California Roots Music and Arts Festival
| California Roots Music and Arts Festival | |
|---|---|
 Rebelution performing at Cali Roots | |
| Genre | Reggae, Roots Reggae, Reggae rock, Folk, Hip-hop |
| Dates | May (last weekend) |
| Location(s) | Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey, California |
| Years active | 2010–Present |
| Founded by | Jeff Monser |
| Attendance | 13,000 (per day) |
| Website | Official website |
The California Roots Music and Art Festival (Cali Roots) is an American annual music and art festival, featuring reggae, reggae rock, folk, hip hop acts and live painting on-stage. The festival was founded in 2010 by Jeff Monser, an artist and screen printing shop owner. It is held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California which was previously home of the Monterey Pop Festival where Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire in 1967. In its first year, the festival began as a one-day event headlining the Dirty Heads and Tribal Seeds. Today, The California Roots Festival has grown enormously in both size and attendance. It is organized over three full days with more than 11,000 attendees each day.[1] It is described as the largest reggae-rock festival in the world and claims to one of the largest reggae festivals in the United States.[2][3]
History[]
Jeff Monser created the California Roots Music and Arts Festival with the idea of integrating reggae style music with live art experiences. The first versions were small one-day live music events with local attendance and mostly limited to bands drawn from a limited geographic area. Three years later, Dan Sheehan joined as a co-founder of the festival when Monser realized he needed a business partner experienced in both management and production in order for the festival to grow. Sheenan was able to lay the groundwork for managing logistics and securing major reggae acts in order to play at the festival.[4] These changes enabled this one-day music event to evolve into its current three-day form. Together, Monser and Sheenan were able to merge their music and business backgrounds to work together to construct one of the largest reggae and reggae-rock music festival in the world.[3]
Festival Organization[]
The current festival involves curated lineups of live music, interactive art on stage, and engagement of a variety of events related to the practice and celebration of reggae culture over three days. The festival also works closely with pairs with non-profit organizations to raise funds for causes that align with the brand of Cali Roots. In recent years, the event has attracted more than 13,000 people each day. The California Roots Music and Arts Festival continues to grow rapidly. The festival takes steps to allows for freedom of expression and for fans to engage politically through music.[5] Cali Roots Festival has headlined many notable reggae-like bands and artists over the years, including Atmosphere, Rebelution, Nas, Dirty Heads, and Slightly Stoopid.
Performers[]
| Date | Year | Headliners | Openers |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29 | 2010 | Dirty Heads Tribal Seeds |
Thrive, Top Shelf, Seedless, One Drop, Pyrx, The Holdup, 880 South, , Meet Me @ The Pub, Through The Roots, Hallway Ballers, The Alliez, The Release, Matt Masih & The Messengers, Ease Up, Sinizen, Dubious, Kapakahi, My Peoples |
| May 28–29 | 2011 | Rebelution Iration Tribal Seeds |
The Holdup, Thrive, , Ooklah The Moc, , Through The Roots, Wooster, Matt Masih, Stranger, Seedless, , Top Self, Fortunate Youth, Conscious Souls, E.N. Young, HaleAmanO, True Press, High Tide, Jet West, Wasted Noise, Ease Up, Sinizen |
| May 26 | 2012 | Pepper (26th) SOJA (27th) |
J Boog, Anuhea, Mishka, Passafire, Micah Brown, Haleamano, True Press, Hi Roots, E.N. Young, Matt Masih, The Simpkin Project, HB Surround Sound, , One A Chord, Beyond I Sight, Seedless |
| May 27 | The Expendables, Iration, The Green, Thrive, Fortunate Youth, Seedless, , Whiskey Avengers, Just Chill, Sono Vero, Wasted Noise, Fiction 20 Down, Zen Robbi, Jam Kwest, Bare Feet, The Closeouts | ||
| May 24–26 | 2013 | Slightly Stoopid Rebelution Matisyahu |
The Expendables, Dirty Heads, Collie Buddz w/ New Kingston, Tribal Seeds, The Green, Katchafire, Don Carlos, , , Ballyhoo!, Natural Vibrations, , Stick Figure, Seedless, Fortunate Youth, Through The Roots, Thrive, Mystic Roots, Josh Heinrichs w/ 77 Jefferson & Skillinjah, Mike Pinto, Stranger, , Naia Kete, Whiskey Avengers, Fear Nuttin Band, Inna Vision, Three Legged Fox, The VeraGroove, Wait For Green, Arden Park Roots, Matt Masih & The Messengers, High Tide, Just Chill, One A Chord, Wheeland Brothers, Wasted Noise, Dub Seeds, The Closeouts, Kings & Comrades, Codi Jordan, Simple Creation, Black Salt Tone |
| May 23 | 2014 | SOJA, Steel Pulse (23th) Rebelution, Ziggy Marley (24th) Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, 311 (25th) |
J Boog, Katchafire, Stick Figure, Passafire, B Side Players, Cisco Adler, Kimie, Maoli, The Expanders, , Bumpin Uglies, The Steppas, The Stircrazies, Reeform |
