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From a foundation
of reggae music with an eclectic
mix of dancehall and rock come
the Reggae Rock band known as
Rootz Underground. Since their
debut on the Jamaican music
scene in 2000, Rootz Underground
has now come full circle,
evolving into what is now a band
that recognises its place in the
arena of world music and the
front yard of Jamaican music
culture.
Now ready to
release their sophomore album
Gravity, Rootz Underground has
toured the world to hone their
craft and has spent many nights
bussing around the United States
and Europe seeking to expose
fresh ears to its compelling
wails of upliftment and triumph;
while at the same time seeking
to instill hope with a musical
repertoire composite with
different aspects of 70's Dub,
Rock and Roots Reggae and more
modern forms of music fused into
what is now Gravity.
Gravity contains
fourteen fresh tracks from Rootz
underground. It is lead by the
first single “Power to The
People” which in light of the
January 2010 earthquake is 'livicated'
to the people of Haiti. The
remaining tracks are: “Unknown
Soldier”, “Jah Love (is The
Solution)”, “Modern Day
Jericho”, “History”, “Rastaman
Experience”, “Fly Away”,
“Streets”, “Raging Bull”,
“Enlighten Me”, “Waiting For
You”, “Searching”, “Marching
On”, and “Rocket”. The album is
complete with a remix of their
2008 album track “Time is An
Illusion”.
The year 2008 saw
the band touring America
extensively on joint bills with
foundation powerhouses such as
Gregory Isaacs, Israel
Vibration, The Wailing Souls,
Dean Fraser as well as acts such
as Anthony B and Tarrus Riley.
They have played both the
Raggamuffins Festival as well as
The Sierra Nevada World Music
Festival in California and most
notably they also released their
debut album.
Released in May
2008, Rootz Underground’s debut
album MOVEMENT, contained a
sophisticated, nuanced story
with moody, Jazz-influenced
guitar solos, nimble keyboards,
ethereal segues, delay effects,
traditional African/Jamaican
hand drums, razor sharp mixing
and call and response chorus
vocals that find members
harmonizing in agreement with
the lyrical message.
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A rich sound, full of careful layers, served as a
comfortable bed for some of the most universal and honest lyrics
to rest in a reggae mix. From their last album there were
favourites such as “Victims of The System” and “Hammer”, which
had significant chart success in Jamaica and the Caribbean and
“Herb Fields” which was a tremendous
underground hit.
The band also offered a full length live CD for
free which can be downloaded from the E-store of their website,
the compilation is titled "ALIVE" and was recorded on the
"Reggae Train Tour" Fall '08 across America. This along with
other unorthodox web strategies shows the trend that Rootz
Underground has set and plans on maintaining for the future.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has been a constant source of
content for Rootz Underground’s fans.
2009 saw the band performing to packed venues
alongside the likes of The Mighty Diamonds, Aswad, Dubtonic Kru,
Danakil, Toots and the Maytals and Alpha Blondy. In Europe they
played dates in France, Sweden, Holland, Poland and Belgium to
name a few. In the US - California, Hawaii, Florida, Texas and
Louisiana were just some of the locations to receive Rootz
Underground.
The journey from the underground to the main
stream has been long but now the band can surely claim that
their Rootz have sprouted branches and now flowers with a
refreshing new compendium of sounds and philosophy compressed
into their latest album, Gravity.
Stephen Newland - Lead singer, Charles Lazarus -
Lead guitar, Jeffrey Moss-Solomon - Rhythm guitar, Colin Young -
Bass guitar, Paul Smith - Keyboard and Leon Campbell - Drummer
all agree that almost three years of nonstop touring and
interaction with bands such as Danakil have kept them grounded
to the music and acted as a sort of gravity, allowing them to be
close to their fans on the ground where the music matters. The
band believes the revolution will continue as long as they have
breath, but maintain that Gravity will keep them grounded as
Jamaica's best known Reggae Rock band.
Rootz Underground
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