Description

Jah Roots was a reggae band from Springfield, Missouri. The band was active from 2001 to 2009. They produced records under the independent label GanJah Records. The band released several albums and has a local and international following. Jah Roots broke up in 2009, with Lead Singer/Songwriter Josh Heinrichs (who wrote the majority of Jah Roots material) carrying on playing Jah Roots favorites and new material as Josh Heinrichs & The Soul Riddim Band. Jah Roots recorded its first album, Steppin Out Of Babylon in 2002. In 2005 they released 2 albums More Herbs for the Youth and Babylon Weak Heart w/ Baddaflexx. Their fourth album titled Crucial was released in 2006, and was a Billboard Charts Top 100 Reggae album as well as being listed in the "Top Ten Reggae Albums of 2007" on the island of Guam. In April 2008 their fifth album Joy was released, it charted on the "Billboard charts Top 100 Reggae Albums" as well. For this album they were joined by reggae guitarist Junior Marvin – who served as lead guitarist for Bob Marley & The Wailers from 1977-1980. Joy featured "Ganja Weed", which won "Best Reggae Song 2008" by the Global Marijuana Music Awards. Jah Roots has toured with Grammy Award winning artists, Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, Bunny Wailer. Have shared the stage with Luciano (singer), George Clinton (musician), H.R., Morgan Heritage, EOTO, Soldiers of Jah Army, Groundation, The Itals, Anthony B, Culture (band), Capleton, The Beat (band), Ky-Mani Marley and many more over the years. They have played at South by Southwest '07 & festivals such as: Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, Chicago Reggae Fest, Tulsa, Oklahoma Reggae Fest, Dayton, Ohio Reggae Fest, San Antonio Reggae Fest, Schwagstock and were becoming regulars at the Austin Reggae Festival. The band is very good friends with and also toured regularly with Cas Haley from America's Got Talent In Spring 2009 the band announced it was going on "Indefinite Hiatus" due to members wanting more family time & personal creative differences. Lead Singer and Songwriter Josh Heinrichs is quoted as saying "There were many factors to the break-up of Jah Roots. To be very honest after close to six years on the road together I had just had enough of being away from my family and missing birthdays and important events in my life. With my solo career I am now able to include my family A LOT more in my traveling and touring and haven't missed a birthday since the breakup. Also there were financial discrepancies and management difficulties that were intolerable. There had been many disagreements for the past five years and I was very unhappy with a lot of the decisions being made about the future of Jah Roots. I decided it was time to break free & do my own thing." In May/June 2009 it was announced that lead singer Josh Heinrichs would release 2 solo albums in 2009. His solo EP "Things Change" was released on July 6 exclusively on iTunes, ThePier.org & CD Baby. "The six-song EP, titled "Things Change", is an acoustic record with some backing instrumentation from members of SeedLove(Richard Faught) and 77 Jefferson (Miles Brown)." Two singles, "Things Change" & "Joy" hit #1 & #2 on CD Baby Reggae Charts the first week of September 2009, staying there for over 3 weeks, while the whole album peaked at #3 behind legendary artists like Burning Spear. In June 2009 it was announced that Cas Haley & former Jah Roots lead singer, Josh Heinrichs, would release "Favorites", a collection of modern and classic reggae favorites redone by Haley and Heinrichs. Announced to be released in late summer 2009 by Big Karma Records, the album was postponed to due to Producer, Jim Slaton's unexpected death from a heart attack in August 2009. The album currently has no release date. The album was mastered by Rob Fraboni who also produced and mastered artists such as Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Etta James,etc. In July 2009 Heinrichs released a statement via his myspace confirming he had a new backing band together "The Soul Riddim Band" and would soon start touring again, playing all of his original songs he wrote while in Jah Roots and new songs. In September 2009 Heinrichs released 2 different collaborative singles, "Sweetest Thing" with Clear Conscience from California and "These Days" with 77 Jefferson from Kansas City which were both well received. In October 2009, Heinrichs toured Hawaii to great reception, playing The Kulia Roots Fest with Ooklah The Moc, Stranger, Inna Vision and more reggae bands to help preserve the Hawaiian language. He also appeared on the television show "HI Surveillance" Early Distribution Jah Roots initially promoted itself with free record distribution to build a wider audience base and increase concert attendance. The bands singer, Josh Heinrichs, is quoted in an interview saying this about their album distribution "Before MySpace and before we were able to put our music up for free download online we used to all go home and burn tons of copies of our albums off and give them away for free. We gave away 1000's of CD's this way and it really made a huge difference in the attendance at our live shows and then when we were actually able to put out our first real album Crucial (album) our fans were totally willing to help us out and throw down $10. They had already heard the music and liked it." The band also mailed CDs to fans in Europe, Asia and South America. Motion Picture & Television Appearances In 2008, Jah Roots entered the motion picture scene with an appearance on American Music: Off the Record, a documentary interrogating the American music industry. The film also features Noam Chomsky, Les Paul, Buckethead, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, Sonic Youth and many more. In 2009, Heinrichs appeared on "HI Surveillance" a Hawaiian Television show. In a 30 minute documentary style feature on the Kulia Roots Fest, a benefit concert/festival held every year for the Hawaiian Language. In winter 2009, Heinrichs also made his first national television appearance on WGN-TV mid-day news. Heinrichs was featured and played 3 songs live on national television.

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http://www.kideso.co.uk/kvp/video/152/Jah-Roots--Good-Highs


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