Rebelution now has five studio albums and a live DVD/CD under their collective belts. Theyve seen two of their studio albums, 2012s Peace Of Mind, 2014s Count Me In, make top 15 debuts on Billboard magazines all-genre Top 200 album chart. The band has grown a grassroots following to the point that it headlines outdoor amphitheaters in many markets.

But singer/guitarist Eric Rachmany hardly sounds like he has everything figured out as a performer and artist. Thats actually good news for fans of the reggae-rooted band because it means theyre likely to see a better version of the band each time Rebelution goes on tour. This summer's tour makes a stop at North Charleston Riverfront Park on Friday.

I mean, every year, we become a little bit more comfortable on stage and we are able to let loose a little bit more, Rachmany said during a recent phone interview. This whole project, Rebelution, has been a learning process throughout the years. We started this band not really knowing what we were doing. We were just doing it for fun. And we kind of had to learn how to become better entertainers over the years. Every year we just get a little bit better and we become stronger musicians and stronger bandmates and better performers. Were learning new things as we go.

What: Rebelution: The Good Vibes Summer Tour 2017

When: 6:15 p.m. Friday, July 21

Where: North Charleston Riverfront Park

Tickets and info: $30-$35; http://www.musicfarm.com

As Rachmany suggests, Rebelution was anything but seasoned and polished when the band first starting making noise in 2004 on the burgeoning Cali reggae/rock scene. Thats when Rachmany met his future bandmates Rory Carey (keyboards) Wesley Finley (drums) and Marley D Williams (bass) while attending college in the Santa Barbara, California, area.

The group took a do-it-yourself- approach to building its career, self-producing a self-titled 2006 EP, followed by its first full-length album, Courage To Grow, in 2007 and 2009s Bright Side of Life.

The groups growing musical ambition and abilities really started to show on Peace Of Mind. For that album, the group branched beyond its reggae foundation, adding a rock edge to Comfort Zone, Lady In White and Day By Day, doing a gentle acoustic ballad, Route Around, and mixing a bit of a lilting hip-hop flavor into the ballad Closer I Get.

The diversification in sound continued on Count Me In (the title track and De-Stress brought a strong element of soul into the proceedings). But with the 2016 album, Falling Into Place, Rebelution shifted back toward emphasizing their reggae roots, sounding more in command of the form than ever.

For Falling Into Place, the group teamed up with several outside producers/songwriters on several tracks. Dancehall singer Protoje adds a guest vocal to Inhale/Exhale, one of the standout songs on the album, while producers/songwriters Dwayne Supa Dups Chin-Quees and Yeti Beats were among the artists that produced tracks on the album.

Just as Rebelution has continued to grow musically, the band members continue to sharpen their game as a live unit. For his part, Rachmany said he has learned how to overcome his natural tendency to not want to be a focal point on stage and can now give performances that are honest and translate the passion he feels for the music to audiences.

Thats one thing Ive really learned over the years is to just get comfortable in the music, he said. You know, Im the kind of person who doesnt really like being the center of attention. I definitely dont desire that attention. One way Im able to get through a show is just by really getting into the art and not focusing on the fact that there may be thousands of people looking at me. So in that regard, I feel like I can get through anything. As long as the music is playing and Im thinking about the music and getting into my guitar playing and singing and really focusing on the creativity, then it doesnt really matter if there are cameras in my face and people staring at me. That came over time.

And now theres a document that illustrates how far Rebelution has come as a live act. This spring, the band released a DVD/CD, Live at Red Rocks, which documents a summer 2015 show at the famous Colorado outdoor amphitheater.

The band decided to do the live project, in a large part, because fans have been saying for years that the group is at its best on stage.

For the longest time a lot of people have said Rebelution is a live band, Rachmany said. So we wanted to really show our audience that hasnt seen us perform live that this is what we can do.

The timing of Live at Red Rocks might seem a bit odd in that the show documented on the release preceded the release in spring 2016 of Falling Into Place, and as such does not feature any songs from that latest studio release.

Rachmany said, though, there simply wasnt time to get Live at Red Rocks edited, mixed and prepared for release before the band needed to release Falling Into Place.

We definitely took our time putting it out, but we wanted to make sure it was right and ready and perfect in our eyes, he said.

Read the original post:

Reggae-rooted Rebelution always a work in progress - Charleston Post Courier