THE Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew is a far way from their Las Vegas base, but with showgirls and a nearby casino, there was a taste of ‘Sin City’ at the Bonafide band’s album launch on Wednesday.
Sold Out is the title of their double album on which the band has teamed with big names like Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley, Sean Paul, Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal and Etana.
A packed hall built largely of local entertainment personalities saw the band perform some of the songs from the set. Also in the audience was Fiji, the reggae singer from that Pacific country who has recorded and toured with Bonafide for several years.
Drummer Donovan ‘Junior Rootz’ Stephens told Splash that consistent touring in the Pacific Rim, Australia and New Zealand has given Bonafide a solid fan base in that region. He said working with established acts like Junior Gong can only help the quartet gain some footing in Jamaica.
“It’s like a stamp of approval ‘cause’ we sat down together an’ wrote the song. The key thing about all the collaborations was to come up with good music,” Rootz said.
Start and Stop is the name of the Junior Gong track. I Wanna Be The One features Etana, I’m Leaving was done with Kartel while Bumpa is the collaboration with Busy Signal.
Bonafide, whose members are from Mount Salem, St James and Clarendon, has made Las Vegas their home for the last 12 years. Rootz keyboardist Robert Stephens, bassist Wayne Stevens and deejay Kerry ‘Kerry Ranks’ Bell formed the band in the 1990s and cut their teeth on the north coast hotel circuit.
In the past five years, the band has established themselves in the Pacific Islands of Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, one of the most vibrant reggae markets in the world.
“If you come to a Bonafide show in those islands, you’ll see sometimes 5,000 people an’ they’re singing our songs,” said Rootz. “They accept us as their own.”
The Bonafide band is scheduled to kick off a promotional tour for Sold Out in May. They will play the Pacific Islands before moving on to the United States for shows in San Diego and Seattle.
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