Soul Shakedown Party

The reggae music will be flowing Saturday, Feb. 9, when Hope Massive performs its 8 annual Bob Marley Birthday Celebration.

Sponsored by Boom One Records, the evening will honor the patron saint of reggae, Bob Marley, whose songs still sit at the top of the heap of Jamaican stylings.

The show begins at 10 p.m. at Boone Saloon, and tickets are $5 at the door.

Hope Massive will provide the jams, a group that plays music ranging from roots reggae to a little hip-hop thrown in the mix. The band is also about to release its long-awaited new EP, which will feature three new vocal songs with its dub counterparts.

Hope Massive features Richard Jones on percussion and vocals, Justin Butler on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Cullen West on guitar and vocals, Pete Brown on keyboards and vocals, Nik Hope on drums and vocals, and Ben McPherson on bass.

Marley has been dead for more than 30 years now. While there were other Jamaican artists who helped ska and roots reggae music evolve into what we now know as reggae in the 1960s and ’70s, Marley’s melodies and universal-yet-sometimes-revolutionary lyrics captured the imagination of music lovers around the world.

“We mostly play reggae,” said Butler, founding member of Hope Massive. “We used to perform and tour constantly. It was pretty much a full-time job. Then, a couple of members moved to Charlotte and to Asheville, and there are a couple of members in Boone. So, we are spread out now and don’t really tour like we used to do. Now, we get together just a couple of times a year, and this Bob Marley event is the big time that we get together every February.”

While reggae music is at the heart of Hope Massive, other World Music influences will creep into their sound, as well.

“We mainly do strictly original material with a few covers thrown in here and there,” Butler said. “But we’ll pull out some Marley. It is really dependent on our mood. We also branch out of the reggae world and do a cover of a Portishead song reggae-style, or a Bill Withers tune in a reggae style. We make it fun and have a good time.

“Our original material is definitely influenced by all of the reggae that we’ve ever listened to. We do a lot of roots reggae, similar to the Mighty Diamonds and Marley, and then we’ll do more rock-influenced reggae, like the music of The Police. We also do a little bit of dancehall.

“And, last year, we started a record company that was specifically geared toward reggae and dub, called Boom One Records. On the label, we have put out mainly reggae music, including artists from the UK and the United States, Zimbabwe, the Virgin Islands and Croatia. It has exploded in the past year. We’re on our 43rd release so far. And I am in the process of mixing our new album right now.”

For more information on Hope Massive and Boom One Records, visit http://www.facebook.com/hopemassive and http://www.boomonerecords.com, respectively.