Who doesn’t like a party? To celebrate their 25th anniversary as a musical collective/band, Marley’s Ghost invited equally talented guests who join in Jubilee. Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, Old Crow Medicine Show, Don Heffington and Byron House join Marley’s Ghost on the album, produced by the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement. Jubilee showcases six Marley’s Ghost original songs that join tracks by Kris Kristofferson (“This Old Road”), John Prine (“Unwed Fathers”), Bobby and Shirley Womack (“It’s All Over Now”), Butch Hancock (“If I Were A Bluebird”), Levon Helm (“Growin’ Trade”) and Paul Siebel (“She Made Me Lose My Blues”).
Marley’s Ghost prove that the only constant is change on their albums. Jubilee, like its nine predecessors, is a musical moving target. They join American artists that take the nation’s songbook, and its rich drove of musical options, and craft music that honors and expands on its influences. Marley’s Ghost line up with The Band and The Grateful Dead in letting the show be about the music and Jubilee sings out for western swing (“South For A Change”), folk (“Rollin’”), freight trained fueled boogie (“Wake Up Mama”), honky tonk shuffles (“Hank and Audrey”) and sweet Cajun sways (“Growin’ Trade”).
Taking on the task of change is the core talent that comprises Marley’s Ghost; Dan Wheetman (lead/harmony vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, fiddle, harmonica, banjo, dobro, lap steel), Jon Wilcox (lead/harmony vocals, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki), Mike Phelan (lead/harmony vocals, lead guitar, fiddle, dobro, bass, lap steel), Ed Littlefield, Jr. (lead/harmony vocals, pedal steel, Highland bagpipes, keyboards, mandolin, dobro, lead guitar) and Jerry Fletcher (lead/harmony vocals, keyboards, accordion, vocal arranging). The ability to move between styles is a benefit for the creative musician’s natural inclination towards shiny objects. All members of Marley’s Ghost share vocals, both lead and backing, and it is the band’s individual musical tastes allow for inclusion of all sounds. The group’s Dan Wheetman shares his birds-eye view on the reasons for Marley’s Ghost’s longevity, “The band has always been eclectic, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed together for this long. I’ve said this before, but instead of having to be in a Delta blues band, an a cappella singing group, a country band, a reggae band, and being a singer/songwriter, I’m in one band and we just do all that. It’s very convenient.”
Jubilee is the Marley’s Ghost second straight album project with Cowboy jack Clement, who
turned 81 on April 5, 2012. Cowboy Jack first heard Marley’s Ghost in 2009, when a mutual friend brought him to a performance at Nashville’s Douglas Corner. “Afterwards, Cowboy came up to tell us how much he liked the band,” recalls Mike Phelan. “He said, ‘You got a lot of bang,’ whatever that means. It was love at first sight all around. He liked that we were a real band and not a bunch of session musicians who get together for one project. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but he knows a lot of those guys; he doesn’t know a lot of real bands who play and sing together and have a sound. About a month later, he sent us a letter — not an email — saying that if we wanted to come down to his place, he’d really like to make a record with us. We thought about that for two or three seconds — ‘Let’s see, do we want to make a record with a living legend, the guy who produced Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins? Okay.’ So this was a unique opportunity for us to do something with him while he’s still at the height of his powers.”
Twenty five years in Marley’s Ghost have managed to keep things fresh for themselves first. The fans reap the benefit of a group that is as happy hearing what they play as the audience. That feeling flies off all the band’s album and is very present in the songs on Jubilee.
To catch up on the first twenty-five years and to plug into the future, head on into Marley's Ghost website.
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