Natty Nation rocks the roots of reggae

Natty Nation is working hard to put its own spin on Jamaican music. Although the band's home base of Madison, Wisc. may not seem like the obvious place to create island jams, Natty Nation has been gaining popularity throughout the Midwest, receiving favorable reviews from KDHX FM in St. Louis and the Chicago Sun-Times.\nAt 10 p.m. on Saturday, the Bloomington community will have the opportunity to see Natty Nation perform live at Uncle Fester's in support of its fifth album, Inatty in Jah Music. \nNatty Nation is the result of a fallout from when four of its five members left a band called Arawak Jah in December 1995. Two months later, Natty Nation formed to produce a reggae sound with a rock edge and a hip-hop soul. The group's newest CD was released on its own record label, Inatty, and contains 15 songs, including two remixes by DJ Scattershot and a song titled "No Apology," based on the Sept. 11 tragedy. \nThe five group members are Demetrius "Jah Boogie" Wainwright, Stefan R. "Rastrues" Truesdell, Peter "Ras Kikit" Johnston, Pauly "Dr. Bric Da Brac" Willis, Aaron "Eyes of Moses" Konkol, and Steven "Cup-O-Tea" Cadle. \nWainwright, lead singer and bass player of Natty Nation, says everyone was friends in Racine, Wis. before becoming a band. \n"We knew each other for over a decade," Wainwright says. "We met through the love of the music."\nBut the band encountered tragedy in late 2001 when Jeffrey Maxwell died of cancer. Maxwell contributed vocals and songwriting skills to the Natty Nation sound. Truesdell, who plays lead and rhythm guitars and contributes back vocals, says that after Maxwell's death the group became more focused on the big picture. \n"It's definitely a change when you lose such a brother in your life in all aspects, not just music," Truesdell says. "The music I feel stays true to what we were working on when J-Maxx (Maxwell) had to stop playing and concentrate on his health. We have really grown as musicians as well as songwriters."\nDennis Graham is the owner of OneTen, a company specializing in promotional work for bands including Natty Nation. He has seen the band play over 200 times and says the latest CD is dedicated to the memory of Maxwell. Snippets of Maxwell's past interviews are placed as interludes between the songs on Inatty in Jah Music. \nAfter Maxwell left the group, the band welcomed Konkol, who added his fresh keyboard sounds to the group's music. \nNatty Nation finds inspiration from spontaneous ideas, jam sessions, and everyday events. The group's latest CD also features "Hold On Strong," which deals with the U.S. government imprisoning too many people in society. \n"We have more black men in prison than in college," Truesdell says. "All the songs have a special meaning to me because we wrote them all."\nWainwright describes its latest CD as "a vibe trip from beginning to end." Having its music compared to reggae legends such as Bob Marley, Wainwright says the sound of Natty Nation is "American music with a reggae style." \n"Because the band is mostly African-American, we have mixed our style with a reggae style and we are bridging the gap," he says.\nNatty Nation has toured in 27 states and has performed over 700 shows in the past six years. Graham says the group will be touring extensively in 2003 and is looking to take its "hard reggae-rock sound" to Europe, Japan and possibly South America in the future.\nWhile the group is performing in shows and festivals to support its latest CD, which took the group around 10 months to produce, Natty Nation has already begun work on its next album. Wainwright hopes the next album will be out sometime at the end of the year. But the group is not sure whether it will be a CD of live recordedings or studio tracks that did not make Inatty in Jah Music.\nGraham says Natty Nation fans range in age from two to eighty-two. He also says the group is very popular with the college "jam-band crowd." \nGraham says Natty Nation does receive radio play that is usually in conjunction with the band's touring schedule. Graham adds that although the band is not currently signed, it has been presented with the opportunity after performing in such showcases as Austin's South by Southwest and New York City's CMJ MusicFest. \nWainwright says fans should expect a lot of dancing, heartfelt messages, sweating and good vibrations in a Natty Nation performance.\n"If you want a negative message, then a Natty Nation performance is not the place for you," Wainwright says.\nFor more information on Natty Nation and its music, visit www.nattynation.com.