After over 30 years of recording and performing it’s a huge honour to have our latest single Bullit (Proof mix ) to be one of the mighty #CraigCharles’ (BBC Radio 6) best tracks of 2022.
When 8-piece Maroon Town first started out 30 years ago they were the first ska band to have begun mixing ska and reggae with rap, funk and Latin to produce a fresh new sound with conscious and uplifting lyrics. Their first album and singles were produced by John Bradbury of the Specials. These recordings propelled the group to get the attention of the international music community and led to extensive touring in Europe, Japan and South America.
A long-standing relationship with the British Council saw Maroon Town perform in over 15 countries from Kosovo to Tajikistan and from Brazil to Brunei playing in theatres, festivals, schools, community centres, universities and even prisons.
Songs have been synched to major Hollywood films, the band became the recipient of the UK’s biggest sponsorship deal for an independent band with £100k from Dr Martens, 27 inmates broke out of a Jamaican prison hours after a performance inside the jail! There are too many tales to tell here. But the same high jinks, drama and excitement are integral to the live performances where audiences experience what it’s like to be truly and gloriously alive, to be reminded of the innocence and spontaneity of pure childlike unadulterated play and exuberance!
Still at the cutting edge of creativity, their latest album ‘Freedom Sound produced by Argentinian keyboard player Natalio Faingold was released on the Spanish label ‘Brixton Records’ in 2020. The album blends conscious reggae, jazz, Big beat ska as well as an up-tempo ska collaboration with renowned Basque Country reggae, rock and ska singer Fermin Muguruza. (Spain, particularly Catalonia and the Basque Country has long been a touring destination for the band).