| May 24 | Iration, Zion I, Alborosie, Nahko and Medicine for the People, , Los Rakas, Cas Haley, , Saraitah, True Press, Ojo De Buey, Tatanaka, Parafish, Dewey & The Peoples | ||
| May 25 | Pepper, The Green, Skunk Records (25th anniversary live on stage), Groundation, The Movement, New Kingston, , Micah Brown, Beyond I Sight feat. Gonzo, Krooked Treez, Clear Conscience, Black Salt Tone, Iriefuse, White Glove Service | ||
| May 22 | 2015 | SOJA (22nd) The Roots, Michael Franti and Spearhead (23rd) Slightly Stoopid (24th) |
John Butler Trio, Steel Pulse, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Trevor Hall, Dilated Peoples, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Blue King Brown, The Supervillains, Dustin Thomas, , , |
| May 23 | Dirty Heads, Collie Buddz, Chronixx, John Brown's Body, The Skints, Mike Love, , Beebs and Her Honey Makers, , Arise Roots, KBong | ||
| May 24 | Iration, Cypress Hill, Tribal Seeds, G. Love & Special Sauce, Common Kings, Fishbone, Fortunate Youth, Cas Haley, Pacific Dub, Fear Nuttin Band, E.N. Young, Animo | ||
| May 27 | 2016 | Slightly Stoopid Atmosphere (27th) Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Stephen "Ragga" Marley (28th) Rebelution, Michael Franti and Spearhead (29th) |
The Expendables, , Barrington Levy, Katchafire, Fortunate Youth, Ooklah The Moc, Sticky Fingers, Thrive, Seedless, , , AMP Live, Adam Twelve, Westafa |
| May 28 | Pepper, The Green, Tarrus Riley, Mike Love, The Skints, The Expanders, Nattali Rize, , Jordan T, The Oles, Expanders Sound System, Dub Architect | ||
| May 29 | Tribal Seeds, Stick Figure, Protoje, , Raging Fyah, Gondwana, , Josh Heinrichs, Wheeland Brothers, South Bay Dub All Stars, , AMP Live, Bulby York, J. Bowman | ||
| May 26–28 | 2017 | Rebelution Nas Dirty Heads |
SOJA, Iration, Thievery Corporation, Jurassic 5, Stick Figure, Nahko and The Machine For The People, Matisyahu, Collie Buddz, Alborosie, Common Kings, Anthony B, Protoje, Easy Star All Stars, Rising Appalachia, John Brown's Body, Yellowman, , Jah9, Jesse Royal, Mellow Mood, Passafire, RDGLDGRN, Ballyhoo!, Six60, Through The Roots, Zach Deputy, , , , Iya Terra, Beebs, Synrgy, The Late Ones, , Darenots, Skanks Roots Project |
| May 25 | 2018 | Iration Atmosphere (25th) Rebelution, Dispatch (26th) Slightly Stoopid 311 (27th) |
Steel Pulse, Chronixx, E-40, Alpha Blondy, , Brother Ali, Sammy J, The Movement, Ocean Alley, Tropidelic |
| May 26 | Stephen Marley, , Fortunate Youth, Ozomatli, Trevor Hall, The Holdup, , Anuhea, , The Ries Brothers | ||
| May 27 | Tribal Seeds, The Green, Tash Sultana, Xavier Rudd, The Original Wailers, Mike Love, Raging Fyah, New Kingston, | ||
| May 24 | 2019 | Stick Figure Ben Harper and Atmosphere (24th) Slightly Stoopid Dirty Heads (25th) Rebelution SOJA (26th) |
Citizen Cope, Steel Pulse, The Green, Common Kings, , The Skints, Don Carlos, Ballyhoo!, |
| May 25 | Tash Sultana, Pepper, Protoje, The Expendables, G. Love and Special Sauce, The Movement, Iya Terra, Jo Mersa Marley, Ocean Alley, | ||
| May 26 | UB40 feat. Ali & Astro, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Cypress Hill (performing Black Sunday), Collie Buddz, Matisyahu, Alborosie, , Jesse Royal, , Xiuhtezcatl, The Elovaters | ||
| May 22–24* | 2020 | CANCELED | *Original dates were postponed to October 9–11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually festival was canceled.[6]
Scheduled performers: Oct. 9: Rebelution, Atmosphere, |
| May 26–29* | 2021 | CANCELED | *Twice delayed 11th annual festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually was canceled until next year.[7] |
| May 26 | 2022 | Dirty Heads Stephen Marley (26th) Rebelution Atmosphere (27th) Slightly Stoopid Sean Paul (28th) Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley Ice Cube Jimmy Cliff (29th) |
Protoje feat. & Sevana, Fortunate Youth, Alborosie, Demarco, , Turbulence, Tropidelic, |
| May 27 | Chronixx, Pepper, , Brother Ali, Tarrus Riley, The Movement, Satsang, Nattali Rize, Sa-Roc, , Natural Vibrations, Arise Roots, | ||
| May 28 | Tribal Seeds, Trevor Hall, The Green, Collie Buddz, The Expendables, , Dub Inc, Bumpin Uglies, The Elovaters, FIA, | ||
| May 29 | Common Kings, Durand Jones & The Indications, Anthony B, Cultura Profética, Iya Terra, Mike Love, , Through The Roots, , , Sublime with Rome (debut performance) | ||
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Past Line-Ups – California Roots Music & Art Festival 2016". californiarootsfestival.com. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ "Cali Roots hits the right chord". Monterey Herald. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
- ^ a b Joseph, Adam. "How Cali Roots has grown into the world's largest reggae-rock festival in just five years". Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
- ^ "Dan Sheenan". Retrieved 2020-02-13.
- ^ Cooper, Stephen (25 April 2018). "Reggae is the heartbeat of the festival". Retrieved 2020-02-13.
- ^ "California Roots Music and Arts Festival Announce New Dates October 9–11, 2020".
- ^ "Cali Roots canceled for this year, rescheduled for 2022". 23 January 2021.
External links[]
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