Red Earth Clay + Dub

I feel blessed to be able to keep Alpha Roots’ vibe shining bright for the SoundCloud community to continue to enjoy. 

Alpha Roots sent me these reggae bass and rhythm guitar stem a long time ago, maybe even three years ago in 2016 (bad couch, bad couch)! I originally planned on having Evelyn (of the Reiki Run Rampant tracks on my page) sing over the rhythm but then I moved from Santa Cruz to Portland and she moved from the Pacific Northwest to Santa Cruz, bummer! So the stems sat in my hard drive until new inspiration arrived in the form of Johnny Minstrel, one of favorite song writers on SoundCloud, agreeing to write lyrics and sing over the track. Once Johnny added his deep felt lyrics and magical vocal chords to the mix, the rest of the song came together pretty quickly for me, lol! I often try to put together virtual bands for my tracks and I knew I had to have Jamie Rhind on the track since he worked with Alphio on multiple songs and a reunion was due. I always wanted to work with Jonathan Beckenstein, whose sensitive and thoughtful guitar work is always sublime. Darren and Russ came naturally.  My original drum production work was based on an old Sly Dunbar sample (I like to include the essence of some of my favorite artists in the tracks I work on) but the quality of the drums just wasn’t up to Russ’ standards, hahaha, so we brought Bitzone on board to lay down some drums and voila, roots reggae magic!

Big thanks to the band for coming together on this in fine fashion! Big ups to the SoundCloud community and the spirit of collaboration. Keep on digging! 

And massive thanks to Wou-Wou to bringing his visual arts talent to the project! My goal is to eventually put together a reggae album (possibly a double album which will also include some reggae collaborations between Alpha Roots and friends including Jamie Rhind and Russ Sinfield) with all profits going to the Cancer Research Institute. Be on the look out for a possible dub version of Red Earth Clay as well!!!

Johnny Minstrel: Lyrics and Vocals
https://soundcloud.com/johnny-minstrel
Alpha Roots: Bass and Rhythm Guitar
https://soundcloud.com/alpha-roots
Jamie Rhind: Steel Drum
https://soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind
Jonathan Beckenstein: Lead Guitar
https://soundcloud.com/jonathan_beckenstein
D. D. Danahy: Keyboard
https://soundcloud.com/darren-d-danahy
Bitzone: Drums and Additional Background Vocals
https://soundcloud.com/bitzone
Couch King: Background Vocals and Arrangement
Russell Sinfield: Mixing, Mastering, and Knobs
https://soundcloud.com/russell-sinfield
Wou-Wou & the Wormling: Art
https://soundcloud.com/wouwouandthewormling

Lyrics: 
Hold you tongue don’t wag that finger
Just shine a light on me my friend
Too much fuss will only hinder
All the good things the spirit sends
We were made of dust and fire
Born beneath a brooding sky
On the stairs of Babel we climb higher 
To sights not seen by human eye

And now I dig, dig deep into the 
Red Earth Clay
Dig, dig deep
And I toil for no pay
I dig, dig deep into the
Red Earth Clay
Down to the root I’ll find my way

Some have called democracy into question
Saying we like sheep have gone astray
That it’s been the rich man’s intention
To steel by night and rule by day
I washed your feet with my tears
I wiped them dry with my hair
Can a hungry mouth still offer prayers
Or are they whispers of despair 

And now I dig, dig deep into the 
Red Earth Clay
Dig, dig deep
And I toil for no pay
I dig, dig deep into the
Red Earth Clay
Down to the root I’ll find my way
I dig, dig deep into the
Red Earth Clay
Dig, dig deep
And I toil for no pay
I dig, dig deep into the
Red Earth Clay
Down to the root I’ll find my way

Alpha Roots, J. Minstrel, J.Rhind, J.Beckenstein, D.Danahy, Bitzone, CK, R.Sinfield - Red Earth Clay

WHEN COUCH KING APPROACHED ME WITH THE IDEA OF DOING A DUB VERSION OF THE TUNE "RED EARTH CLAY" IT WAS A NO-BRAINER.  ALL COUCH AND FRIENDS DOES IS COME UP WITH GLORIOUSLY GREAT TRACKS TIME AND TIME AGAIN.  BUT WHEN I HEARD THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF "RED EARTH CLAY", LINK HERE...I WAS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FLOORED. 
LINK TO ORIGINAL VERSION OF "RED EARTH CLAY" HERE...
https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents/alpha-roots-j-minstrel-jrhind-jbeckenstein-ddanahy-bitzone-ck-rsinfield-red-earth-clay 
THE PROCESS OF TURNING WHAT WAS ALREADY A TOTALLY ORGANIC AND PERFECT REGGAE TUNE INTO MY OWN ROOTS VERSION DUB WAS EASY BECAUSE I FELL IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING THE ORIGINAL HAD TO OFFER....BIG UP TO ALL ARTISTS INVOLVED IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION, SEE A LIST OF ARTISTS HERE...
Johnny Minstrel: Lyrics and Vocals
@johnny-minstrel
Alpha Roots: Bass and Rhythm Guitar
@alpha-roots
Jamie Rhind: Steel Drum
@jamie-rhind
Jonathan Beckenstein: Lead Guitar
@jonathan_beckenstein
D. D. Danahy: Keyboard
@darren-d-danahy
Bitzone: Drums and Additional Background Vocals
@bitzone
Couch King: Background Vocals and Arrangement
Russell Sinfield: Mixing, Mastering, and Knobs
@russell-sinfield
Wou-Wou & the Wormling: Art
@wouwouandthewormling

BIG UP TO ALL, MASSIVE RESPECT, I GIVE LOVE AND RESPECT TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU, YOU CREATED AN ABSOLUTE GEM, I WANTED TO LEAVE THE ORGANIC NATURE OF THE ORIGINAL IN FULL FULL EFFECT AND DO MY OWN DUB TWIST, SO HERE YOU GO, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL FIRST AND THEN MY VERSION, OR WHATEVER ORDER YOU PREFER,,,,,
MUCH LOVE TO ALL/STAY SAFE/BE GOOD TO EACH OTHER/ROOTS!!!

RED EARTH CLAY (DUB)

I have many nice things to say about your music, but SoundCloud keeps deleting my comments unless they are very short :-(

I still love this SoundCloud community ❤️ 

Music Is Elation / Plastic Inevitable 

For song and album art visit Wou-Wou & the Wormling at:
https://soundcloud.com/wouwouandthewormling
https://wouwouandthewormling.com

For mixing and mastering visit: 
Russell Sinfield at: 
https://soundcloud.com/russell-sinfield
https://chaoscookhouse.bandcamp.com
Bitzone at:
https://soundcloud.com/bitzone

Alpha Roots, J. Minstrel, J.Rhind, J.Beckenstein, D.Danahy, Bitzone, CK, R.Sinfield - Red Earth Clay

Couch King Presents