Andru Branch & Halfway Tree are nominated for “Group of the Year” at the upcoming Reggae North Music Awards, being held at The Rose Theatre in Brampton on September 27th.
Grateful for another summer filled with concerts, including this one at Nova Scotia's Evergreen Theatre, Halfway Tree is heading to Ontario to perform at London Reggae Fest on Saturday, September 19th, a free event taking place at Covent Gardens in downtown London.
But first, we are returning to our roots on Queen Street West in Toronto to celebrate the band’s 30th Anniversary at The Rivoli this Friday, September 18th with Reggaddiction and DJ Friendlyness.
Chris “Friendly” Hatton (far right) and I became close friends in the early 90s, spending countless hours reading the Bible, smoking ganja and reasoning about Rastafari. He was already a great DJ, performing alongside Whitey Don with their aptly named group “Culture Shock”, while I was cutting my teeth with a four piece reggae band called “Rockstone”, featuring singer/songwriter Carlton Dinnall and our dearly departed bandmates Raffa Dean and Derrick “Jah D” Lambert. Friendly had honed his skills on bass with a group called “Jah Youth”, so I recruited him to be the foundation bass player for my new roots reggae group “Halfway Tree” in 1995. Of all the legendary reggae bass players I have had the great fortune to play and record with, Friendly’s creativity, tone and feel stands with the best of them. Friendlyness and I have been each other’s touchstones for more than 30 years, celebrating one another’s milestones and decrying the tribulations of the music industry. As an artist and as a founding partner of Toronto sound system “Super Heavy Reggae”, Friendly has always had his finger on the pulse of conscious reggae music. Reggae fans will not want to miss DJ Friendlyness as he spins some of the best reggae music on the planet this weekend.
Our first gigs were at Toronto’s legendary Bamboo Club, just a few doors down from The Rivoli, where we became a regular attraction alongside Messenjah, The Satellites and Leroy Sibbles.
If you are in the Greater Toronto Area, come and celebrate our 30th Anniversary on Friday with Reggaddiction and DJ Friendlyness. Please come and say hi. We’d Love to see you!
With gratitude for your continued support over these 30 years ~ Andru Branch & Halfway Tree