I was searching for some new music on various websites recently and came across this reggae band called 10 Ft. Ganja Plant. I thought it was a joke - I had found a track called ""10 Foot Ganja Plant and Weed" by the aforementioned band on a Russian mp3 site (more on those on a future post) and really couldn't imagine a band naming themselves that. I did some research and found that not only is there really is a band with that name, they're an offshoot of a great American reggae band from New York (John Brown's Body). I've listened to JBB for years, they've put out some great reggae, and I much prefer their older stuff. JBB began as an authentic roots reggae band from upstate NY that honed their chops in Jamaica. Their 1st cd ("Among Them") is a great disc, but each release after that became more slick and less rootsy. A bunch of musicians from that band formed 10 Ft. Ganja Plant in 2000 and have released 5 original cd's to date. I just downloaded "Midnight Landing" and their new one "Bush Rock". "Midnight Landing" is just a great collection of traditional roots reggae done perfectly. If you're at all into Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Meditations, Roots Radics, Wailers, etc. you need to check these guys out. Back to the name - the band's shtick is they have - (from Wikipedia) a "shroud of mystery, considering that, for the most part, fans are baffled as to whom the unfamiliar guest artists are in particular as there are often no personnel credits featured on any of their albums". A bunch of anonymous guys making traditional reggae simply because they love it. You can hear it in their music.
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