Boom One at Boone Saloon June 23

Boom One Sound System is a Boone dub-reggae band.

Dub-reggae consists mostly of instrumental remixes; technically a sub-genre of reggae. Boom One’s music is that, but it also sounds like a voltaic juggle of Bob Marley and neon disco under the base of herbal Rastafarianism.

Boom One Sound System (BOSS), comprised of co-creators Peter Brown and Justin Butler and a host of musicians, MCs, DJs and mixers, will perform at Boone Saloon Saturday, June 23, at 10 p.m. on the band’s six-month birthday. Reggae bands Kontur, Fyah Productions and Marietta’s Palm will also bem present.

Traditional reggae is a mix of Jamaican and R&B that Floridians picked up from Jamaica with their hyper-powerful radios. It is strung from the off-beat, or the “and” beat, as in “1 and 2 and 3 and 4.” Dub-reggae is the subsequent reshape; the offspring of engineer Osbourne Ruddock, aka King Tubby, in the 1960s.

“It’s simple music theory, but there’s a sublime range of what can be done,” Brown said with hand motions, “like waves making it very full.

“John, this guy that I worked with at a restaurant back home in Charlotte, and I shared musical interests. He was always telling me, ‘Man, you’ll like this stuff,’ and telling me about reggae. I went to our local music store … this was in the days before downloadable music, and bought out their reggae stuff. I feel it.”

Brown transferred to Appalachian State University, where he was unexpectedly pulled into the Apostles band and became involved in Jah-Roots Weekly radio show on 90.5 WASU. Since then, he’s been in Hope Massive and Ital Seeds, a more iconic Rastafarian reggae band that plays every Saturday afternoon at Char in downtown Boone from 1 to 4 p.m.

Although many rag-tag reggae musicians participate in several bands, and current reggae always has a computer on stage, the music creation refrains from being thoughtless. By using a computer program (BOSS uses Ableton from Apple) and by doing voice-overs with the mixing board as the primary instrument, dub-reggae musicians manipulate drums, bass, chop (the “off-beat” piano or guitar,) the shuffle-organ pattern, lead guitar, flute, brass, melodica, percussion and vocals.

“BOSS is in its infancy,” he said. “We got the idea for the band and the demo after a benefit at Footslogers that we did after the (2011) tsunami (in Japan).”

Their demo’s first four of nine songs are Japanese translations in dub. The other half features traditional rhythms in reggae-dub style. Their demo was performed with the Scientist, the dub-mixer protégé of King Tubby, Richard Jones, Cullen West of Hope Massive, Fyah Productions and Rudy Garceau on horns.

Brown and Butler were able to sign themselves, as they also created Boom One Records, a independent label that has already signed nine reggae bands.

“I hope we can expand what people know about reggae,” he said, “and interconnect existing audiences.”

Reggae sprouted from Rastafarianism, but Brown does not see that as conflicting with Western religions.

“I was raised Catholic, and that’s one of the reasons why I love dub-reggae so much, is because it’s a very spiritual music,” he said. “It’s not church-going music or cheesy, but reggae’s Jah is the same Judeo-Christian God. It’s all about the one love.”

Boom One Sound System performs Saturday, June 23, at Boone Saloon, located at 489 W. King St. in downtown Boone. Doors open at 9 p.m., and there’s a $5 cover. For more information, visit http://www.boomonesoundsystem.com or http://www.boomonerecords.com.