Jah Chant Goes on TOUR!

The reggae band that I play drums in, Jah Chant, was invited to play our first international gig this past Saturday night. The New Zealand research station, Scott Base, had a big beach party and what better way to feel "irie" than to have live, original reggae music. Here are some photos from the event and of the band and our wonderful groupies. What about the tall dude with the dreadlocks - He looks familiar, mon!

Why January 1 is the best day of the season!

ICESTOCK!!! The six-hour outdoor music festival that occurs every year at McMurdo on the 1st of January or the first Sunday of January (this year, they coincided).

The dirt area next to the galley building is cleared and a stage, bleachers and lots of millvans are carted in. The millvans serve as serving and cooking areas for the chili cook-off contestants.

Every year, there is an eclectic group of musicians and styles represented in the eleven twenty-five minute acts. This year, there was also the final judging of the beard contest. Contestants had their beards shaven off by the station's barber earlier in the season and photos were taken after they had viewed a short film about Donegal beards (leprechaun style).

The Beard Contest Finalists



The woman in the finalist group won for the "Most Disgusting Beard". She had saved all of the hair from her hairbrush since the contest started and glued it onto her face on the day of Icestock.


Musical acts ranged from reggae (our band) to punk, from Ramones-covers to throat singing from the Tuva region of Mongolia and from straight ahead rock and roll to a marching band dressed in bunny boots.



Every good outdoor festival needs hula hoops - these were made from pvc pipe.



The highlight (NATURALLY) was our performance....we were very warmly received and our rasta outfits (I had borrowed a friend's Jamaican soccer team jersey and Michiel braided my hair) got us feeling irie.

The Album Cover....


With our biggest fans...


One more...from the bleachers...

Makin' Music

Being a rock (well....reggae, actually) star is loads of fun! The band is called Jah Chant (I have no idea how Sky came up with that name) and we've been performing every week since our first show at Open Mike night. The band is made up of Sky, who writes most of the songs, sings and plays guitar; Kish, our bassist, who is rock-star epitomized; Devin, who plays didgeridoo and congas and me on drums. The community seems to REALLY dig our music and we always have a group of enthusiastic dancers at each gig (and not just our partners and good friends).




Last night, we played our first-ever Saturday night gig, which is a real treat because Saturday night is the night that most people go out. We played at Gallagher's, the non-smoking bar and played third, just after a tremendous performance by Sean on guitar and vocals.





We're planning on playing IceStock, the big outdoor music festival on New Year's Day, and have been invited to perform at the big end-of-season party in the helicopter hangar. We'll certainly play some more events before then.

All I can say is .....WOO HOOO!