Reggae and country are strange bedfellows only to those with just a passing acquaintance with either. Country has been hugely popular in the Caribbean since the days of Jim Reeves and Marty Robbins and has a close connection with another Jamaican pleasure – gospel. Both styles involve simple songs of love, poverty and faith. And considering that the banjo was an adaptation of the west African ngoni – the segregated US recorded music market of today falls short of telling the full story.
In 2007 Trojan paid tribute to the two music’s historic relationship with their Country Reggae boxset. Now VP, Warner Nashville and some top contemporary reggae artists have proved this star-crossed kinship still holds.
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