Reggae On The River Comes To State Bridge

Roots River Reggae Festival
Friday, June 24 – Sunday June 26
Featuring Stephen Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Jus Goodie and others
State Bridge Riverside Amphitheater, 127 Trough Road, Bond, CO

Tickets:
Full Weekend – $69
Friday – $33
Saturday – $10
Sunday – $29
PURCHASE HERE

State Bridge might not be on the beach, but as far as Colorado goes, it’s kind of the same idea.

With three full days of music, The State Bridge Riverside Amphitheater is pleased to announce the lineup for the first annual Roots River Reggae Festival, taking place June 24-26 (next weekend).

“Reggae music has been the biggest influence on me,” said the festival’s promoter, Scotty Stoughton.  Having a reggae festival on the calendar was a top priority when we got into booking shows for the summer. And Stephen Marley and Toots and the Maytals are some of the premier reggae artists worldwide. Reggae music carries such deep and powerful messages that are often a call to action and a reminder for peace. The music is timeless and poetic with power and integrity — tough to find on today’s scene.”

The second son of Bob and Rita, Stephen Marley was born in 1972. He began his career as a precocious six-year old singing, dancing and playing percussion with his siblings in the group The Melody Makers, whose first single “Children Playing In The Streets” was produced by their father in 1979.

Just like his older brother Ziggy, Stephen acquired his initial studio skills by watching his father. While still a teenager he assisted in the production of The Melody Makers’ albums.

While Stephen has built a formidable reputation handily navigating between genres, his second album, due for release in 2011, marks a return to roots reggae because “that is just the way the songs came out of me,” Marley said.

“Having to tour and having been out there for the past three years, I have been writing a lot of new material and, to me and to the people around me, this album is very strong, with some very strong political songs,” he said.

Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are considered legends of ska and reggae music. Their sound is a unique, original combination of gospel, ska, soul, reggae and rock.

Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leader of the group, was born in May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1961 at the tender age of sixteen. He received Grammy nomination for his 2008 release “Light Your Light” and in recent years has toured with The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow and Los Lonely Boys.

Justin Goodman (Jus Goodie) is a multi talented artist, combining the elements of vintage reggae, motown soul music and classic R&B. His material is rooted in the spiritual message of liberation, a crucial component of the vibrant reggae scene worldwide.

Jus Goodie grew up in a Jewish household surrounded by Hebrew music. This, along with a life-changing trip to Jamaica at the age of 14, helped to evolve his original reggae, R&B style. Jus Goodie has toured extensively in the U.S. as a headline act, but he has also shared the stage with the likes of Gregory Isaccs, Eek-A-Mouse, Sizzla, Capleton, Culture, Damian Marley, Burning Spear and Matisyahu.

2011 ROOTS RIVER REGGAE FESTIVAL LINEUP

Friday
STEPHEN MARLEY
GHETTO YOUTH CREW
DJ WEEZLE

Saturday
JUS GOODIE
LION DUB
DJ JAH STONE

Sunday
TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS
DUBSKIN
DUBTRONIC KRU