It’s spring again, and that means it’s time for college students to awaken from their nest of Natty Light cans and pizza boxes and emerge from their humble abodes. It’s also time for outdoor music.
MSU will kick off its own string of warm-weather music Thursday with the Down in the District concert. The event takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight in the usual location: The Cotton District, between Maxwell and Nash streets.
Present will be the usual assortment of good food from local vendors, official memorabilia and T-shirts, and, of course, music.
This year’s festivities will be headlined by The Wailers (of Bob Marley and The Wailers) with support provided by artists Ginny Owens and Chase McGinnis.
Coming off a year of constant touring, Owens will bring her unique blend of Christian/country/pop to Starkville. She’s currently supporting her third studio album Long Way Home. Owens, who has been blind since the age of 2, also founded the Fingerprint Initiative, a nonprofit ministry.
Local man Chase McGinnis will follow Owens in support of The Wailers. Originally from Sturgis, McGinnis has toured through the United States and Canada. After doing some recording, he settled back in the Golden Triangle area and joined as lead singer of Self Creek, a regular band at Rick’s Caf‹¨ and other local venues.
Topping the evening off will be the world-famous reggae group The Wailers.
A common misconception is that The Wailers were Bob Marley’s “backup band.” But when it comes down to it, The Wailers and Bob Marley were symbiotic with one another. Without one, the other couldn’t survive.
Originally, The Wailers consisted of core members Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston (with an ever-changing carousel of supporting musicians). They were referred to as The Wailers as opposed to Bob Marley and The Wailers.
However, by 1973, all original members except Marley left the group, and Bob was faced with a daunting solo career that had previously proven unsuccessful. Luckily for him, he had met producer and musician Aston “Familyman” Barrett. Until joining with Barrett, international success had always eluded The Wailers.
It was Barrett that convinced Marley to conceive a new generation of Wailers and were henceforth referred to as Bob Marley and The Wailers.
Familyman was Marley’s right-hand man and was even asked by Marley, on his hospital bed, to prepare and mix the single “I Know.” The song was the last single released before Marley’s untimely death in 1981.
After Marley’s death, Barrett took over The Wailers, which now consists of Barrett, Al Anderson and Earl “Wya” Lindo.
Through a tumultuous yet successful career, The Wailers’ membership was constantly ebbing and flowing. However, the original members are back and hot off of a sold-out 2005 tour.
Perhaps the most well-known reggae group ever, The Wailers have sold more than 250 million records and embarked on more than 30 world tours. Their album Exodus, written and recorded by Bob Marley and The Wailers, was named by Time magazine as the Album of the Century in 1999.
And much like reggae itself, The Wailers have always stayed the same at heart.
“Reggae is the root and the root doesn’t change,” Gary Pine, Wailers member since 1998, said. “Everybody knows it. Everybody feels it. Everybody respects it.”
And as R&B today is different than R&B in the past, he described the changes in Reggae music today.
“The root will always be there, but it will also create a beautiful tree,” he said. “And that tree will grow branches as well. But the root will always be there, while the branches will fall off and die. And they never grow back.”
Through his thick Jamaican accent (he was born in Port Antonia, Jamaica), Pine explains how reggae music is more than just another genre.
“It’s one in the universe … not just in the world,” he said. “It’s bigger than that. It stands alone.”
Pine also casts aside certain stereotypes in view of a more spiritual approach.
“A lot of people associate Reggae and ganja,” Pine said. “They can do that if they want. But I associate Reggae with The Almighty. The music comes from the root and God is the root.”
But in the end, it’s just The Wailers and the audience one on one.
“Our biggest responsibility is to teach and to teach wisely,” he said. “And to make people happy and to make people dance and feel good. The root is not negative. It never was and never will be.”