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Calgary Reggaefest 2011
Shaw Millennium Park
Saturday, August 20 - Saturday, August 20

More in: World / Reggae / Latin

Championing this year’s Canadian Showcase at Calgary’s International Reggae Festival, roots reggae group Souljah Fyah returns with a fresh outlook and some scintillating new material to share with local Rastagarians. Already seasoned veterans of the Canadian festival scene, these repeat offenders are no strangers to Calgary’s Reggae Fest, and according to lead singer Jenaya “Sista J” Ellis and her bandmates Dorant Ricketts, Norm Frizzell, Bongbeimi Nfor and Paul Joose, the opportunity to hit the annual gathering of rock-steady aficionados is the perfect excuse to cut loose and enjoy the dog days of summer.

“I’m so pleased to be a part of this showcase, especially because I didn’t get a chance to see it last year,” says an enthusiastic Sista J. “Performing at a nightclub has such a different vibe than when we’re outside at a festival. I find that it’s so much more intimate and we can bring the people right up to the front of the stage and touch them. I love that aspect of interacting with the crowd and connecting through music.”

The vocalist and bassist continues: “I’ve always been a performer and comfortable with commanding people’s attention, but I don’t consciously put on the soulful persona of Sista J. It’s just something that happens to me, or any performer, when the mood is right and you’re feeling the music. You can get deep into it and any time you do that you are in the best position to present yourself with confidence and lots of love.”

Buoyed by the success of its latest release, I Wish, the Juno Award-winning ensemble — two-time recipient of 2009 awards for Top Reggae band in Canada from the Canadian Reggae Music Awards and Best Reggae Album at the Reggae Music Achievement Awards — has made its home in the unlikely reggae hot-spot of Edmonton for the better part of a decade. The third time has indeed proved to be the charm, as I Wish takes the band to new frontiers in its continuous challenge to expand musical and lyrical horizons. Employing traditional reggae styles with more modern dancehall influences, Souljah Fyah effectively taps into the past while continuing down the independent path the group set upon with 2008’s socio-politically astute album Truth Will Reveal.

“We are a breed of our own up here in Canada. All of what we do is roots reggae or dancehall, but it has become our own,” Sista J says. “We keep learning and keep forgiving. Understanding each other’s positions has come over time by switching instruments and developing our nonverbal communication skills. After 10 years of playing together we can still pack a house gig every Sunday for eight months straight! What happens between us as players and as friends is the key. We support each other socially and sonically.”

“Our approach is to go from the root. It’s crucial to go back to the seed, but it always shocks me when someone calls me from Jamaica to say they saw a guy wearing one of our T-shirts.”