There are a lot of people out there who think we’re crazy trying to bootstrap an online zine. Everybody knows there isn’t any money in content. Content is free. It’s a hamster wheel. You can get more attention pumping one artist’s Twitter feed than you can telling stories. The real money is in tickets, merch, and recorded music. But here’s the thing with Rootfire: we’re not betting that the world will want to pay us for our content; we’re betting that there’s value in the community that surrounds progressive reggae.

We believe this movement has legs and taps something real that’s been around a long time and has proven it can change with the times. Riddim and message. Simple, soulful, and hard to pull off. We’re betting on the fact that in our crazy, mixed-up and beautiful digital world, there’s an analog bassline that says people need to share ideas and values and hopes and dreams in order to be part of something bigger.

Welcome to Issue 6 of the new Rootfire. This week’s issue features The Green and includes the debut of our new Live Series. I don’t know exactly where to start with talking about The Green. Our relationship is deep, because they took a chance on me and I took a chance on them and together we’ve done things we couldn’t have imagined. Think of this week as a picture of a band that’s already bet on what we’re betting on. Bands don’t come out of Hawaii very often, because, especially as they’re starting off, the cards are stacked against them. The upfront costs of all the flights, gear, vehicles, and hotels make every tour a gamble that could bust you. Besides, you’re a long way from home and there’s the whisper in your ear saying island music is its own thing, something people outside won’t get. But JP, Caleb, Ikaika, Zion, BW, Jordan, and Les have taken a chance on the fact that they could develop a fan base wherever they went because they play reggae music and they can move a crowd.

A few days ago, The Green was in Charlottesville on my birthday, opening for SOJA at the Jefferson Theater. It was a proud moment for me to see the guys killing it in front of a sold out crowd in my hometown. But there was something even more powerful for me about standing in that crowd, and it was realizing that those two bands could sell out any venue on any continent in the world, because every type of person likes our kind of music.

Root down, live up.