Bushman, Reggae In Nashville | Song Review

I

n every genre, someone comes along to remind everybody what the thing was actually for. Reggae’s had plenty of those moments, and now Bushman adds another one with “Reggae In Nashville“.

Bushman’s been doing this since long before “conscious music” became a marketing term. Coming out of St Thomas, Jamaica, he’s spent his career in the lineage of Marley and Tosh, not copying them, just carrying the same idea forward: music that says something, sung in a way your grandmother and your kids can both sit through. That’s harder than it sounds. Most people pick a lane, message or melody. Bushman’s built a career refusing to choose.

“This new single represents what I do as an artist,” he says. “I want people to hear reggae that speaks to real life, that brings families together, and that doesn’t lose sight of what matters.” Read that twice. It’s not a slogan, it’s basically his whole career mission statement, and he’s said it like a man who’s tired of explaining himself but will keep doing it anyway because it’s true.

The single dropped right as he heads into a run of UK shows this summer, and the timing feels less like marketing and more like momentum. He’ll hit Band on the Wall in Manchester on 16 July, Jazz Cafe in London on 23 July, Heritage Festival in Berkshire on 26 July, then over to Rototom in Spain on 21 August. More dates are coming, according to his camp, so this isn’t the whole list yet.

Live, he’s not standing up there alone shouting into a mic with a backing track. Harmony singers Latoya Morgan and Sherida Sharpe are with him, The Grassroots Band is doing the actual playing, and executive manager Vanessa Barnes-Duncan is steering the ship behind the scenes. It’s a full band, full sound, the kind of show that reminds you reggae was always meant to be felt live, in a room, with other people.

You can take a listen to “Reggae In Nashville” by Bushman here. 

Four out of five – George James. 

Also, for more music reviews click here.