Growing up in a household of musicians, Rochelle Bradshaw expected she too would make music. Reggae was a natural choice in her home country of Jamaica. Finding success in the U.S. wasn't a surprise either.
Living in Fayetteville? And successfully basing a reggae band here? Now, that surprised her.
FAQ
Mountain Street Stage
Music Series
June 7 — Earl and Them with legendary Arkansas blues guitarist Earl Cate
June 14 — Block Street Hot Club gypsy jazz
June 21 — Rochelle Bradshaw and Hypnotion reggae fusion
June 28 — Cutty Rye with bluegrass, rock, blues & jazz influences
July 5 — Bill Dollar & Loose Change rock, folk & country
July 12 — Sons of Otis Malone acoustic country & bluegrass
July 19 — Brick Fields Ozark gospel blues
July 26 — Smokey & The Mirror
Performances take place at 2 p.m. Sundays in Walker Community Room at the Fayetteville Public Library. Admission is free.
FYI
Gulley Park
Concerts Set
Now in its 19th year, the Gulley Park Summer Concert Series takes place at 7 p.m. Thursdays at the park in east Fayetteville. Admission is free.
May 28 — JM Band: An 18-piece big band playing selections from the Great American Songbook, the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s
June 11 — Anthony D’Amato: Heavy-hearted folk shot through with electric streaks of rock ‘n’ roll
June 25 — The Sisters Sweet: Performing original works by Candy Lee
July 9 — Barrett Baber: Arkansas singer/songwriter with a country/soul slant
July 23 – Groovement: A 6-piece funk-rock band that embodies the soul of Northwest Arkansas – fun, unpredictable, and full of life
Aug. 6 — Fast Times: All ’80s all the time
Bradshaw and Hypnotion will bring their brand of reggae fusion to the Fayetteville Public Library June 21 as part of the Mountain Street Stage music series. She hopes people will come to listen and be as surprised they love the music as she was about loving Northwest Arkansas.
Bradshaw met her husband, Hari Newmark, while she was on tour with Joseph Israel. That's how she wound up in Fayetteville.
"I travel a lot. I've always been traveling somewhere, being in crazy places, and this is a really sweet town to live in and feel at peace," she says without a hint of a Jamaican accent. Asked about that, she says, "In Jamaica you learn to speak proper English as a kid. I can have an accent if you want one!"
Reggae comes with its own set of misconceptions, just like that one, she admits. Even other musicians dismiss it as "just reggae," and many think it's music to get high by.
"That's one big thing that is not true," she says. "It's music to get high on life by. Just relax and accept it, you will get high. I feel like that all the time!"
Reggae is part of the variety that Susie Walker, adult services librarian, seeks for the summer concert series, now in its seventh year. Most of the selections happen by word of mouth, she adds, as bands offer to perform or fans suggest their favorites.
"We're just very lucky we have a community that supports our library and wants to participate in it."
-- Becca Martin-Brown
NAN What's Up on 05/22/2015