JAMAICA

Over the past 10 years, the band has made multiple trips to the reggae-heartland. The trip is a great opportunity to soak up all the changing trends in Jamaican music and a time to let off a little steam from a long year of work. It's also been a great promotional tool. In general, anybody who's anybody in reggae has made a name for themselves in Jamaica...whether you're a Jamaican or foreign reggae artist, you've got to go to the source. Furthermore, the trip exposes the band to people from all over the world who go to Negril for vacation.

While some of the band members have been going to Jamaica for years, the 1st trip as a band was in 1999. Armed with a few basic instruments packed with their luggage, the plan was to see if they could play a set with some of the local beach bands in Negril. The drummer at the time, King George, didn't make the trip, so they would have to borrow a drummer too. Naturally, the performances were a little rough around the edges, but they pulled it off and actually managed to make a little splash in the local reggae scene. In addition to a few originals, the band mixed their set with some choice reggae classics that got more than a few "wheel and come again's" from the yardies. They were loving Scott's voice. Prepared from having played in front of some tough Jamaican audiences back in the States, the band was surprised at how warm the reception was...there were no egos or screwfaces, especially amongst the local musicians. That first trip was a real confidence boost, not a lot of foreign reggae bands make the Jamaican pilgrimage.

Each year, they built upon the foundation of the previous one...making more friends, spreading more merchandise and getting more gigs (and even paid, a little!). The Jamaicans loved the Jah Works' sticker and the band couldn't bring enough on any trip. Every cab driver or scooter seemed to have a Jah Works' sticker on it...West Jamaica is plastered with them. Eventually by the third and fourth trip, they were approached by the people of Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" about playing for their Spring Break parties. It was a major opportunity for the band to make the trip more affordable. Of course, playing Spring Break parties for all the college kids didn't compare to playing at the local joints, but the parties were fun and on the nights off, they'd arrange gigs at some of the reggae clubs up and down the beach...Alfred's Ocean Palace, Roots Bamboo, de Bus, and Risky Business.

Sadly, there were trips were not a single picture was taken. The follow is a random collection of pictures from various trips to the reggae heartland.