Waking up at the morning 2 of a festival is usually not the best way to start your day. Day 2 of Reggae Rise Up Maryland, 2024 was pretty typical to that… a little tired, a little groggy, and a little sore. Need coffee…. and maybe a breakfast sandwich. Head down to the hotel breakfast bistro to order their thickest, darkest coffee and order a couple of sandwiches for @IronLionImages @ToddJuddPhotography and myself. While they are being made, I look next to me and realize I am standing next to someone whose music has gotten me through some of my hardest days, someone who is one of my favorite artists, someone who is also a Grammy Award Winner and the closer for tonight’s festival – Mr. Jacob Hemphill.

Ever been next to one of your favorite artists in a casual setting? How about before 9 am, both with groggy, bloodshot eyes, both in need of some high-octane caffeine, miles from the venue they will play 14 hours from when you meet them? That was me, and I am sure I stumbled through every word I said to him while telling him how much “Not Done Yet” means to me, and please play that tonight, and… oh, can we take a selfie since we both look so good early in the morning before coffee and a shower. I am sure it was exactly what he was hoping for (sic) first thing in the morning, and yet he did it and was super personable and I respect him even more for being that person.

Time for the festival.
Super stoked for the first band of today’s lineup. The Harbor Boys are a band that we just started following during the first Reggae Rise Up Maryland in 2022. Iron Lion Images had a great time going to that year’s pre-party and interviewing the band. While some of the band members have changed over the last couple of years, the backbone – Cody Woolsoncroft (vocals and guitar) and Andrew Hall (bassist) are still front and center. The change in lineup may have moved their live sound a little farther from reggae, but it feels like they found themselves and I cannot wait to see where this takes them! As they always do, The Harbor Boys brought the energy for their entire set including Cody bringing his young son out on stage with them and concluding with a catchy version of their song Catastrophe.

Claire Wright is a name I hadn’t heard before looking at the lineup for the festival, but a sound that has
been played from my speakers at home since the festival. This silky-sounding vixen from northern California brought us a mellow and acoustic island sound with almost a country cross over which I thought worked incredibly well. She was joined on stage by Landon Chung on drums from The Wide Eyed Kids and Micah Brown, guitarist for Iration. One of the highlights of her performance was when she and Surfer Girl lead singer, Carter Reeves performed a duet of Claire’s beautiful song All I Wanna Do (Surfin), which they said they had never rehearsed before. The song worked well as a duet and both Claire and Carter smiled the entire song.

Speaking of Surfer Girl, this was the first time I’ve had the pleasure to see this trio live and I really enjoyed how simple yet layered their sound flowed. Their music has a great bassline, refreshing percussion, and catchy guitar riffs with Carter’s laid-back and relatable vocals (Set in Stone – is my personal favorite). This band has talent and, in my opinion, has a transitional sound that makes them appealing to multiple genres. Look out for them in the future.

As I mentioned in the Day One review – there was some negativity by some of the changes coming into this year’s festival. To this point, I did not miss any of the changes from previous years; however, the next artist, Jesse Royal, took full advantage of last year’s festival when there was a runway down that divided VIP and GA crowds as he sang and embraced his fans deep in the crowd. This year did not have that special runway, but that did not stop Jesse from getting off the stage and getting close to his adoring fans. I am giving Jesse the most limber award of the weekend because despite the boundaries he was able to get close to his fans to give them the love they were craving, all along with the biggest smile on his face.

Ballyhoo! “Dude you are really tall.” The crowd is filling in to see our next band from Aberdeen, MD and they are bringing the energy as they bust out favorites like Walk Away and Mix Tape. The crowd is skanking and feeling amazing as Ballyhoo! continues to belt out favorites and bring out one of their friends and mentors Brandon Hardesty, of Bumpin Uglies. If you don’t know Ballyhoo! yet, you will – get on their bus sooner than later!

About 15 years ago I was able to see this next artist in a small venue in the middle of PA, big reggae seen there (sic), with about 50 others. Iron Lion Images by Todd Judd brought his 2 sons, and I brought my son – I mention this because we waited so the kids aged (10,11, and 13 at the time) could meet the artist after the show. The artist, Bermuda’s own Collie Buddz, was so amazing and down to earth waiting to meet each fan and signing autographs – when we met him, he shook each of the kid’s hands and told them, “Do your homework and stay off of drugs.” These 3 kids have all since graduated college, some with postdoc degrees, and are doing amazing things in their lives.

