The Mid Week Beat: Dancehall, Mod Soul and a Hip Hop Brass Band!

October 23, 2013
By Jimmy Berg

Some good stuff coming up this week kiddies! We got a legendary Jamaican dancehall artist in Austin tomorrow night, an excellent night of mod soul and vintage reggae in San Diego on Friday and a Halloween masquerade of legendary proportions in New York on Saturday.

If you live in or near any of these towns, do not miss these shows. I got to say, being stuck here in Seattle, I’m a little jealous. Anyone want to buy me a plane ticket for the weekend?

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 24 I Capleton – Austin, Texas

Capleton, is a force to be reckoned with in the fast-moving world of dancehall reggae. Fame and success are hard to obtain and easy to lose. Fans can be fickle, and trends change in the blink of an eye, leaving most entertainers with painfully short career spans. Only a rare few can remain relevant from year to year, holding their audience’s attention and leaving them crying for more. Capleton’s lyrics are deep, precise, and thoughtful. His stage shows are nothing less than dynamic, explosive performances. But his remarkable staying power and longevity may be Capleton’s greatest gift.

Capleton was born Clifton George Bailey in St. Mary, Jamaica. As a youth, he was given the surname of a popular St. Mary lawyer and friend of the family, Capleton, as a nickname by his relatives and friends. As a teenager, he would often sneak out of his home to catch local dancehall acts, eventually leaving St. Mary for Kingston at the age of 18 to work on his career as a dancehall deejay.

When Capleton first arrived on the scene in the late 1980s, slackness and gun talk were the dominant lyrics in the dancehalls. The pre-Rasta Capleton had a string of hit songs from “Bumbo Red” to “Number One on the Look Good Chart” and “No Lotion Man.” In 1989, he got his first big international exposure. Stewart Brown, owner of a Toronto-based sound called African Star, gave the untested artist his first break, flying him to Canada for a stage show alongside Ninjaman and Flourgan.

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Austin’s Wildfire Festival and 3 Months of Reggae

February 20, 2013
By Jimmy Berg

Music festival season is fast approaching and our site is already starting to fill up with tickets to festivals all around the country.

One of the first big events of the season is, of course, SXSW in Austin, Texas. Originally started in 1987 as a way to showcase independent music, SXSW has turned into one of the biggest interactive media events in the country, complete with corporate-sponsored showcases featuring big name acts, high-tech trade shows and media startup conferences. Attendance has sky-rocketed from 700 attendees in its first year, to over 40,000 attendees today. As a result, being able to see bands has become a bit of a challenge for the average music fan.

That’s why we’re excited to be ticketing a real “independent” festival in Austin that’s focused on a genre of music that we deeply love here at Brown Paper Tickets: reggae! Our music doer Billy Geoghegan has been playing in reggae and ska bands for years and you’ll often hear a reggae beat coming out of the computer speakers of many of our employees’ desks.

So, when we see that we’re ticketing a festival like the 4th Annual Wildfire Reggae and Arts Festival, we naturally want to spread the word and support it in any way we can. It’s going on during SXSW, so if you’re in town for “South By” and want to experience some high quality grooves in a beautiful setting, then Wildfire is for you!

Now in its fourth year, the Wildfire Reggae and Arts Festival will take place at The Music Ranch from Thursday, March 7 to Saturday, March 9 and will spotlight more than 30 bands offering a cross-section of the reggae genre, from ska to rocksteady to roots, dub and beyond. Past headliners have included Collie Buddz, Lynval Golding (of The Specials), HR (of Bad Brains), Common Kings, Contra Coup and Josh Heinrichs. This year offers another stellar lineup: Don Carlos (of Black Uhuru fame), Gyptian, Marlon Asher and the Farmers, The Expanders, Mike Love, Alex Marley, a large selection of DJ’s and more. They expect over 4,000 attendees this year and there will also be camping in a beautiful 80-acre oak tree forest. You can pick up daily passes, three-day passes or the coveted VIP passes right over here.

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GIVEAWAY: Nectar Lounge Brings Earth Day for All Ages to Seattle!

April 19, 2012
By admin

(Just want to win tickets to the Earth Day extravaganza? Scroll to the bottom of this post!)

It’s always a treat to work with our neighbors over at Nectar Lounge! The venue/bar is a fantastic spot, committed to sustainability, good times, nightly events, and patio beverages. For this Earth Day weekend, Seattle can have it all, with all-ages activities and music during the day and of-ages party action during the night at the Fremont Earth Day Festival — and all it sets you back is $15 or an old bike. Proceeds benefit the Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation.

While the party for grown-ups goes all day and all night, the daytime is geared toward kids and families, opening at 11 a.m. both days this weekend begin with a dance party, going into a special performance each day at noon: Bubbleman (a bubbleman) on Saturday, then the Not-Its (kindie rock!) on Sunday, plus some Earth Day-themed activities to keep them busy.

