Jay Lane

In 1982,[3] Lane played with Dave Shul in the band Ice Age.[4] In 1983, he joined Bay Area ska punk band The Uptones when their saxophonist left, prompting drummer Dave Ellis to switch instruments.[2][4] They released an album, K.U.S.A.,[3] before Lane left in 1985 to join the Freaky Executives.[4] After four years of gigging the Executives landed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records.[4] It was during this time that Lane met Primus bassist Les Claypool in the bands' shared rehearsal space,[4] and the two became friends as Claypool volunteered to act as a roadie for the Freaky Executives.[5]

In 1988, Lane had become so frustrated with Warner's handling of the Executives' contract that when Claypool asked him to recommend a replacement for Primus' recently departed drummer Tim "Curveball" Wright, Lane accepted the position himself.[5] Claypool, Lane, and guitarist Todd Huth played together as Primus for about eight months, and recorded a demo tape named Sausage.[4][6] At the end of 1988, the Freaky Executives' deal looked to be taking a turn for the better,[5] and as Claypool was ready for Primus to start touring,[4] Lane decided he no longer had time for both projects and chose to leave Primus, and also left the Freaky Executives after their record deal was shelved.[4]

In the early '90s, Lane began playing in a trio with double bass player Rob Wasserman and Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir,[4] who had previously been playing as a duo for "six or eight years" before inviting Lane to join them.[7] In 1992,[3] Lane was reunited with Dave Ellis when he joined jazz combo the Charlie Hunter Trio,[4][6] and co-founded the hip hop/jazz fusion group Alphabet Soup.[4][6] The Charlie Hunter Trio released their debut album, Charlie Hunter Trio, in 1993.[8]

Lane later reunited with Claypool and Huth as the band Sausage,[6] named in recognition of the Primus demo they recorded together six years prior.[5] They recorded a single album, 1994's Riddles Are Abound Tonight,[9] followed by a short tour in support of Helmet and Rollins Band.[4][6] In 1995, Lane released his last album with the Charlie Hunter Trio, Bing, Bing, Bing!,[10] as well as Alphabet Soup's debut, Layin' Low in the Cut,[11] and following the death of Jerry Garcia, the trio of Lane, Weir and Wasserman became the basis for the band RatDog.[4] In 1996, Alphabet Soup released their second album, Strivin',[4] and Lane guested on Claypool's debut solo album Highball with the Devil.[12] In 1997, Lane guested on Christión's debut album, Ghetto Cyrano, playing keyboards.[13]

Lane and Weir performing with RatDog in April 2009.

Throughout the 2000s, Lane continued to tour with RatDog, playing hometown shows with Alphabet Soup whenever they had a break in the schedule.[4] In 2000, RatDog released their own debut album, Evening Moods,[14] followed by Live at Roseland in 2001.[15] Also in 2001, Lane appeared once more alongside Claypool and Huth, plus others, on the Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade albums Live Frogs Set 1[16] and Live Frogs Set 2,[3] the latter of which is a complete performance of Pink Floyd's Animals.[17] In 2002, Lane guested on the Frog Brigade's studio album, Purple Onion,[18] and was named "drummer of the year" by the California Music Awards.[4]

In 2005, Claypool released his retrospective DVD 5 Gallons of Diesel, featuring many projects that included Lane,[3] and Lane toured with him as part of his Fancy Band.[4] In 2006, many members of Alphabet Soup branched out to form the hip hop/reggae fusion group Band of Brotherz, and Lane joined shortly after.[4] They released their debut album Deadbeats and Murderous Melodys in 2009,[3] featuring covers of Grateful Dead songs,[2] supported by a tour of the East Coast of the United States and a number of dates nationwide with special guests,[4] including the trio of Lane, Weir and Wasserman reunited under the name Scaring the Children.[19] At the end of 2009, Weir put RatDog on hiatus in order to dedicate his time to forming the supergroup Furthur with Phil Lesh, and Lane joined them as a charter member.[4]

In 2010,[3] Lane left both Furthur and Band of Brotherz to rejoin Primus with Claypool and long-standing guitarist Larry LaLonde, and they released the free June 2010 Rehearsal digital EP, followed in 2011 by a new album, titled Green Naugahyde.[20] As of 2012, Lane's official site still credited him as an active member of RatDog despite the hiatus,[3] as well as Alphabet Soup,[3] and Scaring the Children.[7] In September 2013, it was revealed that Lane had left Primus to rejoin RatDog, who were ending their hiatus.[21] In 2014 Jay Joined The Golden Gate Wingmen. They are a jam band formed in November 2014, featuring Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik from Dark Star Orchestra & Reed Mathis from Tea Leaf Green. They record every show and release them to download.

In 2018, Lane joined Weir and bassist Don Was to form Bob Weir & Wolf Bros., a trio which undertook a North American tour in the Fall of 2018,[22] and continued with a second tour of twenty more shows in the Spring of 2019.[23]

Lane currently endorses Ludwig drums, Sabian cymbals, Vater drumsticks and Hammerax percussion.