Bob Marley would have turned 70 today and Rootfire is celebrating the man, the music, and the mystic. Skip work, skip class, skip down the street smoking a spliff and waving your Rasta flag… do what you like, but find a way to celebrate the impact Tuff Gong had on all of we.

Through the week, we’ve been featuring writing from musicians and artists about their relationship with Bob Marley’s music. The Editor, Giles Morris, traces a technicolor thread that tracks The Singer’s struggle to free his legacy. Semaj Surreal communicates the feeling of having his sister’s boyfriend drop Legend on his coffee table in Rochester, NY, no clue at that moment that the voice on the tape would shape the rest of his life. Joshua Swain remembers the way Babylon By Bus broke through the glam and grunge surrounding his Columbia, S.C. soundscape, haunting him to the point of obsession. Maybe you can catch the duppy in his performance of “Small Axe” live at The Sugar Shack. And our good friend Eddie “Monosnaps” Mallin tells the story of seeing Bob Marley live at his last outdoor concert, at Dalymount Park in Dublin, offering up the pictures to prove it. You have a story about how Bob changed your life? Jot it down and send it to us at [email protected].

We’re also proud to announce that we’ve launched rootfire.net 2.0, which apart from looking spiffier and showing off the photography of Josué Rivas is designed to improve your mobile experience by featuring Rootfire music– world premiere cuts you can’t hear anywhere else, curated Spotify playlists, and killer original mixtapes from our DJs. There’s a punky reggae party and it’s tonight; start your Friday right by plugging into Rootfire, Issue #4. Root down, live up!

Seth

Contributors to this issue:

Giles Morris (author & editor)
James Searl (author)
Joshua Swain (author)
Seth Herman (author)
Eddie Mallin “monosnaps” (cover photo & Dublin photo features)
Andy Pritiken (graphic design)
Curtis Bergesen (community mgmt)

Contact us: [email protected]