Rastacoustic

Rastacoustic will perform at Music in the Valle  in beautiful Valle Crucis Community Park – event is free!

Reggae music evolved on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Earlier forms of island music, such as Ska and Rock Steady, eventually morphed into reggae music in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A truly unique genre unto itself, reggae music has multiple aspects that effectively describe it. First, reggae’s rhythms are inherently dance-inducing. Secondly, the lyrical themes of the original reggae song catalog often address the plight of the rich and the poor and the disparity between the two. And thirdly, as is especially evident in the music of the great and late Bob Marley, reggae also has a side that is all about universal love and brotherhood.

Rastacoustic features Peter Brown on keyboards and lead vocals, Justin Butler on guitar, Kevin Freeman on bass, and new drummer Lucas Moomaw. Percussionist Jeff Dickens and other guests often join the band.

“Most of us in Rastacoustic have been into reggae music for quite some time now, and as we get older, all the great musicians that are considered heroic or legendary in reggae music’s origin and growth are leaving us these days,” said Brown. “A lot of them have passed on, and it seems like it is more and more frequent. Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, for instance, who was the bassist and bandleader for Bob Marley’s band The Wailers, died in 2024, and then, pretty recently, Sly Dunbar, of the legendary bass-drum duo Sly and Robbie, passed away in January. And, the great Jimmy Cliff died this past November at 81 years of age. Watching these reggae artists leave us, it’s just a part of life, yet we keep watching more and more of these guys pass away. It makes you realize, ‘Hey man, we need to go and see these legends play if they come through town or nearby.’”