RAS ALAN AT DOWN HOME “1993-2008: 15 Years of Appalachian Reggae” - January 17, 2008
Greeneville, TN Jan. 17, 2008- He celebrated Bob Marley’s TALKING BLUES reggae
release in Jamaica with Ziggy, Stephen, Julian and Rita Marley; he picked informal
gospel and swing tunes with American music icons Doc Watson and Jethro Burns; he
learned ancient tribal rhythms and melodies at the feet of African blues master Ali Farke
Toure. His original “reggabilly” songs and self-produced CDs have navigated the
Grammy@ process, enlivened the Archives of Appalachia and represent “Contemporary
Southern Appalachian Culture and Music” in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
DC. He’s been featured on Country Music Television, PBS and NPR stations nationwide.
He is a devoted father, architect, carpenter and organic gardener. He lives in the
mountains just hours from where he was born into a large, close-knit family and
continues to pick Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers tunes with his father and uncles at
various reunions and yearly gatherings. He plays a flat top guitar he built in 1980.
Red Pepper Records is pleased to present Ras Alan Childres and his “1993-2008:
15 Years of Appalachian Reggae” solo acoustic show Saturday, February 2, 2008 at the
Down Home, Johnson City, TN’s famed eclectic music room. Doors open at 6pm for
dinner and the show begins at 9pm. Several of Ras Alan’s CDs will be available for sale
at the performance.
“Regular songs about regular life… and a desire to do better.” Ras Alan’s music
reflects a life of observing and learning, trying and failing, and trying again. He teaches
”Respect” in his “One HeartBeat- Appalachia to Zimbabwe” children’s programs, shares
intimate “everyman” daily struggles in his songs and shines a flashlight-ray of Hope into
the future and our place in it.
Ras Alan’s first “Appalachian Reggae” CD was released on his own label in the
Spring of 1993. NATIVE met critic’s favor by its’ original take on storytelling to the
pulsing reggae beat, rather than a mere copying of style or mimicry of a popular
Caribbean accent and song form. STONE INNA HURRICANE, a live album recorded on
the road during 1995-1996, was released on CD in 1997 and quickly sold out due to its’
going straight to radio in markets that “got” the stories, rhythm and message.
In 2002, the more “pop” music elements of LETTER FROM APPALACHIA found
Ras Alan’s greatest audience listening and dancing to his stories framed by thicker
production and studio artistry: simple and decorative at the same time.
The Smithsonian Institution and the research committees for the “Year of
Appalachia” found what they were looking for in Ras Alan’s music and narrative. He was
invited to perform 10 shows on the National Mall in Washington, DC for the 37th
Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the subsequent “Smithsonian to the Mountains Tour”,
working alongside the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, based in Bristol TN/VA.
Ras Alan’s 2006 CD FOLKLIFE gathers his honest live performances in Washington,
heard by thousands of the 1.5 million visitors and condenses the huge experience into an
hour long tincture of homestyle ingenuity and front porch celebration.
Ras Alan has recently performed in festivals and stage shows in Jamaica and the
United States with popular bands and creative musicians including The Avett Brothers,
Michael Franti and Spearhead, Steel Pulse, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Toubab Krewe,
Steep Canyon Rangers, Uncle Earl, the everybodyfields, The Waybacks, Keller Williams,
The Grascals, Rhonda Vincent, The Seldom Scene and many others. Currently Ras Alan
is “pleasantly involved” in preproduction of a studio album of new material.
2008 represents the 15th year of Ras Alan’s “Appalachian Reggae” and his original
reggabilly tunes will be featured alongside anecdotes, stories and instruments gathered
along his musical odyssey, weaving mountain cultural traditions with global rhythmic
inspiration.
Come join your friends and neighbors on Saturday, February 2, at 9pm for a glimpse
into a musical seeker’s life, a poet’s warehouse and a regular guy with an irregular beat.
The Down Home is located at 300 West Main Street in Johnson City, TN. Tickets are
$10 at the door. The phone number is 423-929-9822. For more info on Ras Alan and his
music, please check http://www.appalachianreggae.com,
http://www.myspace.com/rasalan, http://www.cdbaby.com/all/rasalan and
http://www.sonicbids.com/rasalan.
