Marley's Ghost finds longevity in eclecticism

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 16, 2008 4:52 PM PDT ∞

Think of Marley's Ghost as your typical bluegrass Celtic Cajun reggae band.

"That's the whole thing about the band," said guitarist and singer Dan Wheetman by phone earlier this month. "Instead of being in an Irish band, and in a bluegrass band, and in an old-timey band, and we're all songwriters ---- instead of being in four or five bands, we're just in one band.

"It's what's kept us out of the big time for so long," he added, laughing.

Twenty-two years into seeing whether a band could survive on set lists that draw equally from the hills of Appalachia and the West Indies, with recordings in which a Jimmy Buffett cover might reside next to a second-line rumba from New Orleans, Marley's Ghost (playing Sunday at the San Dieguito United Methodist Church for San Diego Folk Heritage) is not only still going, but still growing in stature and renown.

Just two years after having '70s stalwart Van Dyke Parks produce its last album, "Spooked," famed Nashville producer Jack Clement is helming its next album, now being recorded.

"Clement was the original engineer for Sun Records. ... Jeez, he's worked with everyone in the business," Wheetman said.

"We're trying to get it out next spring; that's sort of what we're shooting for. But he lives in Nashville, so we're working around schedules. We'll go down there, be there three or four days, then make a clone of the hard drive, bring it back to do some overdubs, clean it up and send it back to Jack."

If not a household name, Marley's Ghost is highly regarded among bluegrass and folk fans. And Wheetman has carved out a reputation in theater after co-writing or contributing to a series of musicals built around various folk styles, from the blues to Appalachian, with writing partner Randal Myler.

As Wheetman tells it, the San Diego world premiere of "Fire on the Mountain" (at the San Diego Rep) in 2003 was born from an off-the-cuff remark from Rep artistic director and founder Sam Woodhouse. Looking to replicate the success of "Ain't Nothin' But the Blues," which Myler and Wheetman had helped write, Woodhouse asked them what new play they were working on.

"Randy mentioned that we were working on a musical about coal miners, and Sam said, 'Great, let's do it.' "

But that sort of creative informality is also how the band was created, Wheetman said.

After growing up in Simi Valley, Wheetman said he struck out on his own right after high school.

"I spent some time in Northern California and then I moved to Aspen (Colo.), where I lived for about 14 years."

He then was hired by John Denver, and ended up living in Nashville.

Marley's Ghost came together when Wheetman was coming off Denver's 1986 tour. He'd already worked with Ed Littlefield Jr., and when Littlefield heard Wheetman was coming off a tour, he suggested a visit to his Pacific Northwest home recording studio to lay down an album of Wheetman's songs.

"Jon Wilcox, Mike Phelan and I played a couple of big festivals, like the Strawberry Festval in Yosemite," Wheetman remembered. "I invited them up to record with me on my album, and Eddie came in and just never left."

That album ended up becoming the band's first record.

Their first public show was for a St. Patrick's Day party, for which they'd had no time to rehearse. It went over well, they kept getting booked, and 22 years later they're still waiting to catch their breath, Wheetman said.

"We started getting all these gigs, and we hadn't really played together that much, so 90 percent of it was put together onstage. The way the band has always worked, anyone can bring any song they like to see if it works out."

For the upcoming album with Clement producing, Wheetman said the band is throwing all kinds of songs at Clement to see what he likes.

"We've worked on a whole bunch of stuff. Because we're just starting to work together for the first time, the first session, we went in and we just recorded all of the new material for him to start choosing from. The last time we went down there, he had sent us CDs with songs he wanted us to try out. It's been a sort of give-and-take situation. How it turns out, we have yet to discover.

"There's a huge difference between Van Dyke and Jack. Van Dyke is very specific ---- I told everybody when that record was done that that's the most work and the most fun I've ever had in the studio. He'll have you work on these impossible parts and then double it. He has a huge, vast knowledge of genres, and you'll play something for him and he'll hear all these different colors he wants to bring with it. He was pretty hands-on.

"Jack is much more of a 'feel' guy. He's more hands-off in the beginning. He wants it to have that core groove happening, and then he's going to play around with that.

"So it's been very interesting working with two very opposite but very wonderful producers. You learn a lot."

Marley's Ghost

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: San Dieguito United Methodist Church, 170 Calle Magdalena, Encinitas

Tickets: $22

Info: (858) 566-4040 or sdfolkheritage.org

Web: marleysghost.com

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