ozzie Kotani, Cindy Combs, and The Makaha Sons. He also befriended and played with Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann in the late ‘90s in a Hawaiian band known as House of Spirits. Inglis’s album, “Cut the Dead Some Slack,” a full-length record released in 2018 featuring Grateful Dead songs interpreted in the slack-key style, drew a lot of attention, particularly from Dead fans.
Barry Sless (Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, David Nelson Band, Moonalice, Phil Lesh and Friends, Green Leaf Rustlers) is peerless when it comes to pitching perfect tones on the pedal steel guitar as well as delivering Jerry Garcia-reminiscent lead guitar improvisations (but always with a nod to, but not a copying of, Garcia’s work).
Rob Barracco (Dark Star Orchestra, The Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends, Zen Tricksters) is a powerhouse on keyboards, and at this event, in addition to outputting expertly a variety of styles on the keys, took lead vocals on a few songs, including a couple co- written by Hunter.
Guest bass player Pete Sears has had a legendary career that included notable stints with Rod Stewart and the Jefferson Starship in the early/mid ‘70s, and through the years was also a fixture with Hot Tuna and with Zero (often on bass and keyboards). For the past several years, he has spent many a show shoulder to shoulder with Sless while fueling the fire of both the David Nelson Band and Moonalice. Sears, who’s been recording and performing for about 60 years, seems indefatigable, and as always was completely dialed in, as he is whether playing to 100 or 20,000 people.
Drummer Jay Lane (Dead & Company, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, RatDog, Primus, Golden Gate Wingmen, Alphabet Soup) provided keen beats on the drumkit, with each song anchored by Lane’s fluid rhythms, whether they be appropriately soft or hard, depending on the song. A Jay Lane Room was recently opened at Blue Bear School of Music’s second San Francisco campus, to be a space for music lessons. The school is close to his heart. Lane, who has been a drum instructor for several years, began to attend the Blue Bear School of Music when he was 13.
In addition to several performances in Hawaii in 2024 and the current seven-stop Northern California tour, Inglis and the Skeleton Krewe trio delivered a cluster of shows in California in June, and an Inglis-and-Sless duo carried out a few California shows in April and in June, as well as an Alaska tour in August. Inglis also performs with Fragile Thunder, featuring David Gans and Anela Lauren, who completed a short Oregon/Washington tour, also in August.
In addition to – let’s call them the Skeleton Krewe All-Stars – the Farm Stand, a quintessential organic foods shop set amongst Marin County’s wildlife preserves and state parks, was open during the event. Supplementing the Stand’s top-notch produce was a cluster of gourmet vendor offerings such as lean sausages, seafood (a variety of poké options, freshly shucked oysters, and newly smoked salmon pieces), baked goods, flowers, and specialty coffees. The Farm Stand’s onsite gallery, currently showing photographic works by Jay Blakesberg, was open to attendees. Jim Baum, who heads up Marin Community Farm Stands and Community Supported Agriculture, moved about the crowd, offering each person samples of bright red strawberries.
Set 1: Sugaree, They Love Each Other, Nothing Left to Prove, Old Coast Highway, E Ho’omalamalama, Ramble On Rose, Koke’e, Higher Ground.
Set 2: Bird Song, Lazy River Road, Music Is a River, When You Say When, Don’t Let Go, Days Between, The Wheel, Don’t Let Go. Encore: I Shall Be Released
