Marley’s Ghost heats up Open Space

Marley’s Ghost, a well-traveled music ensemble made up of singers and multi-instrumentalists Dan Wheetman, Jon Wilcox, Mike Phelan, Ed Littlefield Jr. and Jerry Fletcher, will play a show at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Open Space for Arts & Community.

Marley’s Ghost, a well-traveled music ensemble made up of singers and multi-instrumentalists Dan Wheetman, Jon Wilcox, Mike Phelan, Ed Littlefield Jr. and Jerry Fletcher, will play a show at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Open Space for Arts & Community.

The band, which has been together for 25 years, will bring its virtuoso mix of almost every kind of music, including country, to the stage.

“The band has always been eclectic, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed together for this long,” Wheetman said. “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.”

The group’s 10th album, “Jubilee,” reflects that ecumenical taste, with six original tracks and seven covers drawn from the songbooks of Kris Kristofferson, Levon Helm, Bobby and Shirley Womack, John Prince and other greats.

What’s more, the album — produced by legendary Nashville cat Cowboy Jack Clement and recorded at Clement’s venerable Sound Emporium — features guest performances from Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show, Marty Stuart, Larry Campbell, Byron House and Don Heffington.

The band has won wide acclaim and a dedicated fan base in its years on the road.

A review in L.A. Weekly said, “This West Coast [group] deftly, and frequently daffily, dashes across decades of American music to create a sound that’s steeped in tradition but never bogged down by traditionalism.”

Tickets to the show, $12, are available at www.brownpapertickets.com, Vashon Bookshop and the door. It’s an all-ages event.