Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The iconic reggae singer would have turned 68 on Wednesday.
This is part one in a two-part series. Nearly 32 years after his death, crowds are still packing concert venues to hear the music of Bob Marley. For Aston “Family Man” Barrett, bandleader and bassist for Bob Marley & The Wailers, the band’s lyrical messages are just as significant as they were in the Marley days. “It’s revelation time. Things [are] difficult at home and abroad, near and far,” Family Man, 66, said in his thick Jamaican accent after a recent show in Washington, D.C. “The world is in trouble.” Family Man, the godfather of reggae bass and the only original member still touring with The Wailers, came to The Howard Theatre in Washington on January 13 to perform Survival, one of the most poignant records in the Bob Marley & The …
Thursday, February 3, 2011
In honor of the late reggae icon, I offer a playlist of my favorite Bob Marley and The Wailers songs.
Bob Marley is an international icon, no doubt about it. I love that he is a household name and his music plays in restaurants, concerts venues and homes around the world. That being said, Bob Marley and The Wailers is one of those bands I enjoyed more and more as I explored its discography, something I wish all Marley fans would do. Hit songs like “Three Little Birds,” “No Woman, No Cry” and “Is This Love?” are all great songs, but barely scratch the surface of the lyrical and musical forces present. To this day, The Wailers tour with a variety of musicians from the Bob Marley days, including original bassist Aston “Familyman” Barrett. I spent a lot of time with the band when I was in college, going to every show in Maryland, Washington, D…
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I spill my guts about my first concert and discuss the albums and tours I'm pumped for in 2011.
Other than journalism, I live and breathe music. I have attended at least 262 live concerts and music festivals since Aug. 22, 1996. I have thrown and played in the headlining band at eight bi-annual music festivals since the first Rez Ball, a one-day outdoor festival my band, The Rez, started in April 2007. As a guitarist, I’ve performed hundreds of times and connected with more musicians than I can count. As a journalist, I’ve interviewed and photographed funklord George Clinton, Woodstock opener Richie Havens, reggae legends from The Wailers (Bob Marley’s band), the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, The Black Crowes and many more. Something must have hit me that night back in August 1996. As an 11-year-old who had been playing guitar …
Mike Andrion
2:01 pm on Saturday, January 29, 2011
There is a great blues festival in Hunt Valley in August also. more ›