Bob Marley Birthday Celebration Feb 6
Saturday, February 6th At the Eagle’s Lodge ballroom. Doors at 9 pm, music at 10 pm. 21+. Tickets in advance: $20. At the door: they are $25.
The Congos:
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy Johnsonand, Cedric Myton, later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett and have been active from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "scratch" Perry, as well as their rapturous live shows.
Myton formed the Congos, initially as a duo with Johnson, recording the single "At the Feast" for Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry expanded the group to a trio with the addition of Burnett, this line-up recorded the classic roots reggae album Heart of the Congos in 1977 at Perry's Black Ark Studio. The album featured illustrious backing singers such as Gregory Isaacs, The Meditations, and Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan of the Heptones. The album has been described as "the most consistently brilliant album of Scratch's entire career".
Mighty Diamonds:
The Mighty Diamonds — Lloyd “Judge” Ferguson, Fitzroy ”Bunny” Simpson and Donald “Tabby” Shaw formed in 1969 in the Trenchtown area of Kingston, Jamaica. They are the most consistent and long-running vocal trio in Jamaican musical history and for the past 46 years have been entertaining and educating the world with their sweet harmonies and conscious lyrics.
With their soulful harmonies and polished performances, they quickly became known as the young group with the Motown sound. Their first recordings at Dynamic Sounds eventually led them to their classic hit "Shame and Pride" in 1973. Their first hit singles “Country Living” and “Hey Girl” were recorded on the Channel One label. After touring the US with Toots and the Maytals, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1975 and recorded four albums. Their debut album “Right Time”— produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, become a classic with generated hits such as "Africa," "Have Mercy", "Natural Natty", "Them Never Love Poor Marcus" and the reggae party album, "Pass the Kutchie," which has been sampled by everyone from Lauryn Hill to Michael Franti to Wyclef Jean.
By 1982, “Pass the Kutchie" from the album 'Changes' had become an international hit and has since been covered by Musical Youth, whose version "Pass the Dutchie" has also been a hit all over the world.
Judge, Bunny and Tabby have produced over 40 albums in their long career. The trio has toured the world extensively and has a strong following in Europe and Japan as well as in the US. In Jamaica they are forever loved.
On stage antics of the Mighty Diamonds are reminiscent of the Four Tops with their animated hand gestures and energetic footwork. Favorites of the dance hall crowd, roots or progressive audiences.
King Hopeton:
King Hopeton (Horace Campbell) was born March 25th on the beautiful island of St Ann, Jamaica West Indies. He started playing music at the age of 4 after watching an old woman on a piano playing “Come Back Charlie”, a classical piece. After she got up, he sat down and started playing the same piece of music as though he had played it before. When the lady came back and saw him playing she immediately started to teach him, and from that day all became history. His love for music was born in that moment and he has continued playing piano since. His unique style is directly influenced by classical music and reggae roots where his work embodies elements of jazz, rhythm and blues, ska, gospel, alternative, rock, Irish and pop music. In addition to playing the piano, he also is multitalented playing the drums, acoustic, electric and bass guitar, and the organ.
At the age of 7, King, as everyone one now calls him, received his first standing ovation and from all the love he felt in that moment he decided “it’s only music for me”. During his teen years King joined the multi award winning “United Force Band”, who received awards from the Jamaican Federation of Musicians as “best show band” for four consecutive years. He then toured locally and internationally which increased his experience in a world of music and entertainment.
Thursday, February 25th M.O.T.H. and Digital Beat Down are at the Filling Station. Doors at 9 pm, music at 10 pm. 21+. Tickets just $7 at the door!
M.O.T.H:
Moth is a powerhouse electro jam band. Inspired by the danceability of dj music & the musicianship of jam bands they bring to mind a mixture of Daft Punk and Umphrey's McGhee. They have been a staple and a leader in the Montana jam band scene.
Digital Beat Down:
Digital Beat Down is a live electronica duo that fuses synthetic textures and organic instrumentation to create their infectious brand of “live electronic funk house.” Combining live and electronic percussion, multiple synthesizers, guitars and a loop pedal as the brain of the operation, the duo’s resulting sound is funky, warm, deep, bass forward and fresh. The distinctive feature of Digital Beat Down is their ability to draw on the ethos of the dj culture while still providing the intangible live band experience. They cross the sounds Four-on-the-Floor with the esoteric and psychedelic sounds of rock and roll, it’s like Jimi Hendrix stumbled in to the London’s Underground house scene and decided that he never wanted to leave.