In the continued fallout from Skull & Roses‘ cancellation last week, artists are doing their part to ensure there will be songs to fill the air this weekend. In place of the Grateful Dead-centric festival that was set to take over the Ventura County Fairgrounds from April 19th–21st, an alternative event dubbed Maybe It Was The Roses will gather various acts from the Skull & Roses lineup for a daylong celebration on Sunday, April 21st.

Presented by Golden Road Festival and set to take place at The Majestic Ventura Theater, Maybe It Was The Roses will host headliners Saviors, Spirits, and Wingmen, an offshoot of the all-star Grateful Dead tribute Sages and Spirits featuring several of the same members. Sunday’s supergroup includes guitarists John Kadlecik (Melvin Seals & JGB) and Rob Eaton (Dark Star Orchestra), drummers Jay Lane (Dead & Company) and Jake Wolf (Rocky Mountain Grateful Dead Revue), keyboardist Rob Barraco (Dark Star Orchestra), and bassist Reed Mathis (Billy & The Kids).

Also on the lineup for Maybe It Was The Roses is Garcia Grisman Revisited with Stu Allen (Phil Lesh & Friends), Ronnie McCoury (The Travelin’ McCourys), Joe Craven (David Grisman Quintet), and Jim Kerwin (David Grisman Quintet). Other performers include a Reed Mathis solo set, The Alligators, and No Simple Highway, plus Jill Simmons (Brown Eyed Women) and additional special guests to be announced.

Tickets for Golden Road Festival’s Maybe It Was The Roses are on sale here. The day-long musical marathon begins at 2 p.m.

Maybe It Was The Roses marks the latest announcement of musicians making lemonade following Skull & Roses’ sudden cancellation ten days before the festival was due to begin. Bay Area psychedelic soul outfit Moonalice has offered free admission to its weekend run of shows April 18th–20th to anyone with a Skull & Roses ticket. Further down the coast, guitarist Joe Marcinek has moved his star-studded Dead Funk Summit to L.A., where he will perform on Sunday, April 21st with Nate LaPointe (Cubensis), Steve Molitz (Particle), Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk), Stanton Moore (Galactic), and Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident).

These developments follow the abrupt cancellation of Skull & Roses on Tuesday, April 9th. In a letter posted on social media, festival founder Chris Mitrovich stated that “the financial devastation of the 2023 show made it impossible to sustain the weight of the new production.” His closing paragraph about refunds made headlines across music news outlets, “While tickets and hotels were sold on a non-refundable basis, we sincerely wish that funds were available to refund all purchases. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case at this time. Additional information will be provided just as soon as it becomes available and will be posted through our socials and at [the festival’s website].”

A representative for Skull & Roses has stated, “At this time, over 90% of refunds have been processed. Contact info@skullandroses.com for refund information.”