Press Release – Ragamuffin Festival

We are pleased to announce that local acts Katchafire, Sola Rosa & Iva Lamkum, Pacific Herbs and Sweet & Irie that will join Wyclef Jean (the Fugees), Shaggy, Steel Pulse, Julian Marley, Sly & Robbie and Sean Kingston for the Raggamuffin …
Media Release – 24/10/09

NZ Bands- join Raggamuffin 2010!

We are pleased to announce that local acts Katchafire, Sola Rosa & Iva Lamkum, Pacific Herbs and Sweet & Irie that will join Wyclef Jean (the Fugees), Shaggy, Steel Pulse, Julian Marley, Sly & Robbie and Sean Kingston for the Raggamuffin Festival on Saturday January 23 at Rotorua International Stadium.

KATCHAFIRE’S debut album Revival sold in excess of 45,000 copies in 2003 and the track Giddy Up was the the biggest selling single that year. Their most recent gold selling album Say What You’re Thinking hit the American Reggae Billboard Top 10 and went to the number one in Hawaii.

An eight-piece band of Maori descent from Hamilton, Katchafire, after touring the world, return to light up the Raggamuffin stage with tracks from their soon to be released new album plus all of our old favourites.

SOLA ROSA have kept good company on the road and in the studio, counting members of Fat Freddy’s Drop, Dimmer, Goldenhorse and Pluto amongst the ranks over the years, not to mention appropriating members of Che Fu, King Kapisi and Anika Moa’s bands and the talents of Nathan Haines and Spikey Tee (Jah Wobble, Bomb The Bass, Morcheeba).

Their releases are critically acclaimed and labels include household names like Ministry of Sound. Joining Sola Rosa is IVA LAMKUM. A Wellingtonian of Samoan Chinese decent, Iva blends funk, soul, jazz and she joins Raggamuffin 2010 to perform the singles Turn Around and Get It Together alongside Sola Rosa.

Tony Fonoti, Spencer Fusimalohi and Carl Perkins from the legendary band HERBS will come together for the first time in over a decade. Along with HOUSE OF SHEM and under the bands original name PACIFIC HERBS, they will perform the best of Herbs songs. Founders of Pacific reggae in the 80s and 90s Herbs were considered Kings of the South Pacific.

They had ten Top 20 singles and the hit French Letter came to express the country’s anti-nuclear stance and along with No Nukes, Nuclear Waste and Light Of The Pacific did as much for the national psyche as they did for popular radio!

Fonoti and Fusimalohi wrote and performed several hits including French Letter, Dragons & Demons, Jah Son, Meteli, and the tribute to Bob Marley – Reggae’s Doing Fine and Perkins wrote/co wrote the classics Long ago and Sensitive to a Smile.

SWEET & IRIE are a nine piece band founded in South Auckland and led by singer/songwriter Ed Ru, a Cook Islander who was born and raised in South Auckland. The bands intention was to create a new wave of reggae music from the South Pacific that is positive and uplifting and which they dubbed Sunshine Reggae.

It worked! Their debut single Feels Like Magic (alongside Horsemen Family) was a top ten hit as was their debut album Localize It released by Dawn Raid earlier this year (2009).

Four kiwi bands, six Internationals – one hot show! Raggamuffin 2010 – Saturday January 23 @ Rotorua International Stadium

TICKETS GO ON SALE – THIS WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28!

Ticketmaster – www.ticketmaster.co.nz ph 0800-111-999

For show details go to: www.raggamuffin.co.nz, www.ampresents.com ;

www.wyclefjean.com / www.steelpulse.com / www.officialslyandrobbie.com / www.seankingston.com / www.katchafire.co.nz / www.solarosa.com / www.myspace.com/ivalamkum / www.houseofshem.com / www.myspace.com/sweetandirie /

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