(photo by Beverly Shaw)
Since her departure from Jamaica in late March, Hawaii's Irie Love has had an action-packed schedule including a promotional stop in Los Angeles where she paid visits to Native Wayne's Smoke-In program at Indie 103.1 FM and Barbara Barabino and Dread Scott's "Get Up Stand Up" program at KDAY 93.7 FM.
Irie Love is currently touring with Morgan Heritage through the American Southeast singing at club dates in several cities such as Little Rock, Orlando and Dallas and most recently at the14th Annual Austin Reggae Festival on April 22nd. The singer is performing three of her originals, "Put Jah First," "It Was Me" and "Freedom" marking the first time that she has appeared as a solo artist on a multi-city tour.
Irie is also lending her experience as a background vocalist, performing with the group as sister Una Morgan is not touring with the band at present, due to the recent birth of a child. As Irie Love's star continues to rise, she explains, "Touring with Morgan Heritage has been an amazing opportunity to learn and get great exposure. It has been a dream of mine to work with them ever since I saw them live for the first time in Hawaii, and now here I am."
This lag of the tour schedule will now proceed to Guadeloupe, St. Maarten, and French Guiana, concluding at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival on May 4th. Irie Love will return to Jamaica immediately after to film the video for the remake of the Dennis Brown classic "Revolution" which she has recorded with Ed D.
As the tour has unfolded, Irie has received great feedback from fans through her popular My Space page, myspace/irielovemusic. After numerous requests for her material, two songs, "Freedom" and "Put Jah First" are now available as digital downloads through the My Space Snocap digital purchase system.
Irie Love began singing at age thirteen. She was given the name Irie by her father, an avid reggae fan and Love is her mother's family name. She grew up in Hawaii in a small town called Kailua on the island of O'ahu, where Irie was encouraged by her mother to sing solos at the family church. Her six foot-tall stature and natural beauty brought numerous opportunities for both runway and print modeling work.
In 1998, Irie won a statewide talent competition. One of the judges for the contest was the CEO of Quiet Storm Records. Her first single, a reggae rendition of the Chaka Khan classic, "Tell Me Something Good", appeared on the best-selling Quiet Storm compilation ROOTS MUSIC, VOLUME 2. The label used her likeness on promotional tools by creating life-size-posters for record store merchandising throughout theHawaiian Islands.
Irie became a fixture in the Hawaiian reggae scene, supporting international acts that would tour the islands such as roots reggae greats Steel Pulse and Don Carlos. In 2000, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her music studies at Azusa Pacific University. Her strong voice and precise pitch control soon garnered Irie work as a session and touring vocalist, singing support vocals for the likes of Pink, Anthony Hamiltion, Dave Hollister and Chaka Khan.
It was at this point that she partnered with Kingston, Jamaica native Lloyd Shaw and his Los Angeles- based Issachar Productions label. She began writing songs and teaching herself to play the acoustic guitar. In the summer of 2006, Irie Love set up a base in Kingston, Jamaica where she had the honor of being named one of twelve finalists in the "Irie FM Red Stripe Big BreakCompetition." This led to a mini-tour of the island with reggae artists Tarrus Riley and Gyptian. Irie gave interviews on Hype TV, TVJ and CVM networks in Jamaica and her music was featured each week on Irie FM radio throughout the duration of the competition.
Recent solo performances have included: the Western Consciousness festival in April 2006 in Savannah-La-Mar, Jamaica, the UCLA Jazz/Reggae Festival in Los Angeles in May 2006, December 2006 with the artist Fiji at the KCCN FM 100 Birthday Bash held at the Waikiki Shell in Hawaii, and her second Jamaican festival appearance at Rebel Salute in January 2007.
IrieFM's popular morning DJ Elise Kelly has the song "Put Jah First" in daily rotation, making her a well-respected new voice in the competitive Jamaican reggae scene.
Numerous producers are recording Irie Love on their hottest rhythms. Most recently she voiced "Are You Feelin' Me?" on Jazzy T's� Untouchable� rhythm which includes such artiste as Sizzla and Wayne Marshall. Irie has voiced several songs at Freddie McGregor's Big Ship Studios where she recorded a combination with Freddie entitled, "Let Me Down Easy." His young, prolific son Steven McGregor produced "It Was Me" for the Big Ship label and it is slated for release on the Forever Riddim at the end of April.
Irie continues to record tracks with several top producers such as Bobby Digital, Sly & Robbie, Christopher Birch, Mario Lawrence and Q million adding to a powerful set of existing songs in anticipation of her full-length album, THE LIFE OF LOVE. News from Reggae Festival Guide |
