Rasta Ron Givens

One day, a co-worker of mine, Amanda, asked me how I was doing.

“Irie!” I replied…

“What the…?” was her answer….

…and the convo rolled on about about the meaning of the word irie.

I forgot that many people don’t know what irie meant, so I figured I would take a few moments to explain this cool little word to ya.

Irie ( pronounced EYE-ree ), is a state of mind. It’s a state where everything is at peace within, and your mind is full of joy.

No wonder, when someone smokes ganja, they say they feel irie.

Irie, is a jamaican/patois word, that can mean a lot of things, but it’s always something very positive and respectful.

Check out urban dictionaries many different meanings for irie.

I think my life was as it’s most irie, when I was living inn San Diego, playing reggae drums and living in a little beach town. I was playing with Ishmael and the Peacemakers, and the album we were promoting was called, “Feel ‘N Irie”.  <— take a listen to the first track, and you will begin to understand the wonders of irieness.

I hope you have an irie day.

Peace!

I have said in the past that combining reggae with other forms of music is my holy grail. I have done it before to varying degrees of success, but I have not yet gotten my vision completely fulfilled.

A bass player I know by the name of Marc Greenstein of HEAD recently turned me on to a band that has certainly fulfilled their vision, and their name is Skindred.

Now a lot of reggae purists, or people who simply don’t like heavier forms of music will not like this band at all, but I DO

I grew up listening to all types of music, so I always like to hear ( and play ) hybrid forms of reggae.

When I heard and saw these guys, I must say, I was definitely blown away!

Tell me what you think!

I loved traveling across the states with different bands. There was always something new to see, someone new to meet, and great vibes to spread.

Because we were to close to Colorado, a lot of bands I played with from California would do mini tours into the mountains and across that enormous state. It was always a gas, and the breathtaking beauty and size of the Rockies was always a source of spiritual refreshment.

It was a cold December evening, and I was the assigned driver for Ishmael and the Peacemakers. We usually drive in four hour shifts or so, and it was my turn.

We were running a couple of hours behind schedule and we were quickly approaching a very big mountain. Here was our dilemma:

• If we took the main highway around the mountain, it would take us 4 hours or so.
• If we took the pas that went UP and over the mountain, it would take us about 2.
• We were LATE.

After a vote, we decided to take the pass… how bad could it be, right?

We started up the side of the mountain, and most of the band started falling asleep.  It was just me and the Israel Vibration Dub album that I loved so much. This is a seriously deep and hypnotic album, with no vocals. There is something quite magical and ethereal about it – I can’t really explain.

After about 20 minutes or so, it pleasantly began to snow.  This was beautiful, of course, and since we were in the Rockies, it was to be expected. Everyone was asleep by now and the snow was very light.

About 15 minutes later, the snow thickened considerably and a funny thought crossed my mind… what if it keeps snowing and we get stuck on this mountain?  There is nothing for miles around and nobody uses this road….hahahaha…. we could freeze to death….hahahaha….gulp…  I drove on with Israel slowly churning in the background.

I decided to finally slow the van to a stop and assess what the road felt like. Everyone still asleep, I crept out of the van and walked out into the snow.  My foot sank into the powder immediately, and I could see that about an inch and a half had already accumulated and was a clean blanket across the entire road. This was not cool.

I then looked to my left and there was nothing but pine trees going almost straight up as far as I could see.  I then walked to the right of the van and it was a sheer drop into complete blackness… with no guardrail.  Things were getting very bad, very quickly. We were now in a blizzard.

Shaking, I got back into the van and decided to just drive…. I drove through almost no visibility as the white rain continued to buffet and shake the van. I hadn’t seen another vehicle on the road for hours.

I was sweating and praying the entire time. The only thing that kept me centered was Israel Vibration reassuring chants in my ears.

I drove for what seemed an eternity, not knowing if we would live through the storm…

The next thing I remember is stepping out of the van into the most beautiful and clear night I have ever seen. There were thousands of brilliant stars in the sky. And best of all, we weren’t dead.

We apparently passed completely through the storm and made it to the other side of the enormous mountain. The guys in the van had no idea how close to death we had come, and that Israel Vibration and JAH had kept our ship steady.

Besides having a sweet name, the Roots Radics band is a talented unit that not many people know about.

In 1997, I was playing a gig in San Diego with Jah Soldiers. We were opening for Israel Vibration, and took the stage before the main show. After we played our set, we went backstage, then went out into the audience.

A roots band came out and blew me away with this song.

They then proceeded to rule the night with some great riddims.

Although you may have never heard of them, the Roots Radics are well known in the reggae community. Take some time to check them out!

You can learn more about the Roots Radics:

• Roots Radics Wiki
• Roots Radics on Myspace
• Many Roots Radics Videos
• Roots Radics Roots Archive
• Roots Radics Discography
  

Israel Vibration Looks up at JAH

There is something powerful about the Stepper riddim. It really gets the blood pumping and your feet moving.

The Stepper is unique to reggae and is driven by the heavy four “steps” that the drummer plays on the kick drum. The right hand can play either cross sticks on the snare or hit the drum itself. no biggie, but you gotta keep those “steps” on the kick drum steady, and of course your hi-hat rockin’ on the upbeats.

As seen by this cool Black Uhuru video, the Stepper really gets people up and moving.

Now THIS is what live reggae should sound like.

Also, as mentioned in my post “Does the World Love Reggae?”, take notice that they are in Germany! And they are grooving hard, son!

What’s cool about dis riddim is that it can sound really modern and less “islandy”, because just because you are playing reggae, you don’t have to sound like Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Band.

You can hit with some balls.

In a little bit, I will post some more stepper beats for ya!

-Peace

Update:
I found a near perfectly played stepper by this gentlemman. Notice the four beats on the floor