Rode to Nine Mile on a bus full of Bob’s old friends. Ska era Wailers blasting. The sky was still black.
Once I get on Wi-Fi, I have some pretty incredible video to show you from the sun rising and drums and voices raging at Nine Mile.
Lenni I-Music and I had to be at Chinna’s yard by 2:30 am to get here before sunrise. The trek was a reminder what the world would have missed if Bob never came down from these mountains.
But I also had a vision of Peter Tosh and Bob alive today had they not made it so big. Fame is cruel, especially to be undiscovered or forgotten.
Imagine if Bob never moves to Trench Town for instance. Comes down in his 30s to the city and records some Mento songs and sings at a hotel. Never heard from again. Because reggae never happened.
What would Jimi have become if he stayed in Seattle in the 1960s? A janitor.
Support the arts and the artists that you love.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many musical ventures and is one of the driving forces behind the Staxx Brothers. He is partying and working in Kingston, Jamaica right now.