Ras Alan is currently booking through Red Pepper Records at 423-330-8834,
PO Box 33, Greeneville, TN, 37744 or rasalan@appalachianreggae.com
release in Jamaica with Ziggy, Stephen, Julian and Rita Marley; he picked informal
gospel and swing tunes with American music icons Doc Watson and Jethro Burns; he
learned ancient tribal rhythms and melodies at the feet of African blues master Ali Farke
Toure. His original “reggabilly” songs and self-produced CDs have navigated the
Grammy@ process, enlivened the Archives of Appalachia and represent “Contemporary
Southern Appalachian Culture and Music” in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
DC. He’s been featured on Country Music Television, PBS and NPR stations nationwide.
He is a devoted father, architect, carpenter and organic gardener. He lives in the
mountains just hours from where he was born into a large, close-knit family and
continues to pick Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers tunes with his father and uncles at
various reunions and yearly gatherings. He plays a flat top guitar he built in 1980.
Red Pepper Records is pleased to present Ras Alan Childres and his “1993-2008:
15 Years of Appalachian Reggae” solo acoustic show Saturday, February 2, 2008 at the
Down Home, Johnson City, TN’s famed eclectic music room. Doors open at 6pm for
dinner and the show begins at 9pm. Several of Ras Alan’s CDs will be available for sale
at the performance.
“Regular songs about regular life… and a desire to do better.” Ras Alan’s music
reflects a life of observing and learning, trying and failing, and trying again. He teaches
”Respect” in his “One HeartBeat- Appalachia to Zimbabwe” children’s programs, shares
intimate “everyman” daily struggles in his songs and shines a flashlight-ray of Hope into
the future and our place in it.
Ras Alan’s first “Appalachian Reggae” CD was released on his own label in the
Spring of 1993. NATIVE met critic’s favor by its’ original take on storytelling to the
pulsing reggae beat, rather than a mere copying of style or mimicry of a popular
Caribbean accent and song form. STONE INNA HURRICANE, a live album recorded on
the road during 1995-1996, was released on CD in 1997 and quickly sold out due to its’
going straight to radio in markets that “got” the stories, rhythm and message.
In 2002, the more “pop” music elements of LETTER FROM APPALACHIA found
Ras Alan’s greatest audience listening and dancing to his stories framed by thicker
production and studio artistry: simple and decorative at the same time.
The Smithsonian Institution and the research committees for the “Year of
Appalachia” found what they were looking for in Ras Alan’s music and narrative. He was
invited to perform 10 shows on the National Mall in Washington, DC for the 37th
Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the subsequent “Smithsonian to the Mountains Tour”,
working alongside the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, based in Bristol TN/VA.
Ras Alan’s 2006 CD FOLKLIFE gathers his honest live performances in Washington,
heard by thousands of the 1.5 million visitors and condenses the huge experience into an
hour long tincture of homestyle ingenuity and front porch celebration.
Ras Alan has recently performed in festivals and stage shows in Jamaica and the
United States with popular bands and creative musicians including The Avett Brothers,
Michael Franti and Spearhead, Steel Pulse, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Toubab Krewe,
Steep Canyon Rangers, Uncle Earl, the everybodyfields, The Waybacks, Keller Williams,
The Grascals, Rhonda Vincent, The Seldom Scene and many others. Currently Ras Alan
is “pleasantly involved” in preproduction of a studio album of new material.
2008 represents the 15th year of Ras Alan’s “Appalachian Reggae” and his original
reggabilly tunes will be featured alongside anecdotes, stories and instruments gathered
along his musical odyssey, weaving mountain cultural traditions with global rhythmic
inspiration.
Come join your friends and neighbors on Saturday, February 2, at 9pm for a glimpse
into a musical seeker’s life, a poet’s warehouse and a regular guy with an irregular beat.
The Down Home is located at 300 West Main Street in Johnson City, TN. Tickets are
$10 at the door. The phone number is 423-929-9822. For more info on Ras Alan and his
music, please check http://www.appalachianreggae.com,
http://www.myspace.com/rasalan, http://www.cdbaby.com/all/rasalan and
http://www.sonicbids.com/rasalan.
Ras Alan is currently booking through Red Pepper Records at 423-330-8834,
PO Box 33, Greeneville, TN, 37744 or rasalan@appalachianreggae.com