Here’s the bio Brains Gad requested to promote our shows in Jamaica:
Seattle songwriter Davin Michael Stedman is best known as the lead singer of The Staxx Brothers. His work with the emerging British act Sherlock Soul is also presently garnering him acclaim.
But it his work in Jamaica as an emerging solo artist that may be most revealing.
Upon his first visit to Jamaica he connected with Anthony Redrose, who produced him on the forthcoming single, ‘Free Your Mind’, that features Sly & Robbie. Redrose shares billing on this unique blend of floor shaking Dance Hall and acoustic introspection.
Stedman also enjoyed the honor of having Earl Chinna Smith produce him on a pair tracks that explored the possibilities of fusing Davin’s own Creole roots in Puerto Rico, with the spell of his Taino ancestors that the island of Jamaica still faintly remembers. Local legend has it, the last Taino fought along side and then finally disappeared into the fierce bloodline of the Maroons. The Taino indeed named Jamaica. They called the island Xuymaca, which translates to “the land of wood and water”.
The song ‘Bush Doctor’ recounts the true story of Davin’s grandfather Fermin Camilo the very night a traditional healer paid him a visit on his death bed. He was just a small child, in a small village in Puerto Rico. Fermin lay near a cousin who was just as hopelessly ill with the same unknown tropical fever that swept across the island, filling hundreds of tiny graves.
The bush doctor fed them both an elixir that took Fermin one step closer to the other world. Then as if he was clinging to a life raft, he returned from the abyss. His cousin let go of the raft and passed away. Fermin’s heart was hence forth scarred, but not yet broken.
Davin’s Inna Di Yard session includes contributions from Chinna himself, Christopher Meredith, Squidly Cole, Brains Gad, Anu Brian Gold, Professor Matt Jensen, Dr. Brains God, and string arranger Andrew D.B. Joslyn.
Brains Gad and Davin are currently collaborating on a trio of tunes reflecting their own shared vision of blending their respective cultures. Each of these Jamaican productions will be included on Davin Michael Stedman’s forthcoming solo collection. West Indian Rock.
The album West Indian Rock is billed as a round about guide to Caribbean music, courtesy of an alternative universe that diverged from our own in 1956.
On the songs of West Indian Rock, Davin Michael Stedman reads the Téa leaves of history. Then he prints a new myth about what also could have been.
This entire project was made possible by Bluejay Hankins and his label Sick Donkey Records.
