Rebel Roots caught up with one of its biggest influences on the West Coast leg of their US tour. Massive respect goes out to Charles Lazarus and the whole Rootz Underground family. Rootz Underground are one of the few roots jam bands from Jamaica that still tours consistently spreading love through music on every stop. Regardless of genealogy, their sound is superbly rich and their influence is steady humbling. This tour wraps up on Oct. 9th in San Diego so they still have a few more shows in California, make sure you check your local listings. To get up the minute updates you can also follow them on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook. Check their website (www.RootzUnderground.com) and you’ll immediately get a feel for the generous spirits which the band members are inclined towards. They stream a lot of their tracks through their site and were kind enough to give us this exclusive download.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download Rootz Underground – History
From the album Gravity

Rootz Underground has built a healthy and loyal following on the West Coast since taking part in the Ragga Muffins Festival in 2008. The band members are all veterans in the reggae community and have been making music individually for decades. As Rootz Underground, they recently dropped Gravity, which is featured in the New and Noteworthy section of the iTunes Reggae Store. On their recent European tour, they took huge leaps towards making a difference that is tangible. They began “expanding the Rootz Network” by planting a tree in every city where they perform. Every tree is tagged with GPS coordinates and soon a widget will be added to RootzUnderground.com showing their locations. The first trees took root in Greece, in the second city of Thessalonika. Charles had so many positive things to say about the people and the music scene there, so don’t be surprised if Rebel Roots suddenly moves our offices to a yacht docked in the Aegean Sea. The group gives back to each place that contributes to its growth in different ways. The first two fans who plant and tag a tree in any town where Rootz Underground performs is invited to their show and placed on a guestlist. So check them out when they come to your town, cop the album, plant a few trees, and twist up a couple more for the head.

Much love to the whole Rootz Underground family (all 6 million of y’all). Check back to the Rebel Roots blog for details on the progress of their tours.