Green Leaf Rustlers - From Within Marin (2020)

The Green Leaf Rustler’s debut album, From Within Marin, is an audio postcard from the epicenter of the jam band universe, Marin County in northern California. The music matches the landscape, an earthy mix of roots music and inspired heights.

The record features 10 live performances, all country, country-rock and blues classics written by greats like Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons,Townes Van Zandt, J.J. Cale, Bob Dylan and Dough Sahm, among others. But these are not faithful reproductions. The Green Leaf Rustlers play with their music, pushing and pulling the beat and structure of the songs into new and sometimes unexpected spaces. The resulting album is a stew of Americana stylings from blues, country, rock and rockabilly melded together with moments that defy categorization.

The Rustlers have more than enough chops to turn the tunes around. They are, in fact, a supergroup, led by Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes on rhythm guitar and vocals. Bassist Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna and so much more) creates a strong foundation with drummer John Molo, a creative and rock-solid player who was an original member of Bruce Hornsby’s band The Range. And flying above it all is guitarist and pedal steel virtuoso Barry Sless and guitarist Greg Loiacono, a founder of The Mother Hips. Together, they hit some real heights.

One of the most striking performances on the album is their version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” which starts with a lazy jam. Instead of the boom-chicka-boom of the original, the Green Leaf Rustlers adopt a Bo Diddley beat. After the final verse, the song drops into a free-fall with a languorous twin-guitar solo between Sless and Loiacono. The whole song clocks in at nearly 10 minutes. And instead of ending, the band seques into a hammering version of “It’s Alright Mama,” the Arthur Crudup song made famous by Elvis Presley.

The recording also features another outstanding musical pairing—Ray Pennington’s “Ramblin’ Man” with “Ride ‘Em High” written and originally performed by J.J. Cale. Other standouts include an easy-going version of Van Zandt’s “Standin’” and Parson’s “Big Mouth Blues,” which boasts a swaggering beat so infectious it sounds as though it was arranged by Gram and his friend Keef in between sessions for the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street.”

There is another presence hanging over the entire record: the Grateful Dead. The Rustlers never play a Garcia/Hunter- or Weir/Barlow-penned song, but the Dead’s influence is obvious, starting with the roots music covers and extending through those jams. Which is not surprising. Marin County has been the Dead’s home turf for 50 years. Every member of the Green Leaf Rustlers has played with the Dead or its members in the years since Jerry Garcia passed away. And the album was recorded by none other than Betty Cantor Jackson, the sound engineer responsible for many of the Dead’s most sought-after live recordings.

The recording is pristine. Each instrument’s sound is well-defined so it’s easy to appreciate the way the members of the ensemble push, inspire and support each other. This is a group of world-class players who apparently only get together to play music halls and festivals around the Bay area. It doesn’t appear that they plan to take this act on the road. So for the vast majority of us who don’t live in the neighborhood, From Within Marin may be our only chance to hear them. Don’t miss it.