Rebelution (band)
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Rebelution is a reggae band from Santa Barbara, California. Current members of Rebelution are Eric Rachmany, Rory Carey, Wesley Finley, and Marley Williams. Matt Velasquez left the group shortly after the release of their first album, Courage to Grow, on which he wrote and sung about half of the songs.
Biography
Originally formed in 2004, members Eric Rachmany (vocals/guitar), Matt Velasquez (vocals/guitar), Rory Carey (keyboard), Wesley Finley (drums), and Marley D. Williams (bass) met in college while residing in Isla Vista, a beach side community in Santa Barbara.
Throughout 2004-2005, Rebelution began to build momentum through consistently playing local shows and by independently releasing an EP.
It definitely went to the next level when we literally had thousands of people watching us perform in Isla Vista on Friday nights
— Eric Rachmany
Rebelution released their first full-length album “Courage to Grow” in June 2007, which would become the breakthrough album for the band. The album was praised for its crafty melodies, socially-conscious lyrics, and savvy musicianship. “Courage to Grow” went on to garner mass downloads and radio play on stations such as San Francisco’s Live 105 where their single “Safe and Sound” was played on heavy rotation, with spins on San Diego’s 91X and Los Angeles’s KROQ. The album was selected as iTunes Editor’s Choice for Best Reggae Album of 2007. In addition, “Courage to Grow” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart.[1]
Two years after their last album, Rebelution released their sophomore full-length album “Bright Side of Life.” On August 4, 2009 “Bright Side of Life” was officially released and dominated the iTunes charts, solidifying the 1 spot on iTunes in the reggae music genre, and the 3 spot for top albums downloaded in the United States in all genres of music. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart.[1]
“Though it was important for all of us in the band to be motivated to continue with what we do best, which is making music, we feel people in the world could use some encouragement in this time to stay motivated as well, which is what we drew a lot of inspiration for this album.”
Rebelution commenting on “Courage to Grow”
The release of “Bright Side of Life” marks the first release under Rebelution’s newly founded record label "87 Music", in association with Controlled Substance Sound Labs, the California based music collective.
The band recently performed at the 2010 Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California along with other well-known acts such as The Expendables (American band), Slightly Stoopid and Lauryn Hill. They recently announced that they would be performing at All Good Music Festival in July 2010.
The band is currently working on a new album and it is expected to drop sometime between Q1 and Q2 of 2011.
Members
Current
- Eric Rachmany - Guitars, Vocals
- Marley D. Williams - Bass
- Rory Carey - Keyboards
- Wesley Finley - Drums
Former
- Matt Velasquez - Guitars, Vocals
Studio albums
- Rebelution (2006)
- Courage to Grow (2007)
- Bright Side of Life (2009)
References
- ^ a b "Rebelution Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved June 18, 2010.