Fast forward 15 years – Collie is no longer playing in front of 50 people. The crowd was easily more than 10k as I was looking out listening to him perform from backstage. He had the crowd in the palm of his hands as he stood on the edge of the stage with his foot up on the speaker, a towel hanging out of his back denim pock, classic aviator glasses, and railroad hat. I’ve seen him play live many times over the last 15 years and he is just so consistently great with his sound, his crowd interactions, and his energy. As Collie Buddz, finished his set I was able to tell him what a great performance he had, I shared my story from 15 years ago to which he gave a great smile and fist bump, and then I watched and was able to capture photos of him signing autographs (only saw one other artist doing this the entire weekend) for about 30 minutes after his set – what a humble and genuine artist that connects with his fans.

Next to take the stage and to bring a large following is KES. Formed nearly 20 years ago in Trinidad KES The Band brings a refreshing Soca sound with a fusion of reggae, calypso, dancehall, pop, and rock. This blending of musical styles is part of what KES say on their website is “part of their greater calling: To spread good vibes.” Spreading good vibes, indeed is what they did with their hour-long set in Maryland.

Many fans traveled specifically to see the pride of Trinidad, and you could tell that KES loved the outpouring of support they were getting while the crowd sang and danced along to this Caribbean powerhouse of a band!

Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica our next artist – Shaggy, takes the stage. Shaggy is a veteran and favorite of reggae festivals as he always brings high energy and participation from the crowd. The set transitions well from KES The Band’s set as Shaggy has KES join him on stage to play their collaboration, Mood. The KES and Shaggy interact and perform well together. Shaggy continued to play his set mixing in some early favorites and stopping some songs for crowd interaction and dramatic effect. This worked well early on, but as he continued to do this throughout the set, and it wore long his time slot. That along with a long monologue he had about Jamaican wine (which seemed out of left field), caused him to run over on time. With his set over 3 minutes over his hour slot, the festival was forced to cut Shaggy off as he was just starting his iconic song, It Wasn’t Me. Shaggy stormed off the stage disappointed he could not play what the crowd was waiting to hear, leaving the crowd confused and disappointed about what had happened.

Some 14 hours ago I met the lead singer at breakfast, grabbing coffee – now, Jacob Hemphill and SOJA are about to take the stage. Before that, however, there is a special celebration of love happening along the rail in the front row of the show – 2 beautiful souls (and now friends) that share the love for reggae and SOJA are getting married. The crowd surrounds them with love and support as they wear special Raised Fist Propaganda shirts made for their event.

While I watch this celebration unfold, I can’t help to be reminded how SOJA’s music has been with me through some of my most important times in life– so glad these friends found each other and are starting their life together in this memorable way.

Grammy Award Winners, SOJA take the stage to a packed house, and Not Done Yet is not just my favorite song, as after a short intro they start their amazing set with this favorite. In my opinion, SOJA has the most Roots Reggae sound of this generation from the United States, and they are packed with hits. They played a combination of new songs and old ones. One of my favorite moments is their mash-up of their song Shadow from their 2014 release Amid the Noise and Haste, and (probably a song they are tired of playing but means so much to their fans) Everything Changes, I appreciate them mixing it in as it is such a beautiful and powerful song. I was thrilled to hear SOJA end their set off as powerfully as they started – with I Don’t Wanna Wait as their second to last bringing the energy in the audience to their tippy toes trying to watch and catch a glimpse of Jacob, Trevor, Bobbie Jo, Hellman, Ken, and Ryan. I did not anticipate them bringing it full circle back to their 2006 first album, Get Wiser with the OG song,
Sorry that got many of us hooked on their beautiful music.

Day 2 was a magical day with approachable, humble artists, who were all about connecting with their fans – starting before I could even open my eyes with SOJA’s Jacob Hemphill (and we would meet Trevor Young the next day with his wife in our elevator, just as great and humble), The Harbor Boys, and Ballyhoo! connecting with the local crowd, Jesse Royal going out of his way and getting down with the crowd like no other artist had done this year, and Colle sticking around to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans much longer after his set was finished in blistering heat. Much respect for these artists for being more than just musicians!

Matt Grube
Todd Judd