Appearing “out of nowhere”, Chas and the Skylands Gang released their debut album “Youth and Wisdom” in 2025.
It is a wildly ambitious and meticulously crafted song cycle about life, death, sex, loss, betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, love and time. Or so Chas claims. Accounts differ and opinions vary, as accounts and opinions usually do.
Chas allegedly emerged from the pristine wilderness of Sparta Mountain, in Sussex County NJ, sometime in the 1960’s. What many folks don’t know is that in the 1890’s Thomas Edison had an extensive iron ore mining operation in these wild hills. He closed it down after spending $2 million dollars of JP Morgan’s money without producing a profitable product. That’s the official story.
But ever since, rumors have circulated among the locals that all that digging somehow uncovered a distortion in the time/space continuum, forcing the government to raze Edison's operation and fence it all off from the public.
The five members of what we know today as “The Skylands Gang” are said to have accidentally stumbled upon this time portal, in their effort to evade capture after a failed attempt at robbing the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad. Following a long chase by a posse led by County Sheriff Judson Gunn, they simply disappeared without a trace. Those in the know say the clues are all in the songs…
The Skylands Gang are:
Chas Sickles - Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Kemal Betin - Drums
Lauren Gibbs - Harmony Vocals, Piano
Brian Kane - Bass
Grant Sickles - Lead and Rhythm Guitars