ROSEBURG REGGAE

A friend from Eugene called me and reminded me about a free reggae show in Roseburg, Oregon. I'd just seen this band in Mendocino the other day, and they were really good. Also, there's an incredible disc golf course in Roseburg called Whistler's Bend, right on the Umpqua River, so I decided to head up in the afternoon and play some disc golf and then go see this band...something I hadn't done, since, well, Saturday (see previous post below). The show featured Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass, in addition to some heavy hitter session musicians famous in the Jamaican reggae scene. Sly and Robbie are responsible for the creation of the reggae sound as we know it today. They've played on over 200,000 tracks, and were around in the heyday of Jamaican reggae with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

The show was part of the weekly free concert in the park series in Roseburg, right on the Umpqua River, and the majority of the audience had no idea who they were seeing. Just a bunch of rednecks out for a good time, they sat on the grass most of the show until the musicians, and myself, shouted at them to get up and dance. The camera angle/focus I used was to capture Sly Dunbar on drums, as there was no other vantage point from the front of the stage where he was visible.

TRIFECTA

Just got back from the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival yesterday. Most of my family was at a wedding in Wisconsin this past weekend, but I wasn't able to attend due to not knowing when my magazine deadline would be officially over. It was Friday afternoon and some friends said they were travelling down to Mendocino County in their '71 VW bus, and had room for one passenger. I packed all my stuff, and remembered their was supposed to be a disc golf course at a brewery near where the show was, so I grabbed my favorite discs just in case. When I got there I asked someone where the Anderson Valley Brewing Company was, and it was right across the street! So there I was, drinking organic microbrew, playing disc golf, and listening to Jamaicans play reggae music across the street. Truly a divine moment.