Current Band members
Guitarist Craig Marshall passed on June 16, 2022 after a cancer battle. His memory lives on in all of us and in the music we perform. Facebook
Guitarist Nate LaPointe grew up in a musical family in Laramie, WY. His father was a record store owner and an avid Deadhead. He took 4-year-old Nate to his first Grateful Dead show at Red Rocks and the impressionable youth fell in love with the music, starting guitar lessons at age 5. By age 9 he had met Jerry Garcia, was appearing on stage at festivals, playing guitar and singing with Dead cover bands. Pursuing an education in jazz guitar, Nate moved to California to study at the California Institute of the Arts. Nate has been freelancing in Los Angeles since graduating CalArts, playing club dates, recording sessions, touring with the likes of R&B legend Bobby Womack, and teaching music. He is now in his 20th year with Cubensis, and performs on a custom-made instrument designed by Godfrey Daniels Guitar Works. Nate also uses a custom one-of-a-kind Hoeg Blackknife guitar courtesy of Grateful Guitars. Email Facebook Instagram
At age 8, keyboardist Tom Ryan began playing trombone and trumpet in his elementary school band, and took up guitar at age 12. Around 1976, he joined some of his high school classmates in the psychedelic-edged band Liftoff, in which he played a Micro Moog synthesizer. Tom also honed his vocal technique with noted instructor Elizabeth Sabine. 1984-87 found Tom performing in Deadhead/country rock groups The Full Effect and Stunt Road. Following that, Tom toured extensively for 5 years with the legendary New Christy Minstrels and folk singer Glenn Yarbrough, playing bass and adding vocal support. Since 1995, his musical life has involved performances with songwriter Robby King and Last Train South, plus a thriving career as a solo acoustic balladeer before joining Cubensis in 2000. Email Facebook
Bassist Larry Ryan enjoys live concerts, hiking, Grateful Dead music, improvisational jamming, reggae, rock & blues! Easily the most animated member of the band, Larry has held down the bass guitar position in Cubensis since 1996. Responding to cries of “Let Larry sing!”, Ryan has been known to bust out a mean “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” as well as “Easy Wind”. There is more than a passing resemblance to keyboardist Tom Ryan, as the two are brothers, growing up and jamming together in the San Fernando Valley and performing in Miracle Ticket and Dead Center. Email Facebook
Besides his inspired work with Cubensis, drummer Ed Fletcher remains as one of the hardest working musicians in San Diego, now currently finalizing a second album for his original project Naked Funk with bass legend Lige Curry of Parliament/Funkadelic. "Naked Funk started as a recording project between just Lige and I,” Fletcher states, “but now, after three years of expanding and growing, and with guitar greats onboard such as Blackbyrd McKnight (Headhunters, Miles Davis, Parliament) and Jose Serrano (Santana), the band has become quite the live experience!” Fletcher also appears with San Diego’s finest, Dead tribute, the Electric Waste Band. Ed's style has been described as 'explosive'. Email Facebook