THIS IS WHAT WE CAN DO: Trade with Jamaica is pretty awesome and very productive. Noel, one of the photographers I am working with that did more great work for me than I could possibly afford suggested this, I should buy him a camera bag because he could really use it. He left behind a …
I hit the ground running. Jogging 4.20 K at Forest Park as I type. Listening to Stones, as Gleaner writer messages me that she went to Port Antonio to interview the legendary Jolly Boys and she slipped in another mention of me. I hit a wall in Seattle. I did. Jimi Hendrix didn’t get very …
And here are all of Davin’s Jamaica posts from 2019, organized with the secret crypto code of DMSJ-2019.
Shooting music videos on the last day I am in Jamaica is quite an undertaking. Run and gun. These are not my videos per say. I wrote and recorded some songs with a dancehall singer and a producer in Port Antonio. I couldn’t make it back there before I left so they came to me. …
A great moment yesterday was sitting down with Chinna as he listened to what we did with his ‘Bush Doctor’ production. It’s been over two years since he produced me. Andrew D.B. Joslyn added strings. An incredible string arrangement. When the strings came in, he just kept saying “maaaaaad”. He was smiling so bright. He gave me …
After Tuff Gong Studios and lunch with Anthony Red Rose, I just dropped in to see Chinna Inna Di Yard. It’s pretty wild how much Bob Marley lives on in the memory of his friends here. Every old man here knew him. The man has been gone almost 40 years. He would have been 75 …
Once every trip to Jamaica I conform to the social norms of the island and eat KFC. I always regret it with a certain type of indifference and FOMA, knowing there was a dish I could have eaten which better reflects their society than this soggy ass chicken. The only people that should eat this …
Driving to Kingston to a radio station in a tough neighborhood, to play 6 Northwest artists on the air with Selecta Ras Isachar. Roots FM is excited to hear more artists from our scene. The streets of Kingston are about to be ringing with the sounds of Stingshark Sting, Sarah Christine, Stay Grounded, and more. If I …
Behold my first national write up. Thank you Jamaica! We life fast here. Mento greats ask me to join the band. The next day we rehearse and film a magic performance on my phone. Next day The Gleaner watches it after my interview and tells me they love it. Then this story drops promoting the …
These are the eyes of guy who is hungry for hits. I am not going to play that game where I pretend to be indifferent and that this or that was beyond my wildest dreams. Bullsh☆t. My wildest dreams involve a really nice outdoor show on the moon. I want hits. I want to parlay …
Big announcement from Jamaica. The great Mento musicians from Port Antonio, including Jah T from The Jolly Boys came to see me with a bottle and a big idea: They want to do a national tour of Jamaica next Fall with me to promote Mento music to the people of Jamaica. We recorded this song …
A producer peeling a grapefruit with a giant knife just told me the greatest story I have ever heard about how his father and his best friend were growing marijuana in mountains back when he was a child. They rigged a brilliant escape route where they made a hidden slide down the mountain that they …
Ital Sunday dinner with the squad by the ocean. Last natural food restaurant open in Port Antonio on a Sunday, and their last plates of food. Tomorrow I am going to likely mix my Dennis Brown cover with Uncle Mike, the man behind Shaggy’s Boombastic that is hosting me here. Then I meet up with …
I am pretty excited about the risk we’re taking at my first show in Jamaica. We’re closing with a Mento song that we turned into a full on Rock Song. This band is two Jamaican cops and this Jamaican drummer that is the in the pocket reincarnation of Keith Moon. …and a Budtender from Seattle. …
Sometimes you find yourself at a Dancehall video shoot. Sometimes you end up in the video. Both of these things are true. This is enigma is pwile chile. His tale of British and Jamaican trade relations and the struggles of small business ownership in volatile free markets, is riveting. If you want to support these adventures …
Wanna see Rock reborn in East Jamaica? Something absolutely magic happened last night at rehearsal with Lenni I-Music and his Trail Blazer Band. We turned this little Mento song I wrote called, ‘Go Tell It To The Mystics’ into a genuine Arena Rock anthem. And the take after this was the most punk moment I have ever …
I am going to be as tan as I was back in high school in Summertime whether I like it or not. You can’t escape the sun. Jogging with your shirt on makes no sense. Miss 80’s, mid 70s humidity. The only thing I ate today are mangos and sweet cups, which are really passion …
We need to talk about mangoes. All we are eating in this Country is mangos. Here we are at famed reggae singer Mark Wonders house and he takes us to the Mango tree and says, “Take all you like.” Isachar changed the game and told me to just not even bother peeling eat the skin, …
I wrote some more cool songs with Ras Isachar this morning. Writing with a Selecta is like having a library of vibrations at your disposal. Isachar claims he’s not a singer, but that’s a pretty incredible vibrato you have there, Sir. If you dig that African medallion, Mamadou Diakite is your MAN in West Seattle. If you …
My view this morning as I drink my smoothie 6 miles from Kingston. Italee Watson is taking me to the beach for the first time in all of my adventures here. We’re going to run a few miles, write some new songs, and hang with her kids. The youngest probably has the cutest damn accent …
Internet is limited on this Jamaica adventure Stay tuned. I have much to say. A lot has happened since I woke up 38 hours ago. This island is most inspiring… We rolled through the Papine neighborhood of Kingston blasting Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire on the radio, and it sounded fantastic with the …