Citizen Cope Brings Roots, Rock Reggae and Consciousness to California Roots Music and Arts Festival By Shelah Moody

         “I’m very centered around the song. I want the song to be super important. I want the lyrics to be super important. I think that there’s just storytelling that’s happened in music that I just wanted to put in with something that I felt sounded cool.” — Citizen Cope

         When Citizen Cope and his four-member band took the Caliroots stage and played the first few riffs of the hip hop infused, “Let the Drummer Kick,” I knew Friday was gonna be a good day at the Monterey mega festival.

         I was excited when I found out that Citizen Cope would be performing at the 10th annual California Roots Music and Arts Festival. So I reached out to his management at Rootfire Records for an interview. I was told that the Memphis born, Washington D.C.-based singer, musician and lyricist was very particular about interviews and they wanted to make sure I did my due diligence and could ask questions beyond the general Wikipedia fare. Most of all, they wanted to make sure I was familiar with Citizen Cope’s music.

         Hmm, I thought. I’d downloaded his current album, “Heroin and Helicopters” and found that his music was deeply rooted in the American blues tradition. Tracks like “Caribbean Skies,” “Justice” and especially the sensual and intriguing “Walk Sally” let me know that he was a damn good storyteller.

         I first became familiar with Citizen Cope, aka  Clarence Greenwood, after seeing him perform live on the line up of the 40th-anniversary tribute concert to Marley “Exodus” album the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2017. On the bill with Grammy-winning artists such as Ziggy and Stephen Marley, Cyril Neville, Gary Clark, Jr., and Tom Morello, Citizen Cope performed a cover of Bob Marley’s “ Heathen.” Cope’s syncopation and delivery of the Rastafarian anthem were amazing! He had transformed “Heathen” into an urban cautionary tale, adding his own blues, rock and folk flare.  

     While doing a deeper dive into Citizen Cope’s career, I found that he had collaborated with Carlos Santana and that his wife, Alice Smith, is also a brilliant musician, and the two often make beautiful music together. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yVyyqgpambo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yVyyqgpambo

    I caught up with Citizen Cope in the press room after his Caliroots performance.

Streetwise Radio: What is your impression of the California Roots Music and Arts Festival and how did you come about performing here?

 

Citizen Cope: I was asked to do the show about six months ago. It’s been a blast. I’ve never had the opportunity to play here, but it’s a beautiful part of the country, a beautiful part of the world. Being in this atmosphere has been great.

Streetwise Radio: How did you hook up with the Marley family for their historic 2017  “Exodus” concert in Los Angeles, and what was it like performing Bob Marley’s “Heathen” on stage?

Citizen Cope: It was interesting because obviously, I’m a huge Bob Marley fan and pay respect to what he was able to do in his lifetime and the legacy he’s left. So, they asked me to be a part of it and I was very interested in being able to sing one of Bob Marley’s songs, but I didn’t know that “Heathen” was going to be my song. They asked me to perform the song, which isn’t in our main rotation, like “Natural Mystic.” I knew Ziggy and Stephen wanted to do “Natural Mystic.” It was a special night.

Streetwise Radio: “Heroin and Helicopters” are listed as folk rock on iTunes. How do the blues idiom and the storytelling tradition fit into your music?

Citizen Cope: I don’t like to put the music in a category. I think it’s folk rock, but it’s more to me...it’s somewhat of an urban folk because it deals with deeper rhythms and slower rhythms. I’m very centered around the song. I want the song to be super important. I want the lyrics to be super important. I think that there’s just s storytelling that’s happened in music that I just wanted to put in with something that I felt sounded cool.

Streetwise Radio: What is “Duck Confit,” the lead track on “Heroin and Helicopters,” about?

Citizen Cope: Well, it’s just a spoken word poem, and it deals with kind of free expression and poetry. You have to listen to the poem to get your own ideas. When I write poems, it just goes off the top of the head to the pen, and then I don’t really change much of it, so it ends up making sense, but it can be complex sometimes.

Streetwise Radio: Tell me more about my favorite song on “Heroin and Helicopters,” “Sally Walks.”

Citizen Cope: (Smiles) Everybody knows Sally. “Sally Walks” is about a woman who a guy hadn’t seen in a long time. Everybody knows somebody who’s taken the hard road yet is always able to take care of themselves. Pretty much, you don’t know if it’s me I’m talking about or a woman.

Streetwise Radio: You are record label mates with one of tonight’s headliners, Steel Pulse. Have they influenced your music in any way?

Citizen Cope: Well, it’s really hard not to be influenced by their music and by what they’ve done and accomplished. They’re still so vibrant and alive, and touching people in such a way.  So many people haven’t really been able to see and experience what an authentic reggae band is because they’re not around that much anymore. All these new reggae artists that are coming up get to experience a touch of that.

Streetwise Radio: What’s it like on the block where you live?

