Sept. 2 | Truckee River Regional Park | Truckee
This summer’s second edition of Truckee Reggae Fest brings a blend of classic and newer reggae acts to the banks of the Truckee River. The event, produced by Billy Drewitz of Late-Nite Productions, will be headlined by legendary Jamaican roots reggae group Black Uhuru.
Their lead singer Derrick “Duckie” Simpson is originally from the Jones Town neighborhood of Kingston where music was a constant part of daily life.
“My dad used to play a rhumba box,” he says. “He’d jam every weekend. He wasn’t a professional, but we listened to a lot of radio and I knew all the songs.”
The family later moved to the Waterhouse district where Simpson started playing music with other teenagers from the area. At one of their first gigs, they were discovered by Island Records. They started working with producers Sly and Robbie in 1979, which led to a string of hit records including “Sinsemilla,” “Red,” and “Chill Out.”
“Writing songs to me is what you see, it’s what you do,” says Simpson. “It’s how you think. You call it inspiration, but it’s a way of life.”
In 1984, Black Uhuru’s fourth release, “Anthem,” won the first Grammy award for Best Reggae Album.
“It’s just an award,” says Simpson. “For the rest of the world, singers do great with them. For reggae, it doesn’t do anything. When I was nominated for a Grammy, I had to buy a ticket [to the award show]. There’s no respect there, you know. But I can’t lose any sleep over it. That’s how reggae’s been treated from ever since.”
“Writing songs to me is what you see, it’s what you do,” says Simpson. “It’s how you think. You call it inspiration, but it’s a way of life.”
–Derrick “Duckie” Simpson
Simpson points out how contemporary reggae charts are now dominated by Southern California and Hawaiian rock-influenced acts like Stick Figure and Rebelution, more so than Jamaican artists.
“Reggae’s run by the white man,” says Simpson. “And, when I say ‘white man,’ I’m not talking about skin complexion. I mean everyone outside of Jamaica. It doesn’t bother me. Things don’t stay the same forever. Reggae was birthed in Jamaica, but Jamaica don’t do reggae anymore. It’s out of the hands of the people who originated it. In Jamaica, the youths are listening to dancehall and American music.”
Keeping the roots alive
In spite of changing tastes, another Jamaican artist set to perform at the festival in on a mission to keep roots music alive and well.
Rory “Yaadcore” Cha grew up in the small city of Mandeville, 90 miles west of Kingston. His father was a local DJ who owned a “sound system” called Love People International. In Jamaica, a sound system refers not only the audio equipment but also the MCs, sound engineers and DJs who work together to put on shows.
Cha soon fell in love with mixing records and started DJing at school parties. He adopted the stage name Yaadcore and established himself as a well-respected “selector” in the roots reggae circles, known for his special ability to spot talented young artists.
“Everything is vibrations,” he says. “Everything is frequency. This music is a music of consciousness, a music of Rastafari. It’s the music that really helped me to find myself as a person and taught me things that were never taught to me in school.”
On tour, Cha performs original music with a full band.
“Life is our main inspiration,” he says. “We talk about social commentary that we see happening. We talk about awareness. My music is really there to help people who are going through a tough time to believe in themselves, find the light or truth, inspire them and give them some positive energy to manifest what they want in their life.”
At the festival, Black Uhuru and Yaadcore will be joined by iconic Jamaican vocalist Prezident Brown, Northern California reggae singer Soulmedic, and several DJs including Squarefield Massive of Sacramento and OG the DJ of Oakland. South California dancehall artist Ras Rebel will serve as the event host.
