Ways & Means

Artist Bio / Album Info

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Four extraordinary talents, one scene-shaking reggae band. That’s The Green, four boys hailing from Hawaii who burst out last year with their self-titled debut album. Amazingly for a new band, the disc rocketed onto Billboard’s 2010 Year-End Top 10 Reggae Chart, was honored as iTunes’ Reggae Album of the Year, won Best Reggae Album at Hawaii’s 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, and has sold over 20,000 copies. Now the promise of The Green’s youth-infused roots reggae revival is set to be fulfilled with their sophomore disc, Ways & Means, scheduled for an October 25, 2011 release on Easy Star Records, the pioneering indie reggae label. The startling speed with which the band has built up its strong and loyal following can only accelerate from here.

Each of The Green’s four core singer-songwriters could be a solo artist in his own right, yet they’re a tight, down-to-earth unit. Caleb Keolanui and JP Kennedy are first cousins who played together in a band called Next Generation. Caleb, The Green’s soulful, golden-voiced singer and charismatic front man, had already performed on Hawaii’s biggest stages by the time he was 16, with hit songs on heavy rotation on Hawaii radio. His pop/dancehall sensibilities show up strongly on the new album, to which he contributes songs like the sophisticated yet irresistibly catchy “Decisions” and the perpetual-motion “Love & Affection” with its warm but unexpectedly sly lyrics.

Meanwhile singer-guitarist JP Kennedy was honing his own writing skills and blues-and-soul-inspired musical chops while studying engineering and putting together a home recording studio, which remains invaluable to the band as its pre-production headquarters. His songwriting pushes the boundaries of reggae, while still resonating closely with reggae traditions. The contemplative and intensely emotional “That’s The Way” and the soul-suffused “Good Vibration” are both forward-thinking, introspective pop songs, while “Jah Love” and “Travlah” evoke the classic sounds of Third World and Steel Pulse respectively.

The other two core members, singer-keyboardist Ikaika Antone and Zion Thompson, had worked together in the band Stir Crazy. When that group split up, the four musical brethren of The Green knew the time had come to make the new band truly flower. Ikaika, with a strong Hawaiian music background, feels a special connection to the land—when the band gigs locally, his whole clan comes out, bringing a real sense of ohana (family) to the shows; his anthemic “Gotta Be” perfectly expresses this side of The Green. Zion, who had previously spent time touring with other bands, recalls that “I missed home, missed my music” when on the road with other musicians; “All I could think about was I want to be [touring] with the boys!” His song “Ways & Means” strongly demonstrates Zion’s ability to play with form – jumping from a slower reggae groove to a sped-up ska chorus and back – while still serving up a poignant love song with a soulful delivery.