From backyard BBQs in Southern California beach towns to its rise as one of the most popular reggae rock bands in the country, Fortunate Youth remains devoted to its roots and a simple mission: Spread peace, love, and unity with music.  It’s a mantra of sorts for the multi-faceted sextet from Hermosa Beach, driving a relentless thirst for live performances and an ever-evolving cache of original material dotted with influences of blues, ska, rock, world, soul, and punk. ​ Dedicated to performing live, the ensemble has logged countless miles across the globe, with F.Y. supporting brethren such as Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure, and SOJA.

Bumpin Uglies knows all about hustle. The Maryland reggae-rock band had spent more than adecade on the road, starting with local open mics and backyard parties and growing into roadwarriors, building an ever-expanding audience with sold-out shows in clubs and prime spots atfestivals from coast to coast, on one national tour after another. Then the pandemic hit, andtouring shut down.After being in motion for so long, singer and lead guitarist Brandon Hardesty wasn’t about to sitstill, even if he couldn’t be out on tour. In fact, Bumpin Uglies never really stopped working—they adapted. The group returned to playing backyard parties around Annapolis, where they’rebased, and added socially distanced concerts and full-band livestreams. In the fall of 2020, theyalso started releasing a new song every month as part of a project called the Never EndingDrop.“We felt like prospectors going out and trying to find gold—it was just uncharted territory,”Hardesty says. “We had to figure out a way to make aliving. That’s kind of what being amusician during Covid has felt like to me. You can do it, but you have to be bold.”Hardesty has been bold from the start. He was waiting tables when he started the band in hisearly 20s. With an ear for melodies and the determination to succeed, he poured his time andenergy into making Bumpin Uglies a success. For years, the band did just about everythingthemselves, from booking shows to releasing their own albums, building a sense of momentumalong the way that eventually became self-sustaining, and then Hardesty wasn’t waiting tablesanymore.No surprise, then, that a musician with his strong work ethic found a way to take maximumadvantage of the sudden surplus of time at home. For one thing, he got to hang out with histoddler son, and he and his wife welcomed a new baby. He also wrote a ton of songs. For thefirst time, Hardesty approached songwriting as a discipline, dedicating time to working on newmusic rather than waiting for inspiration to strike and then jotting down ideas in the back of theBumpin Uglies van on his way from one gig to the next.“I just woke up every morning and I made a pot of coffee, and I had this running list of ideas inmy phone for hooks and riffs and progressions,” he says. “I satdown every day and mademyself write a song, and 85 percent of them were pretty good. And it was awesome. I really,really enjoyed the process.”The result is the band’s seventh studio album,Mid-Atlantic Dub, which they recorded in 2021and plan to release this fall. After showing the breadth of Bumpin Uglies’ influences on theNever Ending Drop, from folk to classic country to hip-hop,Mid-Atlantic Dubbrings the group—also featuring Dave Wolf on bass and vocals, Ethan Lichtenberger on keyboards and TJHaslett on drums—back to the core of what they do.“It’s very groove-focused,” Hardesty says. “It’s very hooky, very vibey. It’s very accessible, butthere was no compromise on the storytelling or the lyricism.”     In fact, Hardesty had a lot on his mind while working songs forMid-Atlantic Dub. He hadrecently lost his own father while he was stepping into being a dad himself and letting go of thevestiges of childhood, all during the uncertainty of a global pandemic. It’s all there on “SlowBurn,” featuring Jacob Hemphill from SOJA. “Before the oak you got the sapling and the seed /Before you triumph you will swallow a defeat,” Hardesty sings over unhurried upstroke guitarsand a beat laid back into a deep pocket.“I was doing a lot of growing up during Covid,” he says. “It was very much like a survival thing,and when you’re in that kind of mode, it forces you to cut a lot of bullshit out of your life.”What’s left, in Hardesty’s songwriting as in his daily life, is what’s real, and what’s real stands asolid chance of connecting with an audience that appreciates openhearted lyrics paired with atight reggae-rock vibe.“For me, it’s just all about honesty,” Hardesty says. “That’s what I listen for when I’m listeningto music. I want to feel like whatever the author’s saying is honest.  

Josh Heinrichs is a stalwart in the American and worldwide reggae community. Beginning his own reggae band, Jah Roots, in Springfield, Missouri in 2001 as well as forming his own record label, GanJah Records with his wife, Kaytee. Josh wrote and recorded 5 albums with his former band, Jah Roots, and gained a loyal independent following via Myspace and a tireless touring schedule from 2005-2009. Josh left Jah Roots in 2009 to pursue a solo career and since starting his solo career, he has released a #1 Billboard Reggae album(Good Vibes 2016) & seven other, Top 10 debuting albums. As a solo artist, Josh has toured the entire USA coast to coast multiple times with acts like SOJA, Tribal Seeds & Fortunate Youth and has performed 5 Hawaiian Islands tours with different acts such as J Boog, Anuhea & Ooklah The Moc. Josh has also performed for the island nation of Guam, twice,both times arriving to great fanfare with multiple local Guam television & radio media outlets covering his arrival & performance and thousands of screaming fans singing every word along with Josh during his performances at The Trenchfest Festival at the Guam Greyhound track alongside other acts Katchafire, Iration, Cas Haley, Fortunate Youth and The Green. Over the years since Josh's 2001 start, he has shared the stage along the way with many headline acts like Bob Marley's children(Ziggy,Stephen, Damian,etc...), George Clinton, The Wailers, 311, Slightly Stoopid and many more. Josh has made numerous appearances at music festivals all over the USA, Guam and Hawaii from 4 appearances at The largest Reggae festival in USA, California Roots, to multiple appearances at The Austin, TX Reggae Fest, Chicago Reggae Fest as well as appearances on some of the largest non-Reggae festivals as well like Wakarusa, Summercamp, Gathering of the Vibes and many more. Josh also hosts his own Springfield,MO Reggae Fest annually every year in October which has welcomed acts like SOJA, Junior Marvin of Bob Marley and The Wailers, Marlon "Ganja Farmer" Asher, Natural Vibrations, Mike Pinto and many more to Springfield, Missouri to come perform with Josh in his hometown where he still resides. With all these accolades, years of touring and constantly promoting positive Reggae music through out the world. Josh's form of Reggae music and message remain a constant driving force behind the current reggae scene, worldwide.