Respect | High Hopes Band

High Hopes Band

With their roots steeped deep in the tradition of the classic 70’s period of conscious reggae, the High Hopes Band (HHB) is considered one of New England’s premiere reggae bands. High Hopes combines influences of roots reggae, dub, & RnB into its own style and sound. High Hopes has been performing throughout New England for the last 10 years. 2015 marked their 3rd year of extensively touring the U.S. Virgin Islands and their first East coast tour routing in September. High Hopes has provided tour support for Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Freddie McGregor, Maxi Priest & Midnite. They’ve shared the stage with Steel Pulse, Third World & Yellow Man. A huge highlight for the band was opening for Ziggy Marley’s Fly Rasta tour in 2014 to a sold-out venue in Rhode Island.

High Hopes Band pulls from the paths of many golden-era reggae musicians — Jamaican artists of the late 60s-early 70s who drew upon the Motown, country/Americana, and rock & blues movements of their time — and aims to fuse that classic, orthodox sound with today’s current styles. The result is an amalgam of genres: sweet hints of R&B, soul, and country music matched with spicy influences from second-generation Jamaican musicians.

Members of HHB include guitarist and vocalist ‘Jason Dick’; bassist ‘Julie Feola’ who keeps the band grounded in the foundation of their heavy roots sound; vocalist ‘Sebastian Franks’, whose soulful vibe, creative writing skills, and catchy melodic hooks adds a fresh neo-soul like RnB influence to the band’s already diverse sound; keyboardist ‘Paddy McDonnell’ who brings his own reggae dub approach to original material written by the band; the band’s percussionist, ‘Papa Zekes’, a traditional drummer, who is the ‘glue’ in the band’s sound. He provides the intricate sounds that keep the music grooving;  and drummer ‘A.J. Maynard’, the newest addition to HHB, who also plays guitar and saxophone, the later of which can be heard on the 2015 single ‘Big Brother’. Irie Magazine highly recommends you get High Hopes Band’s new single, ‘Big Brother’, today as a free download (click here). Nuff Respect!