Listen up, all you ska fans living on the west coast of the USA. If you haven’t already heard, there’s going to be a two-day concert on the beach in So. Cal April 28 and 29, 2018 showcasing some of the finest ska bands currently active. As the promo states, this is a two days …
After a wonderful writing session with the reggae powerhouse Hold in Fyah, I went to QFC for the only sensible thing I can eat on my new diet – 4 pieces of Baked Chicken I can spread over the next few days as if each piece were itself a giant bucket. On the way I went …
A lovely song and a lively video. Please give it a listen:
When I asked Israel Voice to give BrodieNation Music Festival a shout out up at Nine Mile on Bob Marley‘s birthday he took it a few extra steps. He launched into a completely improvised song from bottom of his huge Rastafarian heart, extolling the virtues and unparalleled greatness of Morgan Henley Epic Summer Party. This is what it looks like …
Yolanda Nicole’s debut EP, HALFMOON has just come out. This work embodies the perfectly imperfect persona of Yolanda Nicole. The tracks are sassy yet sweet, angelic yet dangerous, and beautiful but crude. Yolanda’s powerhouse vocals bring these catchy tunes to life. HALFMOON was composed–Yolanda wrote all of the tracks– in a way to build balance …
My Great Uncle Daniel Santos. He got drunk and started Revolutions. He once yelled at Che and Raoul Castro in close quarters, exclaiming and finger pointing, “You muthaf☆ckaz said you were Revolutionaries, y’all didn’t say you were Communists. F☆ck Y’all. I’m out.” Then he lived to sing about it, because he was their favorite singer. …
I sat down with one of the coolest kids in school, Miss Jordani Sarreal to discuss her Copyright and Publishing workshop coming up Sunday March 11th in Tacoma. I can’t say enough about how important this workshop is to independent musicians today. Nor can I properly convey the street value of Jordani’s wicked set of …
I just took a break from an assignment from Sick Donkey Records to polish my first draft of lyrics on a song called ‘West Indian Rock’ that I am singing with my great friend Lenni I-Music. He’s pretty much the best pal a guy could have in Jamaica or anywhere, and I really want to figure out a …
On the last day of February I celebrated by seeing England’s folk/punks Skinny Lister at Seattle’s Barboza club. Despite the dreary weather outside, Skinny Lister hit the stage bursting with energy, charisma and downright fun. Every member knows how to rile an audience. Singer Lorna Thomas beguiled everyone with her unadulterated charm. When she wasn’t …
I am going over photos from the ‘Free Your Mind’ video shoot at Hope Gardens & Zoo, Kingston Jamaica. Director of Photography Delroy Ledgister did me such a solid by sliding away with his video shoot’s second camera to get me some much need solo photos. It’s such a beautiful park on a such a perfect looking …
The lovechild of four southeastern Tasmanians; Valkyries combine poetic lyrics alongside beautiful melodies woven through distorted, salacious 70’s-esque guitars. “Serf” is the latest single from the band. Written for the soundtrack of a surf film by auteur Howard Groves, “Serf” is about the highs and lows of being a slave to a lifestyle. It has …
Here’s a great moment from five years ago. Lightning captured in a bottle. First song opens with references to Isaiah 9:6, the Bible text which, in an enormous transatlantic and cross-cultural musical coincidence, is one of the many high (and familiar) points in Handel’s Messiah.
Delroy Ledgister our Director of Photography just sent this behind the scenes clip of me showing the kids of Fleet Street in Kingston the song I pulled out of thin air about their urban garden & underground community center, LIFE YARD. Delroy captured a cool moment because one of the kids told me to song in …
New York-based singer/songwriter SHIRA will release this lovely single soon. “Butterflies” was featured in the indie film Landing Up and has become a live favourite. The track will appear on her debut album Till The Sun Comes>. . Shira says of the track: “For the longest time I couldn’t really feel anything after my dad …
My friend Jordani Sarreal is putting together a music publishing and copyright workshop that is so incredibly timely for me. As publishing and the ownership of our albums is increasingly in our own possession, rather than Record companies, most of us have no idea what to really do in 2018. I will be attending her workshop and …
Canadian straight-up death-pop quintet Sc Mira have just released their new #badasswomen single ‘Give It Up.’ Gotta love the haunting chorus. It’s the first song of their soon to be released EP Drug Warm Coma.
