8x GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer, Stephen Marley just released his new album Old Soul on September 15, 2023 - his first full-length project since 2016. Featuring a stellar line-up of special guests including Bob Weir, Eric Clapton, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Buju Banton, and Slightly Stoopid, the 14-track acoustic-inspired album is now available on all digital platforms via Tuff Gong Collective/UMe/Ghetto Youths International.  Limited-edition double LP vinyl in translucent yellow and green, CD, 2LP standard black vinyl and merch bundles are available for pre-order at stephenmarleymusic.com.  

Old Soul comes as a complete revelation. While grounded from the road during the COVID lockdown, Stephen set up a new studio on a remote family farm in the Florida countryside, holding nightly jam sessions in a converted garage. With a stripped-down ensemble comprising binghi drums, bass, acoustic guitar, and flute, Stephen played whatever he felt like — ranging from original compositions and reggae rarities with deep personal meaning to classics recorded by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and The Beatles. “Irie vibration,” Stephen says of the sounds made together on the farm. The lion’s share of Old Soul was recorded during these “unplugged” jam sessions.

Even as the album showcases Ragga’s versatility, the message within his music remains consistent. “We come to free the people’s minds,” says Stephen. “Only way you can free your soul is to free your mind. My father say, ‘No chains on my feet, but I’m not free.’ And then he come say, ‘Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.’ Anywhere the music calls us, we are going to be there to spread the message of love and unity.” 

Old Soul explores a musical palette that spans a variety of cultures and genres alike, with hand-selected special guests furthering the spiritual journey that encompasses the album. 

In celebration of the new album, Stephen has embarked on an ambitious Old Soul Tour Unplugged 2023 through the fall.

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Damian Robert Nesta Marley, also known around the world as “Junior Gong” and more recently as “Gongzilla” was born in 1978 to parents Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976.  As a young adult, he developed a passion and a gift to speak for those who cannot always speak for themselves. A self-proclaimed ‘Spiritual Revolutionary’, Damian has worked assiduously to carve his own niche in music history and to add a new perspective to the Marley legacy for the 21st century. 

At the age of 13, Damian began performing in a group called “The Shepherds” which comprised of Shiah Coore (son of Third World guitarist Cat Coore) and currently a member of his band, and Yashema Beth McGreggor, daughter of reggae singers Freddie Mcgreggor and Judy Mowatt and then began touring with his brothers, Stephen, Ky-mani, Julian and Ziggy. 

By 1996, Damian had already made his stamp as a different kind of Marley when he released his first solo album “Mr. Marley”, a heavily dancehall-influenced album produced by his brother Stephen Marley.  His second album “Halfway Tree” was released in 2001 by a major record label and showcased Damian’s unique gift for blending dancehall, reggae and hip-hop styles.  This album won Damian much recognition and remained on the Billboard Top Reggae Album Charts for 158 weeks and earned him his first Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2002. 
While honored by this recognition by the global music fraternity, Damian continued to work in the studio, laying the groundwork for the tracks that would become his highly anticipated album, “Welcome To Jamrock”. The lyrics in this album presented Marley as a true spiritual revolutionary, as he used his talent to evoke a spiritual change while trying to enforce a better way of thinking.  He is described as “rhyming with the conviction of a street preacher with the intellect of a university economist”.  

Damian’s hit single “Welcome to Jamrock” was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade by Rolling Stone, and at the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. Damian is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards. The New York Times called Welcome to Jamrock the “best reggae song of the decade.” 
Welcome to Jamrock led the pathway to Damian’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Nas for 2010’s much lauded album “Distant Relatives” – a project which explored the relationships between reggae, hip-hop and Africa. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. USA Today referred to the album as a “potent and often provocative collaboration” and by Rolling Stone as “an Afrocentric winner.” The album debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and Number 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Rap Albums and Reggae Albums charts, with Billboard heralding the album as “a dynamic hybrid.”    

The Distant Relatives Tour kicked off in 2011 and saw Damian traveling and performing for thousands of fans all over the world, including South America, Europe, The United Kingdom, The Caribbean and North America.  

Damian continued to cross musical boundaries in 2012, as he went on to partner with Skrillex for their groundbreaking track “Make It Bun Dem”, which Rolling Stone called “a monster mash up of dubstep and dancehall” and has led to several remixes of the original version.  Damian recently released two other singles; “Set Up Shop” and  “Affairs of the Heart” which both received widespread airplay. 

Damian continues to tour with his band all over the world as a way of entertaining and healing as he continues to spread the message for those whose voices cannot be heard. He is working with his brothers Stephen and Julian under their Ghetto Youths International Label, to discover, develop and sign gifted artistes by applying their musical talent and vast experience to create new and different styles of music.  

Damian is currently in the studio working on his upcoming solo album.

FLOOR SEATS II out now https://smarturl.it/floorseats2

Colin Patrick Harper hails from the Bermuda Islands. In the music industry, he is known as the reggae artist Collie Buddz. Buddz was born on August 21, 1984 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, he attended Full Sail University in Orlando, FL, where he decided to study studio engineering.  Upon graduating from college in 2006, Buddz began looking for work in the recording industry as a performer or producer. One of his first major gigs was working with recording star Shaggy on the single "Mad Mad World" from Shaggy's new album entitled Intoxication, which was release in 2007. That was the same year he released his self-titled debut album with Sony Music. The album was a moderate success, but well-received by critics.  WWE (World Wrestling Enterprises) fans would immediately recognize Buddz's voice from the entrance theme ("SOS") for WWE superstar wrestler Kofi Kingston, which was included on the 2008 compilation WWE The Music, Vol. 8. Over the next year, he would continue making guest appearances on the works of other artists.  It is no small coincidence that his stage name "Buddz" is slang for marijuana. There have been photographs taken of the artist holding bongs and other pot-smoking paraphernalia over the years. Of course, other reggae artist such as Bob Marley have made weed seem an essential part of the reggae lifestyle.  At the end of the decade, Buddz started his own record label called Harper Digital. When not working in the studio, he found himself selling out venue after venue on one of his many exhaustive tours. In 2011, he would finally release his second album entitled Playback. As was the case with the first album, this album was a modest success commercially, but the critics loved his work.  With a couple of albums and a good reputation under his belt, Buddz is a frequent performer at many of the major reggae festivals around the world.

Hillhar is an electro pop trio based in Tel Aviv that began operating independently in 2016.

The band formed out of a meeting between Assaf Twina, pianist and international DJ & producer who conqured huge stages around the world and mastered the art of combining electronic music with vast variety of genres, and Louharya, vocalist, lead singer, multidisciplinary artist and the beating heart of the band.

A bit later Dar Bechar joined the band. Dar is a songwriter, lyricist and guitarist with a unique sound.

Along the way the band gathered a devoted, closely knit fan base that keeps growing with them. In their shows the band utilize their strong visuals and often use video art to create the desired atmosphere. The audience usually start the show sitting down, settling into the atmosphere and at the end find themselves standing up and dancing to the beat.

 The band released 5  stylish music videos who grossed over half a million views on social media.

SpliT Bang is following