I'm back because it's time to get ready for Garden City Grooves.

I haven’t been around here much. It’s been a busy summer. There has been a lot of music to check out and discover and good times to be had. Fuck, I don’t need to explain myself to you! Ahem…The rain has come back to Victoria, probably closer to the “Summer’s-gone-for-good” kind of rain. It is time to wind down. But not really, because we still have this…

Even in the sea of exhaustion and near concert-burnout I can’t help but get excited for this. LAST YEAR WAS SO MUCH FUN. But it can be hard to get it up for a roster of acts so obscure that you might consider yourself lucky to know even one of them. See, the fine folks behind Garden City Grooves are, like myself, gigantic music nerds. They read liner notes to see who played what on a given track. They track releases by small labels they trust. Etc, etc…We know these definitions, yes? I can move on? Good.

I’ve come back out of hibernation to help you get ready for three super-duper groovy nights in my lovely home base of Victoria. Really, I’m just letting you see me get myself ready because until a few weeks ago I only knew a couple of the acts on here.  

DUTCH ROBINSON (of the Ohio Players)

Sometimes I get leery when I see a member of a once prominent band on a marquee with their former band name anywhere near. It reeks of has-been. BUT THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO SOUL MUSICIANS. Soul is just too timeless and all that. And come on, The Ohio Players! That’s some legendary shit right there.

Brother ain’t resting on his laurels either and is producing and releasing his own stuff. Though the site that’s supposed to host the album for sale, www.downloaddutch.com has not been down for at least the last couple of weeks as of this writing.

I don’t know what you’d call this…it’s kind of adult contemporary jazz, but it’s most definitely soul, not much funk on this one. Let’s just call it CLASS. Dude lives in Vancouver (After spending 20 years on the East Coast) and this will be his first time in Victoria. Pretty stoked on this one.

Kárà-Kátà

I don’t know much about afro-beat music. I mean, I know Féla because I’m a human being that likes music. I know Ali Farka Touré because I have a friend who was fairly obsessed with him at some point. I really love Paul Simon’s Graceland. Apart from that my knowledge is essentially non-existent. But it’s undeniably fun, groovy stuff. Some of the best dancing I’ve ever had is to afro-beat groups I could never in a million years name for you. Again, I know nothing of these cats but if you’re looking for something to get loose to, I can’t imagine going wrong with this.

The Steadies

How in the fuck does reggae music have any influence in Saskatchewan!? It makes no sense to me at all, but this is pretty sweet stuff. It’s slick and funky and sugary and seems like a pretty awesome way to start out this festival’s opening night. This just keeps getting crazier…Earl Periera of Wide Mouth Mason is the bass player and singer in this band. This is blowing my mind!! I like a band that puts in miles and according to their bio they play over 100 shows a year. This is shaping up to be something to get excited about.

Downtown Mischief is a very large group of local cats who I have no beef with. I saw them at Ska Fest and they were pretty fun. The everything-but-the-kitchen sink approach is something I fluctuate pretty wildly with. There’s an undeniable energy about these guys though and it’s pretty hard not to want to dance at least a little bit.

I wish I had a lot more information to give you, dear music lovers, but alas, I do not. All I can do is remind you that this is a festival run by people who genuinely love music and want to bring you sounds that make your rump shake and your soul feel good.  I'll be moving my ass and you should be too!

Get a FULL FESTIVAL PASS FOR ONLY $33.33 at gardencitygrooves.com

Something new for your ears - Clinton Fearon's "Goodness"

I pride myself on following a variety of genres and I dig musicians who experiment outside of their comfort zones. But I really dig and have an intense appreciation of my fellow music fans who dedicate themselves to one aesthetic or sound and know a ton about it or the musicians who do what they do, honing their craft, taking their time to create something beautiful and undiscovered in an already established framework. (I know that sentence was a long and maybe hard to follow, but please bear with me.) The artists that manage to do this consistently throughout their careers are few and far between. Even more rare is the reggae artist that manages this feat, as reggae is one of the most rigidly defined genres around and can sometimes hamper an artist's ability to sound fresh. With Goodness, the powerful Clinton Fearon - he of reggae legends The Gladiators - has proven himself to be among those few artists that continue to create music that sounds both old and new, that is at once familiar and invigorating.

Reggae historian and guy who changed the path of my writing, Roger Steffens said to me that reggae music is "the sound of the beating human heart at rest." It is music born out of struggle and pain, but rather than just reflect that pain reggae seeks to flip it upside down and destroy it. From darkness comes light. From the opening notes of "Blame Game" it's clear that Fearon is a protector of the light, of the good roots of well, roots reggae. When Fearon sings "Don't get stuck in the road, stuck in the road/Playing the Blame Game, that dirty old game," it is the sound of man with wisdom to impart. The result of a life lived thoroughly. Lyrically, Goodness is full of wisdom - each little bit delivered with the love and compassion of a loving grandfather. (Surely Fearon must be a frontrunner for World's Coolest Grandpa, if he has grandkids, of course. I can't confirm or deny this at the time of writing.) Even obvious tidbits of wisdom like "When you're feeling sad, talk with a friend" ("Talk With A Friend") come across like much-needed reminders to take warmth and love from the people and things right nearest to you. Like Fearon singing on the title track "Goodness, goodness, goodness, rising up slow...," this music doesn't need to move along at a frenetic pace to do what it needs to do.

But let's not forget, as it is music from born of struggle, reggae can't exist in any meaningful way if it doesn't address problems directly from time to time and the moments when Fearon does turn his eye to more social worldview are some of the most arresting here. The tale of poverty and subservience "Poor Nana" slinks along through the drudgery of unglamourous of unpaid labour. When Fearon sings "United we stand, divided we fall/Why can't we understand that life is for one and all?" his voice is wrought with both frustration and hope. "Come By Yah," is unwavering in its anti-power stance, even as it breezes along at a hopelessly breezy pace with Fearon strong in his peaceful resolve in the face of tyranny, "The people that in are control they seem to have no soul/To hold and keep them power they treat us way too cold/But we won't loose our mind, we won't be unkind/Dem a go run run run..."

Even with the tastily, simple, relatable lyrics, the music is the star here. Fearon wrote, composed and produced the record himself and Goodness sparkles for it. Fearon is a master craftsman, not jumping on trends and shifts in style but rather honing and perfecting his traditional music. The production is clean, with crisp drums holding the beat, walking basslines strolling all around the place and windy-guitar licks adding radiant splashes of colour. (Check out the liquidy guitar work on the burner, "The Hunter.") Fearon is proof that mastery is as important as experimentation, and that the best artists solidify the best parts of themselves as they age.  

BUY GOODNESS AND CHECK OUT CLINTON FEARON'S TOUR SCHEDULE HERE!