Tropidelic comments on ‘All The Colors’ album, Everwild & more

Punchy, funky reggae rock-hip hop group Tropidelic hosted their self-created and produced festival, Everwild, this past weekend on August 12th and 13th in Legend Valley outside of Cleveland, Ohio. On the heels of Tropidelic’s seventh studio album, All The Colors, released via Ineffable Records on August 5th, the camping festival lineup included headliner Dirty Heads, […]

Memorializing Katastro’s Andy J. Chaves at Tempe’s Marquee Theater

Wednesday at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, AZ was a night to remember and memorialize the ever-talented, ever-unique and ever-charismatic Andrew James Chaves of Arizona indie-meets-hip hop-meets-reggae supergroup Katastro. Chaves, Katastro’s founding member and frontman, passed away in a tragic car accident on May 12th, 2022 in Newport Beach, CA, stunning the community and forever […]

“Gimme Love” says The Elovaters in new single

Boston’s finest, The Elovaters, returns to the spotlight with their newest single “Gimme Love”: a sensual, stripped-down track that oozes sex and begs to be called on for a date night/late night ambient background vibes. Officially released at midnight on Friday, August 5th via Full Belly Records, the steamy song was available for pre-listening Thursday […]

The Black Seeds unleash ample ‘Love & Fire’ in new LP

Summertime, feeling fine. Love& Fire, The Black Seeds’ seventh full-length studio album, is a sunny and bright collection of 10 easy-listening, dubby tracks with ‘beach day’ written all over them. The New Zealand eight-piece dropped the record June 17th via Proville Records/Kartel Music Group in Europe and New York-based reggae label Easy Star Records in North […]

A chat with Cydeways at California Roots 2022

Top Shelf Music journalist Allie Adams interviews Cydeways at California Roots Music and Arts Festival 2022. The band talks about upcoming projects, tour and are even surprised by Atmosphere‘s own “Slug”! You never know who’s gonna walk into the Cali Roots media room! From the band’s website: “Cydeways [is] an alternative band out of Santa […]

Tropidelic drops “People Talk” single with Brother Ali

Cleveland reggae-fusion quartet Tropidelic quietly dropped their newest single “People Talk”, featuring the illustrious Rhymsayers emcee Brother Ali, off their forthcoming album All The Colors — due out August 5th. The release follows closely on the heels of their respective Cali Roots performances over Memorial Day Weekend and precludes their Sleeping Giant Summer Tour, featuring […]

WORLD VIDEO PREMIERE: Kirsty Rock “Light It Up”

Kirsty Rock, lauded member of the international reggae supergroup Easy Star All-Stars, brings her own soulful, earthy reggae sound to life in the official video release of “Light It Up”. The music video — filmed in a literal secret cave in the lush Green Mountains of Vermont — was a collaboration between co-producer and composer […]

A chat with international reggae sensation, Dub Inc.

French reggae band Dub Inc. stole the show in Solana Beach Sunday night at the Belly Up Tavern, opening for Mike Love and his backing band, The Full Circle. This was the last night in California for the seven-piece, after a full tour of California beginning in Monterey at Cali Roots on Memorial Day Weekend. […]

Dry Diggings drops second reveal for 2022

“One of my favorites, ever!” That’s what I tell anyone that asks me about Dry Diggings, an easygoing backyard vibe of a festival held in the tree-shaded grass of the aptly named Grass Valley Fairgrounds in Nevada County, CA. The lineup blends classic roots and culture with a healthy dose of west coast reggae and […]

An interview with Amy Sheehan of California Roots

Join us as Top Shelf Music journalist Allie Adams interviews Amy Sheehan, Operations Manager for California Roots Music and Arts Festival 2022. Amy has been a pivotal part of the festival’s growth towards becoming the FIRST green-certified festival in California. In this interview, Allie focuses on the festival’s green initiatives and why that is so […]

Treehouse! releases “Grave Situation”, feat. Mellodose

What’s a good phrase to describe the current state of the world? TreeHouse! and Mellodose would say “Grave Situation” — the namesake of their new collaborative single. An anti-war anthem with a timely message, delivered in familiar dub stylee, “Grave Situation” highlights the existential plight of humanity and the ever-churning war machine that rules the […]

Cali Roots presents 5th Annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival

Summer is heating up in South Lake! California Roots has partnered with Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Lake Tahoe to bring you a reggae lineup of straight fire to the famed venue on the water. Pan-reggae heavy-hitters Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, SOJA, Tribal Seeds and Common Kings join forces with hometown-and-beyond favorites Fortunate Youth, Artikal […]

Mighty Mystic makes colossal waves with ‘Giant’ album

Do you take your roots with a side of riffs? Paired with a soulful piano ballad? Dished up with 90s R&B basslines? The Massachusetts-bred, Jamaican-born Mighty Mystic delivers his “Hard Roots” version of reggae: a musical cornucopia in which he seamlessly joins roots reggae and timeless themes with more modern, mainstream sounds and lyrics.  Songs […]

In memoriam of Andy J. Chaves, beloved artist gone too soon

Andy J. Chaves, the dynamic and ever-unique founding member of Tempe, AZ-based indie/alternative band Katastro, has died at 32. Known for his hard-hitting verses, overflowing charisma and spectacular style (in both fashion and overall swagger), the untraditional vocalist always marched to the beat of his own drum. The very drum that fellow band member and […]

15 songs to countdown Cali Roots 2022

The countdown has officially begun! Who’s been listening to the Cali Roots playlist and getting ready for Memorial Day Weekend in Monterey? I know I’ve been planning outfits, checking the lineup, looking at photos from years’ past, getting hyped about seeing everyone’s faces and doing it all while listening to the official California Roots playlist […]