Photo courtesy of Marley's Ghost

By Jill Egland, Arts Council of Kern

They’ve played together for more than 20 years. That’s ancient in “band years.” They’ve got cult status at key festivals like Walnut Creek, the Mecca for trad musicians, where “national champion” status is conferred each September. They’ve produced nine albums — their latest with the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement, the unofficial dean of Nashville producers.

Yet for most of us, Marley’s Ghost remains just under the radar — too eclectic to fit into the increasingly constricted confines of any mainstream genre label; too committed to the creative process to make the kind of compromises required for huge commercial success. Bakersfield has the opportunity to see this band live Thursday night, Feb. 11, as they make a stop here on a SoCal tour.

Says Cowboy Jack Clement, “Marley’s Ghost is very experienced, versatile and best of all, open-minded, and a fun bunch of guys. I prefer to play with a great band rather than a bunch of great session players. And they are a great band. They understand that we are all in the fun business and if we’re not having fun, we’re not doing our jobs. And they can play just about anything they want to. Even polkas. I ain’t got ’em to do one yet, but I will.”

“Our criteria,” says the band’s guitarist, Mike Phelan, “has always been: bring it, let’s run it. It’s not about genre or style.” This is one band that knows all the songs from both “The Harder They Come” soundtrack and Ralph Stanley’s “Cry From the Cross.” Or as “Paste” puts it, “a decidedly unusual band, as capable of reanimating Appalachian folk songs as they are traditional Celtic fare, honky tonk and reggae.”

The most important ingredients in the Marley’s Ghost musical brew are the characters in the band. The five multi-instrumentalists boast distinctive musical personalities that couldn’t be less alike.

Dan Wheetman is a veteran of the ’60s Simi Valley teen rock group Humane Society, and, as a member of ’70s country-rockers Liberty, toured for years with John Denver and Steve Martin. Jon Wilcox, mandolinist/vocalist, used to trudge around the country as a solo artist. Mike Phelan, like Wheetman and Wilcox, is a prolific songwriter, and can tear your heart out with a soul tune, or blast guitar licks through the blues. Pedal steel guitarist Ed Littlefield Jr. spent years performing C&W for loggers across the Pacific Northwest, and plays a fierce fiddle and bagpipes. And Jerry Fletcher brings his eclectic music skills to bear on drums, keys, accordion and vocal arranging.

Together they are a unique amalgam of their respective backgrounds, personal proclivities and musical abilities — a blend honed to a seamless collaboration over the many miles they have traveled together down the road.

“I call it ‘bang,’” says Clement in summation. “It’s got bang. The band’s got some bang to it.”

Marley’s Ghost Band in concert

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11

Where: River Valley Community Church, 5131 Office Park Drive, Bakersfield

Admission: $15 general, $10 students

Tickets are available at the Arts Council of Kern, 2000 K Street, Suite 110. Or call 324-9000 to arrange for tickets at will call. This is part of a three-concert series at River Valley Community Church. Tickets to all three shows are $30. Visit www.kernarts.org for more information.