Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Driving across the country with a reggae band was always an adventure. Imagine 4 smoked up rastas ( plus me ) crusing across the United States… no wives, no girlfriends…. just 10 cities to visit, play music and explore.

… Now you’re getting the picture.

Jamming with Rising Lion was especially fun, because Danny Dread was a cool and funny guy.  I still have contact with him to this day, and he should be releasing a new single very soon.

Here is a clip of Danny in action.

We were cruising through the Arizona desert and were running out of gas. If you’ve ever been in the middle of nowhere on those hot desert highways, you’ll know that you never EVER want to run out of gas.

We pulled into a gas station/restaurant that looked like something from a Stephen King movie.  It was old and creepy. Tumbleweeds bounced down the street and the air was extremely hot and oppressive.

As we jumped out of the van, I knew it was going to be a weird experience. Not only have these people perhaps never seen a black person in their lives, but there is no way in hell they ever saw 5 at once, most of whom had dreadlocks down to their ankles.

We walked into a room full of people who were all eating and talking with each other. But as soon as we entered the building I saw astonishment mixed with fear mixed with hate spread across everyone’s faces.

What was a a loud and busy room immediately grew silent…. the record scratched off the turntable.

I cant explain fully the amount of awkwardness I felt as we walked up to pay for the gas, but those few moments felt like hours. I had no idea what was going to happen, but the fear was certainly there.

We quickly paid for our gas and got the hell out of dodge. You should have seen the dust fly as we screached out of the parking lot.

Although nothing did happen … something could have.

…whew

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.

Most of of the bands I’ve been a part of were made up of some pretty cool dudes. To this day, I keep in touch with a lot of the guys from back west, and consider them good friends.

But as with any situation, there is always going to be an asshole.

If you are reading this and are a dude…don’t ever be THAT guy.

Nigerian Coat of Arms

I did a mini tour with a guy by the name of Victor Essiet. And he would prove to be one of the biggest punk-asses I ever knew.

Victor was really big in Nigeria. His band was called Victor Essiet and the Mandators, and they had a pretty good run as a reggae/world beat band for a while.

We were doing a little tour of Texas and we all basically were crammed in to one van.  It was myself, three other guys from San Diego, Victor and his girlfriend who he just had to bring along. (yeah, I know)

I think we were in Dallas, but for the first couple of days, Victor and his girlfriend would have these little argument skirmishes here and there.  It was annoying, but we dealt with it.  After all, we were there to get paid and go home.

We were in Dallas, parked at a gas station, and I was half asleep. Of course, Victor and his girlfriend started arguing again, which was getting commonplace now.

But something startled me, and was not typical of their other arguments.

I was half sleeping in the back seat when I hear the sound of a wet brick hitting a slab of meat… CRACKAP!

…oh snap,  someone just got punched in the head.  I know that sound all too well.

I woke up to see him punch her in the face and then he dragged her out of the car.

So we, the band, surrounded him and gave him little talking to, which was basically…

“If you hit her again, we are hitting you, taking your van, as well as your girlfriend and leaving YOU here…in Texas.”

It’s amazing what a little coaxing will do.

I don’t believe in apparitions, ghosts, demons or any of the little nasties that are used by snake oil salesmen to scare us into following their twisted ways of thinking… Sorry, without people to scare to death, these men would be quite powerless.

Some of these superstitions are pure insanity:

Here are some beauties:

• Aliens are actually demons in disguise
• Black people are devils
• White people are devils
• Jews eat children (yes…EAT children)
• Russians eat their own young ( yes, someone actually told me this once )
• ( And my favorite! ) Mickey Mouse must be executed…rofl

Yes, people, you have heard it right….Mickey Mouse must die.

These are all very entertaining examples of how paranoid the human mind can be.

I’ll never forget the time I was traveling with Ishmael in Denver, Colorado. Our hotel was in a shady part of town, and we were packing up in the morning to drive to the next town.

As we stood in the parking lot, my companion Bunny Mystic was talking to me when we saw a woman walking in the parking lot towards us.

Well, “walking” doesn’t quite describe it. She was shambling towards us. Her uneven ‘fro had traces of what looked like straw and cardboard in it. And she had the most nasty cracked white lips.

It was a zombie.

“Ronnie,” Bunny whispered to me, “It’s a duppy..”. Bunny looked kinda scared, and I knew what a duppy was because he told me a few nights before.

At this point, I was getting a little scared.

We went around the other side of the van to lose sight of her.  Waited a few moments…Then as we came around the other side, she was already in the balcony above us!

As she stared down at us, we freaked out, hopped in the van, and drove off like two hungover bats outta hell.

Now I ask you….  Did we indeed see a duppy?  Or were our minds ( freshly tainted with ghost stories ) fill in all the horrific blanks for us?

Whatever the case, it was funny as hell.

I  had the honor to play with many different bands when I lived out west. For some reason, a lot of opportunities came my way when I was out there.

We did some pretty extensive touring. And I have seen a pretty decent amount of this planet.

Here are some of the bands I have played with:

• Ishmael and the Peacemakers
• Creed ( reggae band )
• Jah Soldiers
• Tippa Iri
• Trevor James and the Dreadcats
• Peter Huningale
• Sister Nancy
• Pinchers
• Big Mountain
• Adrian and the Sunburns
• Ras Shiloh
• Crucial
• Rising Lion
• Victor Essiet and the Mandators
• Citizen X
• Quino and Friends

The adventures I have been through with some of these bands have been incredible.  Just looking at this list brings back a wash of crazy memories.

But my best music and bands are still to come.  I hope you all come out to see me with my new project, when it gets off the ground.

I will keep you updated…