Later, once you’ve gotten a sitter (or if you don’t have kids and you’re just ready to party), the of-ages happenings start with a chill but fun-loving, diverse lineup of folk, R&B, reggae and more, including songwriter Sarah Christine, acclaimed jazz/funk/world collective Snarky Puppy, and improvisational rocker Nefarious Jones, spread over both Saturday and Sunday nights for a full weekend of eco-minded grooves. The full line-up is available here.

Snarky Puppy in action:

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Opening this Saturday! The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

April 13, 2012
By Jimmy Berg

This Saturday, The Langston Hughes African Film Festival has a lot to celebrate. For the last two years, the festival’s home, The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, has been closed for seismic and electrical upgrades and some architectural renovations. Now, they’re back home and tomorrow’s opening night gala will be the first cultural event in the historic space in two years.

The Performing Arts Center was originally dedicated as the Chevra Bikur Cholim Jewish Synagogue in 1915. It was designed by Seattle architect B. Marcus Priteca and was notable for its polygonal structure and terra cotta detailing. It began its second life as the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in 1969 and became part of Seattle Parks and Recreation in 1972.

For the opening gala this Saturday, April 14, they will be screening “The Last Fall,” the directorial debut of former NFL player Matthew Cherry, who will be attending the screening. The film centers around a young football player, Kyle Bishop, who’s nearing the end of his career. The film follows Bishop as he returns to the reality of home life, moving back in with his mother and coming to terms with life after sports. A post screening discussion with Matt Cherry and a reception will be part of the opening night festivities.

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Reggae On the Banks of the Sacramento River This Weekend!

September 2, 2011
By Jimmy Berg

This week, as summer draws to a close we want to spread the word of some last minute music festivals happening around the country. Sacramento has a great reggae festival coming up this weekend, The One Love One Heart Festival featuring some top names in the reggae world, most notably, Don Carlos, formerly of the legendary Black Uhuru and award-winning reggae vocalist Everton Blender.

Everton Blender hails from Kingston, Jamaica and started his career in the late 70s/early 80s performing with the Destiny Outernational, Master Voice and Santex sound systems. He released a handful of singles such as “Where Is Love” in 1979 and “Ba Ba Black Sheep” in 1985 but failed to reach any commercial success. He retired from music to return to his former job as a house painter.
Read More…

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The Upsetter Hits the Big Screen!

May 10, 2011
By Jimmy Berg

What do The Clash, Paul McCartney, Andrew W.K., Beastie Boys and Bob Marley have in common? They have all worked with legendary Jamaican producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, whose influence on music and audio engineering can not be over-stated. An infamous eccentric behind the mixing board, “The Upsetter” not only revolutionized reggae music in his native Jamaica; his influence can be heard in everything from electronica to indie rock to hip-hop.

Perry began his career in music in the late 50’s as a record seller for Clement “Coxone” Dodd’s Kingston sound system and quickly began recording tracks for Dodd’s Studio One record label, eventually recording nearly thirty ska and rocksteady tunes. Eventually he and Dodd had a falling out and he began working with Joe Gibbs. He shortly fell out with Gibbs as well and founded his own Upsetter record label in 1968. His first single “People Funny Boy” was one of the first records to contain a “sample” (of a baby crying) and it also featured the chugging, syncopated beat that would eventually become known as the “reggae” rhythm.
Read More…

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A SHOUT OUT FROM BILLY, REGGAE FAN AND MUSIC DOER

January 5, 2011
By billygeo

Billy Geoghegan is our music doer. He helps out independent musicians and offers support to musicians that use Brown Paper Tickets for their events. Like me, Bill has a deep love of reggae music. In fact he plays in a couple awesome reggae/ska bands, Contra Coup and The Stingers ATX. He wanted to give a shout out to his buddy Kimaany.

I just found out that my friend Kimaany was voted the best reggae artist in Camaroon for 2010. I think it’s great. He is one of those guys that does everything for others and very little for himself. He has lived through some tough times, but still keeps his head on the positive side of things. I was honored to produce a song of his last year and was amazed at his beautiful voice (no auto-tune needed there) very reminiscent of Alpha Blondy, one of my all time favorite vocalists.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMP9amVZGZ0&w=480&h=385]

Music >

The Mid Week Beat: Dancehall, Mod Soul and a Hip Hop Brass Band!

Austin’s Wildfire Festival and 3 Months of Reggae

GIVEAWAY: Nectar Lounge Brings Earth Day for All Ages to Seattle!

Opening this Saturday! The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.

Reggae On the Banks of the Sacramento River This Weekend!

The Upsetter Hits the Big Screen!

A SHOUT OUT FROM BILLY, REGGAE FAN AND MUSIC DOER

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