Stephen Inglis and Barry Sless perform Hawaiian songs, originals and favorites by the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. Courtesy photo

Grammy-nominated Hawaiian slack key guitarist Stephen Inglis and acclaimed pedal steel guitarist Barry Sless will return to Maui for shows Sunday at the ProArts Playhouse and Monday at the Hana Coast Gallery.

Performing as a duo and as members of the Skeleton Crewe band, they last performed on Maui in October.

“It’s a unique thing,” said Inglis about their guitar fusion. “Pedal steel evolved from the Hawaiian lap steel guitar, and of course in Hawaiian music, there’s a lot of beautiful steel guitar. But pedal steel is a different beast when it comes to being played with Hawaiian music. You just don’t hear it. It’s obviously well-known in the country world, and Barry’s one of those pioneers that stretch it out way beyond the roots.”

First teaming in early 2024, their repertoire embraces Hawaiian songs, originals and favorites by the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.

“There’s quite a bit of singing with stretches of instrumental jamming,” said Inglis.

A friend had suggested they team up.

“A friend of ours, Rachel Anne who lives on Maui now, said, ‘I’m going to book a gig for you, a duo with Barry.’ She kind of imagined it,” Inglis recalled. “I was in Anaheim, and I drove from L.A. for about eight hours straight to Barry’s house. We rehearsed for about 20 minutes, and right away, we said this is going to be great. We did the gig and said we’ve got to keep doing this. We’ve been doing it ever since.”

A virtuoso pedal steel guitarist, Sless discovered early on the classic music of Bob Wills and Western swing, and the old school country of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, as well as the Grateful Dead.

A founding member of the David Nelson Band in the early 1990s, he was invited to become a regular member of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s touring lineups. His affiliation with the Dead’s members includes touring as a member of Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros.

Over the years, Sless has played with Carlos Santana, Los Lobos, Jefferson Starship, the Band’s Rick Danko and Garth Hudson, and Donovan.

“Barry loves Hawaiian music,” said Inglis. “He’s been coming to Hawaii for a long time.”

Born and raised in Honolulu, Inglis grew up with some legendary Hawaiian musicians like Moe Keale as family friends. Later meeting Hawaiian legend Dennis Kamakahi, they recorded a duet album about the Hansen’s Disease settlement on Molokai.

In 2012, their “Waimaka Helelei” (Falling Teardrop) won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for slack key album of the year. The CD is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Inglis’ instrumental “Redwood Slack Key” was featured on the Grammy-nominated compilation “Hawaiian Slack Key Kings Volume 2.”

It was Makana who encouraged him to learn slack key guitar.

“Makana was a good friend of mine before I moved away from Hawaii,” he explained. “I was playing electric lead guitar, in contrast to his slack key, but being exposed to it directly on stage. That was about a year before I moved to the Mainland, and once I was gone, I wanted to learn this art form and dive into it.”

Inglis and Sless will perform at 7 p.m. Sunday at the ProArts Playhouse. Tickets range from $26 to $42 at proartsmaui.org.

Following their Sunday show, they will head to Hana for a free gig at the Hana Coast Gallery at 4 p.m. Monday presented by the Hana Arts Council.

“There’s a lawn and a gallery, and it’s going to be pupus and beverages, and bring your own chair,” said Inglis. “If you’re a resident of Hana, it’s right there, and if you just happen to be driving down that day, it’s going to be wonderful.”

Enjoying their collaboration, Inglis said, “We like to have a sense of musical adventure, where we could be in the middle of an improvisational, spacey jam, then we’ll drift into a Hawaiian song, then go into a Dylan song. We enjoy the freedom.”