Third World Band Will Headline at St. Kitts Music Festival‏

Halfway through their 35th Anniversary tour, Third World Band will be the opening act at the 14th Annual St. Kitts Music Festival. The Grammy-nominated group will share the stage with reggae artists Capleton, Tarrus Riley, Ky-Mani Marley, Sizzla and R&B artists Fabolous and Babyface Edmonds.

The St. Kitts Tourism Authority made the announcement regarding the addition of Third World Band to the line-up on April 27, 2010. Faron Lawrence, Chairman of the St. Kitts Music Festival stated, "The addition of these outstanding performers for the 2010 Music Festival helps us to ensure that the crowd will be delighted by a program of diverse high-energy, vibrant acts." The festival will take place at Warner Park Stadium from June 24-26, 2010.

Stephen "Cat" Coore remarked, "We are always happy when we are afforded the opportunity to be a part of something groundbreaking. We've heard nothing but great things about the festival, so to say that we are humbled by the invitation from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority to perform, is an understatement. We are equally excited to share the stage with the artists that are on the line-up."

Following their performance in St. Kitts, the group will travel to Europe in July for a three week tour that will consist of performances at the Reggaeland Festival in Poland, NOWA Reggae 2010 Festival in Spain and Dour Festival in Belgium.

Other performances include Monterey Bay Reggae Festival in California, Nectar Lounge in Seattle, Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, Reggae Rising in California, Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Ohio, Keswick Theater in Pennsylvania, Seacrets Resorts in Maryland, Kanawha Plaza in Virginia, St. Barthelme Festival in St. Barths and New Zealand Music Festival in New Zealand.

Formed in 1973, Third World Band (TWB) is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2010 with the release of the group's 23rd album, Patriots. Recognized as one of the longest running reggae bands, Third World's sound is influenced by soul, funk and disco. Their greatest success came in the late 1970s and early 1980s, peaking with their cover version of The O'Jay's hit single, Now That We Found Love. This song drew the attention of none other than Stevie Wonder, who collaborated with the group to write their hit song, Try Jah Love.

Following this success, Third World went on to record several well-known songs including Reggae Ambassador, Forbidden Love and Shine Like a Blazing Fire. They have also received numerous awards and accolades, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music's New York City Ambassador Award in 2009, the U.N. Peace Medal in 1992, Jamaica Music Industry Awards' Best Show Band in 1996 and 10 Grammy Award nominations.

Castafari to release Million Bucks in Jamaica

Castafari to release Million Bucks in Jamaica

US based reggae artist Castafari who recently celebrated his birthday with a big bash at his Hit Quarters recording studio in Boston, is getting ready to drop his debut album. The album which is titled Its Just Life will be released before the end of the year. He is currently busy promoting the latest single fro the album which is titled Million Bucks. This single was produced by Central Point Productions for Castafari’s label Eight Day Records and is currently enjoying strong rotation on reggae radio stations across the US.

Castafari is also planning to release a supporting music video for Million bucks by the middle of next month. The music video which was shot at various locations across Boston is currently being edited. Castafari says the release of the video will also see him kicking off the promotion of the single locally. “As soon as the video is ready I will start promoting Million Bucks in Jamaica. My management team and I will be releasing both the video and the single locally at the same time, because I want to make a serious impact on the local market,” said the artist who originally hails from Trelawny.

Stevie Face Thrills UK Fans

Fast rising reggae singer Stevie Face who delivered a show stopping performance last Saturday at the Brixton 02 in London, is definitely on the road to stardom. The Boot Camp recording artist has gained a very high level of popularity in the UK among reggae fans since he dropped his hit filled album Tell It Like It Is last year.

This was very evident as the huge audience which packed the London venue for the first staging of the Uprising Music Festival, was in an ecstatic mood from the moment he entered the stage. Stevie did not disappoint his many fans inside the 02 and must have earned several new ones as he belted out songs from his album such Coming Home Tonight, I Wanna Wake Up With You, Since I Met You Baby, Tell It Like It Is, Proverbs 69 and his current chart hit In The Living Years.

Stevie Face says that he feels very good about his performance at the event. “I feel great about the whole show. It was very good everybody performed well. I am also pleased about my performance and the way crowd responded to me. I tried my very best to give the fans a very good performance and they loved every minute of it.”

Stevie Face was also presented with an award at the event naming him the UK Reggae Artist of the Year for 2009, by RSP Promotions. RSP Promotions is the promotion company that staged the Uprising Reggae Festival, which also featured reggae music heavy weights such as Barrington Levy, Coco Tea and Freddie McGregor.

When asked how he felt about receiving the award from RSP Promotions Stevie Face replied by saying this: “I feel very good about the award, to receive recognition for one’s work is always a good thing and I am very appreciative for the award. It’s actually the second one I have received so far, as I was voted the Best Reggae Artist in the UK by Diverse FM in Luton earlier this year. It shows that the hard work that my team and I have been doing to get my name and my music out there is beginning to pay off.”

Rupee On A Roll: Releases Two Hot Singles for Crop Over

Having recently captured the theme song for the latest season of the popular HGTV series, Design Star, with the song "Flaunt It," Barbadian soca superstar and Atlantic Records recording artist, Rupee, continues to make incredible moves for the genre.

"It's not easy trying to stay committed to a genre of music that so much of the world has yet to experience," reveals Rupee, who brought massive attention to the southern Caribbean namesake with his massive crossover hit, "Tempted to Touch." "Sometimes I feel as though I could cheat on soca and give in to the lure of going straight pop, R&B or even alternative; I dabble in all of these styles but soca is what made me."

Rupee thus stays true to his love for the genre with two new releases for this year's Barbados Crop Over season, both of which have the potential to help him on his mission to reach the worldwide masses. "Traveling the world and seeing how our music uplifts people, seeing a reflection of the love I get in the West Indies transcend to different cultures and races, is what keeps me faithful and fuels my mission to make the world fully embrace soca."

The first single, "All Night Long," is a romantic, sexy tune that sees Rupee in a comfortable place - composing songs for the ladies. This mid-tempo vibe, with that familiar "Tempted To Touch" flavor, is a sure fire tune for the dance floors. It was produced by Victorious, an upcoming Miami DJ and producer. Also, in an effort to further uplift and promote younger talent, Rupee collaborated with rising songwriter and performer, Young D, to co-write the song.

"I get hundreds of tracks and songs from producers, writers and performers regularly but not many stand out," Rupee divulges. "Then DJ Barrie Hype from Miami sent me this riddim and I felt it immediately. One of my touring DJs, Alvin Toppin 'the Soca Superman,' put me onto Young D in an effort to give him a chance, and I did. The stuff he writes is definitely in my zone and he says I am one of his biggest influences for his music."

The second track, "Everybody," is a guaranteed party-starter and will definitely ignite the crowd. On this track, Rupee revisits the classic WCK tune, "Balance Batty."

"I was blessed to have once had Cornell 'Fingers' Phillip in my band and he was the original producer of 'Balance Batty' and also leader of the band, WCK," explains Rupee. "I linked up with him to recreate the track with a fresher twist. Then to further bless the track, we secured the services of mega soca producer/DJ and multiple Road March winner, Peter 'No Stoppin' Coppin. Peter injected a power soca vibe of energy into the song. It's a crazy combination of Bouyon and power soca. I think this will definitely be a winner in the clubs and on the road."