An Argument Against Living in the Present Comedy and Literature are among the great escapes from the horrors of only LIVING in the present. People have always told me to LIVE in the NOW and be more present. I call bullsh-t. I think we ruined America in 2016 by only LIVING in the present. If …
Tadiman has been a friend of East Portland Blog for a while. He is Slovenia’s finest reggae artist. We featured his tune. “Kdor drugemu jamo koplje” a few months ago. Tadiman can be seen in the background of the video Davin Michael Stedman took on what would have been Bob Marley’s 73rd birthday. Now he’s …
Want to see me singing songs with the kids in Trench Town, as I described it? This is one of the files that was too big to upload in Jamaica. Now my host Ricardo isn’t world’s steadiest camera (phone) man, but I am grateful he was able capture this moment in nearly its entirety. It …
“What The President Said,” a new protest song by David Poe and Sister C, features voices from the Women’s March and the LAX protest. The song challenges a president who many believe is imperiling American ideals with outrageous falsehoods, divisiveness, brinkmanship and incompetence, aiming to pander to base voters before midterm elections this November and …
On the frigid Tuesday night of February 20th, I had the utmost pleasure of seeing one of my utmost favorite bands, Gogol Bordello. It has been nearly five years since I last saw these self-proclaimed gypsy punks. They hit the stage right on time. This time front man Eugene Hutz sported longer hair that hung …
You need this mobile sound system in your life. It’s a giant boom box with a motor and steering wheel. It’s like a tank of reggae love. Do you think it was built on a riding lawn mower or a golf cart? Either way this is another shining example of Jamaican innovation and DIY creativity. …
I got to have a quick little Goonies adventure with Lenni I-Music and Ras Isachar. They took me to the lost Pirate city and English fort, Port Royal. The young tour guide Andrew Gordon was terrific. His insights were aligned with the history I could recall from books I read before and after my first …
Captain Bobby and a boat called Dr. LOVE. A fisherman and his boat. Bobby is a 73 year old fisherman who will take you into the bay of Port Antonio as he chases his daily catch of lobster and more. Then he can grill or bbq the feast right here on the beach. Any way …
My friends Bull and Joseph Whitmore and my new friend Jah T on guitar keeping Mento music alive. Jah T said something tonight that inspired me, that I want to share. But let me wait till after we do some more work with them tomorrow… But let’s just say I hatched a plan to bust Mento out …
This song is from a few years back, but this work of visual art is still worth a look. The video finds beauty amid poverty and shows the vibrance of the people of Jamaica with candid shots from life: soccer games, markets, backstreet gatherings etc. It’s bright and alive and better than any other video …
Just some notes from the Green Room of a popular day time talk show One of the great gifts of these trips abroad is perspective. It is fascinating to sit in a waiting room for a popular daytime television show and hear how notable Jamaicans process American tragedies that effect them because they all have …
Thanks to Pat Thomas for this Dylan quote. Pat is working on a Van Morrison bio right now. “Tupelo Honey has always existed, Van Morrison was merely the vehicle and the earthly vessel for it.” – Bob Dylan Ronnie Montrose’s minimalist guitar on this track from October of 1971 cuts the heart deeper than a …
I am going to be dropping a bunch of great videos today, because tomorrow I leave for Port Antonio with Lenni I-Music for the final stage of this second Jamaican mission. The comfort of Wi-Fi will be out of my reach. My trip truly began with Ras Isachar at Roots 96.1 FM. I wish I got to spend …
I am going to be dropping a bunch of great videos today, because tomorrow I leave for Port Antonio with Lenni I-Music for the final stage of this second Jamaican mission. The comfort of Wi-Fi will be out of my reach. My trip truly began with Ras Isachar at Roots 96.1 FM. I wish I got to spend …