Real-thing Reggae From Another Island

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Interview by: Matt Wake

Coiling-serpent guitar and resin rhythms make it obvious this is reggae for Rastas, not frat boys. The track is "Angry Language," from Taj Weekes & Adowa's memorable 2008 album "Deidem."

"I told the guys I wanted it to be as roots as it possibly can, but not so roots that people who were not listening to reggae in the '70s could get it," Weekes says.

Weekes' socially conscious lyrics, sung in a wispy brown voice, address modern issues. "Brown Lawns" from an upcoming acoustic disc, is about the ongoing financial crisis. The iridescent "Hollow Display" wouldn't sound out of place on Bob Marley's "Uprising" record. The closing "Deidem" track "Louisiana" is an interesting detour, with Weekes musing over Hurricane Katrina above jazz piano.

"On this song, I didn't want people to dance, I wanted people to listen," Weekes, 39, says. "What better way to put it out than in its simplest form."

Growing up on the island of St. Lucia, what kind of music did you hear on the radio?

"We listened to a lot of country-and-western music, so I learned about guys like Merle Haggard from my mother. We listened to Abba. You'd hear a Jimi Hendrix song, then Joni Mitchell, then the blues, then The Skatalites. That was Radio St. Lucia, one of the main stations. They played us everything."

How do you think being from St. Lucia instead of Jamaica impacted your perspective on reggae?

"If I'd grown up in Jamaica I probably would have been so intimidated by the number of artists there, that I wouldn't have moved into that genre of music. I think it gave us our own personal voice, and a little more confidence to push it out there."

A book of your poetry is being published. What do you get out of poetry that you can’t get from writing lyrics?

"The quiet of the words themselves. There are no thoughts from the music. You take it in as you please into your head and do as you wish. It's almost like sometimes you read a book and then go see the movie and whatever slant they put on it you didn't like."

What's one of your favorite projects your non-profit, They Often Cry Outreach, has done?

We came back from St. Lucia and gave away 500 soccer balls, 600 uniforms. The reaction of the people when we give is the greatest thing for me.