YO! MAGAZINE – YOUTH ORIENTED MAGAZINE

Taj Weekes and Adowa are in the studio currently recording their first acoustic album, “A Waterlogged Soul Kitchen,” which is scheduled for release soon. Inspired by events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, part of the album’s proceeds will go towards helping victims of the Hurricane through Weekes’ charity, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO).

The band is also in the studio recording a new single entitled Brown Lawns, which reflects the current economic crisis and will be released in late spring. A coast to coast summer tour is in the works with hopes for European dates sometime in early fall. Taj Weekes is actively pursuing fundraising for his charity, TOCO, which has pledged to deliver 500 soccer balls to the children of St. Lucia at the end of March.

Going back to 2008 after the release of their sophomore album Deidem through Jatta Records and a music video for Hollow Display in May, Taj Weekes & Adowa embarked on an 8-week national tour playing to over 200,000 fans across 39 cities. The tour began in Chicago at the world famous Wild Hare, where the band hit the ground running with two high powered, high octane 90-minute sets played to a full house. Moving west, the band debuted at the renowned Sierra Nevada World Music Festival where they treated the audience to a performance so compelling that fans followed the band to other Northern California performances during the tour. Other festivals included the Taos Solar Music festival, which produced a Live Album, the Midwest and South Bend Reggae Festivals in major reggae hubs of Ohio and Indiana, the Orton Park Festival in Wisconsin and NJPAC’s Sounds of the City.

Reviews of Deidem have been overwhelmingly positive. The San Francisco Bay Guardian named Taj Weekes a Top Reggae Artist for 2008 in the category “Roots Refreshers.” Reggae Train named Deidem“Number One Reggae Album” in November. Deidem spent three weeks as “Number One Reggae Album/Artist” on DMX before dropping to Number Two for another week. Deidem was nominated for “Best Roots Album” and Taj Weekes nominated for “Best Rising Star” in the United Reggae Awards. And last but not least, Deidem made the first cut for consideration of a Grammy nomination for “Best Reggae Album.”

Taj was invited to do interviews with journalists and radio personalities at nearly every stop on the tour – some of which can be heard on the Interviews page. Veteran reggae journalist and XM Satellite Radio Program Director Dermot Hussey declared that Taj was “raising the level of songwriting within the idiom of reggae music” during a one-hour radio exclusive on Taj Weekes & Adowa. Europe embraced Deidemthrough interviews with Taj Weekes for numerous publications… check out London’s The Voice and Flavour Magazine features, BBC Radio Interviews… Deidem reviews from Reggae Bordeaux – France, Roots Music – Amsterdam, Unruhr 2010 – Germany, and many more.