California Roots 2023: a true bucket list event

Music festivals are a big undertaking. For many, months of planning and budgeting goes into the experience. At times, there is stress, setbacks and logistical nightmares before even getting to the gates. And I’m not talking about the music festival itself. People travel from far and wide to attend such events and the premiere music […]

Korn stage manager Syrus Peters spills how to run a metal tour

I got to sit down with my friend Syrus Peters. Not only does this man kill it on the drums, he also has years of dedication in the music industry as a band manager, stage manager and a very talented musician. He resides in beautiful Cocoa Beach, Florida — the land of zen and waves. […]

Stick Figure sells out Santa Cruz’s Catalyst Club in 48 seconds

Wednesday, October 5th was a very special night in Santa Cruz, California when Stick Figure brought his album release show to the Catalyst Club to celebrate the latest studio album, Wisdom, released on September 9th, 2022. Typically, you can normally catch the Billboard chart-topping reggae sensation Stick Figure headlining festivals or touring extensively on larger stages. The […]

Cali Vibes lineup impresses even more for 2023

Goldenvoice is bringing Cali Vibes back to Long Beach, California! The three-day reggae festival graced Marina Green Park for the first time with a new name (changed from One Love Cali Reggae Fest) in February 2022 and will be returning again this February 17th through 19th, 2023. The SoCal music festival is one of the most […]

How The Elovaters levels up the reggae scene

Boston’s The Elovaters is a band that has been driven to conquer the music industry for over nine years now. Even during COVID, the listeners and fans grew exponentially — bringing the band to another level and readying them to get back to national touring. This band turns heads with their continuous flow of bangers […]

Dry Diggings Fest 2022: Day One

Labor Day Weekend spanned four days this year for those lucky enough to spend it camping at the Dry Diggings Music Festival in Grass Valley, California. Thanks, Jeff Monser! September 1st started with the arrival of campers ready to pitch tents and decorate campsites. Anticipation rose as quickly as the temperature that day! The excessive […]

DENM drops “Wild Trip” with Landon McNamara

DENM — SoCal’s favorite bad boy (and rad dad) — teams up with the son of the North Shore, Landon MaNamara, in the first collaboration from the Slum Beach Posse aptly named, “Wild Trip”, released via Ineffable Records on August 25th. The first of what is sure to be many, this group effort came to […]

Reggae Rise Up Vegas returns for Fall 2022

From the Reggae Rise Up camp comes the second of three yearly nationwide festival installments, this time at the downtown Las Vegas Events Center the second weekend in October. Last year’s Reggae Rise Up in St. Petersburg, FL hosted over 15,000 festival-goers, with numbers for the other two festivals expected to reach or surpass in […]

Reggae Rise Up Maryland 2022: Day Two

Some walked, some ran, others skipped, but no one missed Day Two of the first-ever Reggae Rise Up Festival in Baltimore, Maryland. For the second day in a row, festival-goers were lucky to experience 11 straight hours of feet-moving music. Gates swung open at noon with music starting an hour later, leaving ample time to […]

Slightly Stoopid concludes Summer Traditions Tour with hometown celebration

Labor Day Weekend has always traditionally symbolized the end of summer. To celebrate, Slightly Stoopid and friends brought the Summer Traditions Tour to a close in their hometown of San Diego. Amid an unprecedented southern California heat wave, fans braved the scorching sun to sing and dance with friends and family to the tunes of […]

Bikini Trill drops “F*cked Up” single & video, feat. BLESSED

Los Angeles’ own surf-pop / reggae outfit Bikini Trill has released a new self-produced single with Australian rapper BLESSED entitled “Fucked Up”, alongside an accompanying cartoon music video by animator SHOKKA. A nod to the complications of relationships, the animated video gives a colorful, visually stimulating peek into the intimacies of interacting with lovers (and […]

Shooting the sh*t with Sublime tribute band Badfish

I was fully stoked to have a sit-down with Joel Hanks of Badfish — a bassist extraordinaire who shares his story of his band and his brothers. And, when I say ‘brothers’, I mean Scott Begin on drums, Pat Downs on lead vocals and guitar, and Danny on horns.  This is their journey to (40 […]

Michael Franti’s stormy performance at Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

Bringing your kid to a concert on a school night is the coolest thing ever. Just ask Michael Franti and all the kids that got to jam out with their parents this at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, Florida the other night… They’d most likely tell you it was an experience of a lifetime. Though […]

Bumpin Uglies goes big with new ‘Mid-Atlantic Dub’ album

I’ll be honest: I freaked out a bit when Brandon Hardesty messaged me the other week, asking if I wanted to listen to their new album and write a review. I knew it would be amazing, but how the hell was I supposed to put their genre-defyingly awesome music into words that could actually do […]

Stick Figure drops much-needed ‘Wisdom’

It’s been no secret these past few months that the symbol for American reggae, Stick Figure, was coming out with a new album. Even though I covered a few of the singles myself, what I honestly wasn’t expecting was for this full feature-length masterpiece to absolutely blow me away. The 14-song album titled Wisdom — […]