Drummer and vocalist Donovan ‘Junior Rootz’ Stevens said the band went for a diverse batch of acts to record with to not only show their versatility, but their respect for all facets of Jamaican music. “When this album is released people going to hear dancehall, lovers rock, roots. We want to bring back everything, especially live music to the people,” Stevens said.
The Bonafide band also includes his brothers, keyboardist Robert Stevens and bass player Wayne Stevens. Deejay Kerry Bell and drummer Kirk Bennett round out the regular lineup. It has its roots in the revivalist church the Stevens siblings attended in Mount Salem, St. James. As the siblings approached adulthood, they embraced secular music and were encouraged by their uncle to move to Rochester, New York where they played at his club, Bed Rock.
Through their stint at Bed Rock, they earned gigs in the Japanese city of Roppongi
where they ran into one of reggae’s greatest harmony groups, the Wailing Souls. So impressed were the ‘Souls’ with the band, that they invited them to be their backing band for their 1999 United States tour.
They stayed with the ‘Souls’ for that one jaunt but bigger assignments came along. The most noted of these has been recording with artistes from the Pacific rim, especially Hawaii, home to a massive reggae community. The Bonafide band has worked with two of that island’s most famous reggae performers: Fiji and J Boog.
In August, the band is scheduled to start a tour of Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Tahiti. While Bonafide’s members are keen on touring, Junior Smooth says the debut album is their most exciting project to date. “It’s the right time to do it because we really want to bring back the whole live concept,” he said.
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