Songs of Freedom featuring The Vibes

Name: Songs of Freedom featuring The Vibes
Start: 2025-03-30T13:00:00+01:00
End: 2025-03-30T16:30:00+01:00
Location: Oh Yeah Music Centre

Schedule

Sun Mar 30 2025 at 01:00 pm to 04:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Oh Yeah Music Centre | Belfast, NI

Join us for Songs of Freedom, an all-ages Sunday of Ska and Reggae at the Oh Yeah Centre presented in collaboration with the Belfast City Council’s City of Music Industry Sessions.
An expert panel chaired by Charlotte Dryden of the Oh Yeah Centre, and featuring Kim-Marie Spence, Joseph Ricketts, Mykaell Riley and Siobhan Brown, will ask why Belfast connects with Ska, Reggae, and Two-Tone?
The upbeat tempos of Ska, soulful rhythms of Reggae and raw energy of Two-Tone carry stories of struggle, resilience, and hope. These genres have soundtracked movements for social justice and provided solace in times of turmoil. Our panel delves into the history of these iconic sounds, exploring their impact on Belfast culture and beyond, and why they continue to resonate with us on a personal level.
Stay after the panel event for a DJ set with Stu Unadog , Resident DJ at Jungle Boogie, and music by The Vibes , an 8-piece soulful reggae band who have shared a stage with many major artists over the years including The Slackers, The Toasters, The Specials and the one and only Lee Scratch Perry!
This is an all ages gig, and your ticket includes entry to both events.
About the band
The Vibes are an 8-piece soulful reggae band based in Belfast. Formed in 2014 they immediately began a monthly residency in The Belfast Empire. The band worked as support act for legends like Lee “Scratch” Perry and The Specials, as well as New York ska heroes The Slackers and The Toasters. The Vibes released their debut album Workin’ in 2017 but were soon forced into hiatus when trombone player Willie McLean suffered a severe stroke, the band gradually returned to do some small shows in late 2018 and 2019.
After another enforced hiatus in 2020/21, The Vibes returned to the studio in 2022 to record a second album, The Vibes Play Don Drummond , consisting of 9 tracks all written by Jamaican trombone innovator Don Drummond of The Skatalites. The album was conceived by Vibes trombonist Willie McLean with song arrangements by UK brass icon Dennis Rollins (Jamiroquai, Maceo Parker, Blur). On this album The Vibes pay homage to some of the greatest early ska music with 7 instrumentals and 2 songs including Simmer Down, Occupation and Latin Goes Ska.
With another album worth of original songs still to be recorded, the band also do a wide array of covers, some reggae songs by the likes of Jimmy Cliff and Alton Ellis, but also lot of non-reggae songs from artists like Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, Arethra Franklin and many others, given the reggae treatment.
Panel bios ...
Kim-Marie Spence is a Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at Queen’s University Belfast. She also lectures at the Caribbean School of Media & Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica). Her research focuses on popular culture industries and cultural policy of the Non-West with a focus on the music industries of K-pop and reggae. Her interest in this area began from her policy experience, as a [former] Jamaica Film Commissioner/Head of Creative Industries within the Jamaican government; and her work with UNESCO. As part of her career and research, she has lived and researched in over 10 countries. Kim-Marie is co-author of the book Global Cultural Economy and sits on the boards of award-winning cultural institutions, the MAC Belfast, a leading Northern Irish contemporary art institution, and Kingston Creative, a Jamaican cultural district initiative; and the Journal of Cultural Economy.
Mykaell Riley is Director of the Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) which he established at the University of Westminster in 2012. Mykaell's career started as a founder member of the British roots Reggae band Steel Pulse who went on to receive a Grammy. As a writer/producer, Mykaell's work has encompassed TV, Film and Theatre, resulting in over eleven UK top twenty positions, and three UK number ones. This includes work on Soul 2 Soul and Mark Morrison. He also formed Britain's first Black pop string section, the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, and composed extensively for television including the BBC, SKY, Endemol And Netflix. His current projects include a role as Curator on the first National Black British music exhibition titled Beyond the Bassline exhibition at the British Library/ National Sound Archive, Academic Board for the Museum of London, Independent Governor at Leeds Arts, External Examiner for Trinity Laban. Mykaell is the Music Director for the hit BBC TV series Boarders.
Joseph Ricketts, born in Jamaica before moving to the UK, is passionate about all-things music with reggae being his first love! Relationships built globally made him the early mentor and manager for Belfast's Grammy awards & BRIT Awards nominee and US Billboard chart topper, Jordan Adetunji. Joe is also responsible for a growing roster of exciting new and emerging talents such as rapper Leo Miyagee, RnB/Alt-pop singers Winnie Ama, Tanaka among others. He spent over a decade championing action that increases visibility and opportunities for Northern Ireland underrepresented communities. As founder and director of NXGEN Music Group / NXUP Management, change-making efforts like his have been a catalyst in the recent growth of excitement around the local music scene.
Siobhan Brown is a singer, songwriter & leader of Band Manukahunney, an ambassador of Soul Music, BBC Radio Ulster presenter, Choir Director - Cairde community choir, and cultural awareness trainer. She is the Co-Founder and Director of Soultrane Festival, which is a dedicated Soul and Jazz festival celebrating MOBO in Ireland. Siobhan is also a 2022 awardee of the prestigious MOBO Help Musicians Fund, a Board Member of the Belfast Charitable Society and WomensTec, and a member of the Historic Buildings Council in NI.
Charlotte Dryden is the Chief Executive of the award winning Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast. Charlotte has been involved in the Northern Irish music community for over 20 years. She has a background in leadership, talent development, music and festival programming, venues, event management, music media and journalism. She initiated several of the key programmes at Oh Yeah including the Scratch My Progress talent development scheme and Women’s Work, a unique ground-breaking initiative for Belfast celebrating women in music. Charlotte was part of Love Music Hate Racism in NI for over 10 years where she ran a diverse range of gigs and projects aimed at tackling racism through music.