The story begins on a flight home from San Diego. I had been living in SD for a year soaking in the southern California culture at the beaches. One place that reminded me of my roots back in Eugene, Oregon was Ocean Beach (except that it was next to the ocean). I loved walking down Newport Ave eating burgers at Hodad's or cruising over to Sunset Cliffs taking in the view. So as my flight circled above OB en route Eugene I began writing the lyrics to "Roots". With a pen and pad in hand I began sketching down the vision in my heart.
Reggae music first grabbed a hold of my heart back in 98 while I was visiting my sister in Hawaii. Since I've returned taking in some of the best live musicians at backyard luau's and small little clubs. The fact that Hawaii has two or three FM stations pumping out local music 24/7 is so sweet.
In the summer of 2007, when I returned home to Oregon, I assembled a diverse mix of musicians and we began creating reggae inspired pop/rock/hip-hop. We hadn't been a band more than a couple months when we went on our first west coast tour supporting my own headlining solo dates. While we were in LA we recorded our first self-titled EP, like "Don't Walk Away", "Roots" and "Real Love". We played a lot of places around Oregon that year especially in Bend, Portland, Ashland and Eugene opening for some great bands like Pepper, Giant Panda Dub Guerilla Squad and Passafire. However it wasn't until spring of 09 after a line-up change, Hawaii tour and the addition of Matt Salinas on guitar that we began writing and recording new material and really taking on our new sound.
We self-produced our new CD "Summer Of Love" with the help of some friends back in Nashville, TN (thanks Chris and Jeff) and are releasing it on our own label (Ocean Ave Records). It features five songs, including the radio single "Sweet Love" and a crowd favorite "Burrito Boy", an ode to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Eugene. Another radio single that is featured on the CD is "Taking Over Me". You can read the story behind the song and download it free
here.
We will be playing some more shows to support the "Summer Of Love" EP, including 30 college dates this spring. If you would like to book us for your college, university, private party, etc email: boardwalkagency@gmail.com or call Brendon @ 541.740.0034
Thanks for reading and listening to our music!
We hope you enjoy the tunes,
Paul & the guys
P.S. You can download our first EP free by visiting:
rootdownsound.com/onelove
Discography
"ROOTDOWN EP" – NOV. 07 - buy on iTunes
"SUMMER OF LOVE" - JULY 09 - buy on iTunes
Download the ROOTDOWN EP for free by clicking the cover:
text 'roots' to 66937 (mozes) to get mobile updates and a free ringtone!
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