Well folks, this Saturday is the night we’ve been looking forward to! We will be at The Ashkenaz in Berkeley, Ca. (See Link Below) performing Lovers Rock (See Link Below), Reggae and even some Rock Steady & Ska all in a romantic lovers style in celebration of Valentine’s Day! We will be sharing the bill with local Bay Area Reggae band, Creation. So, come on down with your dane partner, your husband, your wife, your lover, your mistress, or whoever you wanna rub-a-dub (Check Link Below) the night away with and join us for a night of sweet and soulful Lovers Reggae music!

Check Out Ashkenaz

Check Out Lovers Rock

Check Out Rub-A-Dub

We’re very excited about our upcoming show at The Ashkenaz in Berkeley (See Link Below) on Saturday, Febuary 11th (See Link Below). It has been a dream to do such a show for a long time now, being that we’ve always loved the romantic side of Reggae music. This will be a special night for fans of Lovers Rock (See Link Below) This will be a night for couples to come and Rub-A-Dub the night away! In other words, “strictly for lovers” as I would say! We will be featuring songs from our latest CD release “Manifestation” as well as a few tunes from our upcoming CD. And of course we will be singing and performing our favorite classic Rock Steady tunes by some of our Jamaican heroes. So, bring your partner or lover and rock it steady all night long!

Check Out Ashkenaz

Check Out Lovers Rock

Our show at Cafe Randevu (see link below) on Sunday January 8th was well attended and extremely well recieved by the audience. We were a bit apprehensive as it was the beginning of a bi-weekly Sunday residency, but we were more than pleasantly suprised. We will be appearing again this coming Sunday, January 22nd. We perfrom from 6-9 P.M. as usual. Come out once again for a Reggae and Rock Steady Dance Party with a whole lotta Soul!

Check Out Cafe Randevu in Oakland, Ca.

This Sunday, January 8th we will begin performing a bi weekly residency at the Cafe Randevu in Oakland, Ca. located at 2430 Broadway (see links below). From 6-9 P.M. we will be performing songs off of our latest CD, “Manifestation” as well as a whole heap of our favorite Rock Steady classics by the likes of Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Slim Smith, Ken Boothe and many more of our musical heroes (see links below). Come join us for some roots Reggae and sweet Rock Steady. It’s gonna be soulful dance party. Don’t miss it, but if you do, it will be happening again on Sunday, January 22nd and every other Sunday afterwards!

Check out Cafe Randevu in Oakland, Ca.

Learn about Rock Steady

Check out Ken Boothe’s music on Amazon

Check out Delroy Wilson’s music on Amazon

Check out Slim Smith’s music on Amazon

Learn about Alton Ellis

If I had to choose a favorite singer in any genre, it would have to be the great Jamaican singer, Alton Ellis. Alton’s music forever changed the course of my life and musical career. When I first heard Alton’s voice, it stirred emotions within me I didn’t even know existed! He! He! His voice and style was a sweet and soulful approach but he could also transition into gritty tones and phrases. He possesed a great natural talent to write and craft original songs but many believe his real gift was his ability to take a Soul or Pop song and make it his own. Just a few examples would be Alton’s version of the Tyrone Davis soul classic “Can I Change My Mind”, The Delfonics’ “La La Means I Love You”, The Beatles’ “And I Love Her”, Johnnie Taylor’s “Ain’t That Loving You” and so many more. But if there is one song that Alton covered that will forever be remembered as truly his own, it would be Chuck Jackson’s “Willow Tree”. Alton injected so much soul and irresistable vulnerability into his vocal performance on this tune til he just knocked it right out of the park. He cut it many times over for many labels and producers but the origianl version he did for legendary producer Duke Reid at Treasure Isle is one of the most enduring melody’s to ever come out of the little island in the sun! Fortunately, much of Alton’s music is available on Amazon, I-Tunes, E-Music, etc (see links below) and one can hear and see countless youtube footage of the legend himself. We lost Alton to cancer in 2008. It was a huge blow to the music world, the reggae community, and Jamaica of course. Alton’s music has made so many people throughout the world happy and his voice and music live on forever.  I think it’s safe to say alot of babies have been made from men and women listening to the romantic stylings of Alton’s voice! He! He! I will be writing more about Alton here in the near future. Stay tuned for my story of first seeing him perform live and what a revelation it was for me. I’ll also soon post a story about the one time I met my hero and was blessed to reason with him briefly.

Check out the Reggae and Rock Steady of Alton Ellis on Amazon

Check out the Reggae and Rock Steady of Alton Ellis on iTunes

Check out the Reggae and Rock Steady of Alton Ellis on eMusic

Rusty’s version of the classic “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” has hit 600,00 views and still counting!!

Rusty’s new record “Manifestation” is available from 9 Above Records – check it out.