Citizen Cope: On the block where I live right now, it’s very quiet, and it’s somewhat suburban (laughs). It’s in the city, but it’s not as aggressive or intimidating as some of the blocks I’ve lived on. But it’s also not as much fun (laughs).

Hear Citizen Cope on regular rotation on Streetwise Radio.

Here’s a clip of Citizen Cope performing at the California Roots Music and Arts Festiva:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cVLbiPZcWJ0

Here are some photo highlights from the 10th annual Caliroots festival.



Don Carlos



The Skints



David Hinds

Titans of Music Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Bob Marley’s “Exodus” Album

By Shelah Moody





Ziggy Marley and Tom Morello 



Photos Courtesy of Tuff Gong Worldwide, copyright 2017

On Nov. 1 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, titans of reggae, rock, R&B, blues and New Orleans funk joined Ziggy and Stephen Marley in an all-star celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Bob Marley and the Wailers’  “Exodus” album.
 Released in June, 1977, “Exodus,” inspired by the 1976 assassination attempt at Bob Marley’s Kingston, JA home, which led him to leave Jamaica and take refuge in England, was hailed by “Time” magazine as the album of the century.
 The sold-out Exodus 40 Live concert was orchestrated by Bob Marley’s eldest sons, multiple Grammy winners Ziggy and Stephen Marley, in collaboration with bassist/producer Don Was.



Stephen Marley and Cyril Neville 

  They put together a true movement of Jah people; a revolutionary dream band featuring Cyril Neville (Neville Brothers) on percussion, Terence Higgins (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) on drums, Ranoy Gordon and Lamar “Riff Raff” Brown (longtime guitarist and keyboardist for Stephen Marley), organist Ray Angry  known for his work with Christina Aguilera and Ja Rule) and Peter Stroud (known for his work with Sheryl Crow and Don Henley) on  lead guitar.



Aloe Blacc

 Each of the special guests on the Exodus 40 Live bill brought their own interpretations of Bob Marley’s music to the stage, some smooth and charismatic like Aloe Blacc’s version of “Waiting in Vain” and some introspective, like Jim James version of “Turn Your Lights Down Low.”
In one poetic moment, Stephen stood behind Cyril Neville and played the electric guitar as Neville sang the lyrics of Bob Marley’s “Guiltiness” in his raspy, wisdom-soaked voice.
“Whoa to the downpressor/they’ll eat the bread of sad tomorrow.”
Decades before “Exodus” was produced, Jamaican artists drew inspiration from the New Orleans R&B and blues artists they heard on the radio, hence, the evolution of reggae music.
In another poetic moment, Stephen and Ziggy rocked their electric guitars as Citizen Cope, eyes closed, sang a soulful version of “Heathen,” complimented by the sensual backing vocals of Briana Lee and Maiya Skyes.
In a glorious crescendo, during Ziggy and Stephen’s performance of the “Exodus” title track, special guest Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine delivered what will go down in history as one of the most bad-booty guitar solos of all time.


   Tom Morello 
 
  Morello made his guitar whisper, then talk, wail, then shout, then scream. Then, he flipped over his guitar and played it with his teeth. On the back of Morello’s guitar was a hand-written sign with a clear message.
“Fuck Trump.” 
The audience went wild. There was one more message scrawled on the front of Morello’s guitar: “Arm the Homeless.”
Social media lit up with comments about whether blatant political statements were appropriate at a reggae concert. Lest we forget, reggae music is peace music but it is also protest music as well as a catalyst for change.
“Exodus was a natural theme for Marley,” Vivien Goldman writes in “The Book of Exodus: The Making & Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ album of the century.”  (Three Rivers Press, 2006). ”Its issues of power, betrayal, hope disillusionments and the search for serenity were all uppermost in his mind as he created the ‘Exodus’ album with the Wailers. The Book of Exodus deals with leaving familiar oppression behind, braving the unknown and letting faith guide you to a better future.”



   The Exodus 40 Live concert followed Tuff Gong Worldwide’s release of “Exodus: The Movement Continues…” a restatement, reissue, 40th anniversary edition of Bob Marley & the Wailers classic. Old school reggae fans will be glad to know that this version is also available on vinyl and cassette at Urban Outfitters for $12.99.
“It’s been 40 years since the release of the original ‘Exodus’ album, so we decided to do something very special: give the listeners a brand new perspective by mixing the album from scratch once again; the only difference being I am now the mixing engineer and it’s 2017, not 1977,” Ziggy writes in the album’s liner notes. “Along the way, I’ve discovered many gems in the original sessions, whether it be instrument parts that were not used, alternate vocal takes, alternate takes of songs, etc.”
On June 18, Ziggy Marley and the LA Philharmonic performed a beautiful, classical version of the song “Exodus” at the Hollywood Bowl in celebration of the album’s 40th anniversary.
For more information, go to www.ziggymarley.com and www.tuffgongworldwide.com.

Listen to the music of Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley and Stephen Marley on Streetwise Radio!