Skeleton Crew sounds like what happens when five Grateful Dead veterans stop sitting in with other people’s bands and start something entirely their own — Hawaiian slack key guitar trading lines with psychedelic pedal steel, original compositions by the late Robert Hunter, and a rhythm section that has logged serious miles with Dead & Company and Jefferson Starship. They bring that sound to Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs on Thursday, October 22, as part of their Fall 2026 tour.
About the Show
The band formed in January 2024 from what was supposed to be a one-off collaboration between pedal steel player Barry Sless and Hawaiian guitarist Stephen Inglis. The chemistry was immediate. California shows followed, and by April 2024 keyboardist Rob Barraco had joined after a connection made during a Dark Star Orchestra run at Hawaii Theatre. The trio expanded when Pete Sears on bass and Jay Lane on drums came aboard, completing a quintet with a collective resume that spans Phil Lesh & Friends, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna, Bobby Weir and Wolf Bros, and Dead & Company.
A Grateful Web review of their April 2026 California show called the evening “less like a side project and more like the birth of a fully realized band” and, at close, offered a simple verdict: “this is the sound of masters at play.” The sound, the review wrote, was “adventurous…where Hawaiian slack key traditions met Bay Area psychedelia, Americana grooves, and jam-band intuition.” The original composition “Music is a River” was singled out for the room it gave each player to open up.
Sets blend original compositions, many co-written by Barraco and the late Robert Hunter (the Grateful Dead’s longtime lyricist), with Grateful Dead interpretations and long-form improvisations the band describes as “traditional Hawaiian influences with psychedelic Americana.” Inglis, Grammy-nominated for his kihoʻalu (slack key) work and a recipient of the Kihoʻalu Legacy Award, provides the Hawaiian dimension that separates Skeleton Crew from the broader Dead-adjacent catalog. No supporting act has been listed for this date.
Venue & Logistics
Putnam Place is a 500-capacity club at 63A Putnam Street in Saratoga Springs, and the room size is worth noting: the band sold out Sweetwater Music Hall, a comparable California venue, earlier this year. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. for this capital-region date; the set runs 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. This is a 21+ event.
Tickets
Advance tickets are $25; door price is $30. Tickets went on sale August 14. Buy tickets