A green room chat with Ballyhoo!

Top Shelf Reggae had the opportunity to sit down with Ballyhoo!’s front man Howi Spangler during their 2014 Winter Brewhaha Tour with Passafire and Pacific Dub. The performance took place in The Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, CA on a Wednesday night in front of a packed house. For more information about Ballyhoo! […]

Zion I takes on San Diego, CA

SOL SOL SOL Parker & The Number man Parker & The Number man Parker & The Number man Parker & The Number man Parker & The Number man DJ MK Smith DJ MK Smith DJ MK Smith Oakland natives Zion I just recently concluded the 2013 Summer Good Vibes tour with Rebelution, Collie Buddz, New […]

The Movement: 2014 Winter Automatic Tour

Top Shelf Reggae caught up with The Movement on their 2014 Winter Automatic Tour with Iration, Micah Brown and Natty Vibes.  Petaluma, CA should be proud as well, as the crowd was extremely reactive to the three performances from that night, making it a great start to their two month tour. More information can found […]

Krooked Treez take on Livermore, CA

Set in a quaint little venue in the quite town of Livermore, California, Krooked Treez took the stage and totally blew the lid off. It has been an absolutely huge 2013 for the Southern California natives as they debuted their album Higher Place which received amazing feedback.  2014 is looking extremely well for them as […]

Jah Maoli – If I Ever (featuring J Boog)

The undeniably smooth Hawaiian Island reggae sounds never seems to get old.  This new track from JAH Maoli featuring J Boog titled “If I Ever” really reinforces the sentiment as the two very strong vocal treatments compliment each other in this extremely well done track. Released in mid January under the fine folks of EKM […]

The Simpkin Project: In Roots We Trust tour

Top Shelf Reggae caught up with The Simpkin Project just in the middle of their In Roots We Trust with The Expanders and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad.  The Wednesday night San Francisco stop held a packed house with many on their feet dancing up a storm. Amazing performance from an amazing band.

The Musician’s playlist: Volume 1

Music for many of us, holds a special power to move us mentally and spiritually.  Music is also an outlet for many—it is something familiar and comforting. Anyone who has wiped a tear from their eyes from their most favorite song will know undoubtedly the power of the combination of instruments complemented by soul riveting […]

On location with The Expanders: In Roots We Trust

The Expanders put up an amazing performance at a packed house on a Wednesday night in San Francisco on their In Roots We Trust 2014 tour with Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and The Simpkin Project.  All three performances were seamless and extremely well done, which got the crowd going non-stop throughout the entire night.

SOJA 2014 East Coast tour dates announced

Just a month after their South American tour with legendary rock stars Dave Matthews and Incubus, SOJA has announced that they will be hitting the road once again back home in the United States; this time around cruising and performing for the fans in the East Coast. The tour kicks off March 27, 2014 in […]

“Cali Green” official music video from Mighty Mystic

The second single off the Concrete World album set to drop this month from Mighty Mystic gets its official music video just before the album release. The track titled “Cali Green” is a solidly produced, slow tempo, head bobbing track that pays homage to, well, you guessed it, “Cali’s green.” Mighty Mystic has turned himself […]

Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad: In Roots We Trust tour

Top Shelf Reggae caught up with New York based Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at Slim's in San Francisco to snap a few photos of the quintet on stop number six of their eight city West Coast tour. The In Roots We Trust 2014 tour includes GPGDS, with support from The Expanders and The Simpkin […]

An exclusive interview with The Expanders

Out of Los Angeles, California comes The Expanders with their fully-inspired, Jamaican-style reggae music! The Expanders may not appear like your usual roots-reggae band; yet, this band has more roots from Jamaican-style music than we have seen or heard right now! With backup vocals setting the tone just right for a roots-reggae rendition, The Expanders […]

Arise Roots “Cool Me Down” music video featuring Hirie

Arise Roots, rising out of Los Angeles, Californa and known for their unique roots reggae sound just released an official music video for their single “Cool Me Down” featuring the beautiful rising reggae star Hirie. Arise Roots released their first full studio album February of 2013 titled Move Forward and has since shared the stage […]

“Cali Green Mix” by Mighty Mystic

VP Records, the geniuses behind the Dub Rockers Compilation released in August of 2013, just published an amazing mix to their SoundCloud featuring many hard hitting acts like John Brown's Body, J Boog, Mighty Mystic, SOJA, and the list seemingly goes on and on.  The mix spans nearly an hour and a half, so crank […]

Giant Panda watch

On January 17, 2014, Top Shelf Reggae got to visit Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at the Belly Up in San Diego, California. Yeah, there name is a mouthful, and so is their music! Mixing ska-reggae with psychedelic rock, this New York band from Rochester brought their East Coast accent to their West Coast tour. […]