Duke City inspiration
Albuquerque was ‘one of the first cities to embrace’ reggae band New Kingston
Tahir Panton is eagerly awaiting his coming tour.
And it’s beginning in Albuquerque on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
“Albuquerque is one of our favorite places in the world,” Panton says during a recent interview. “It was one of the first cities to embrace New Kingston. Period. It made us see more potential in ourselves and helped push us forward.”
Paton is one-third of the reggae band New Kingston.
The band is a family band consisting of brothers Tahir, Courtney Jr., and Stephen along with their father, Courtney Panton, Sr.
A first-generation JamaicanAmerican, Courtney Panton Sr. was active in New York’s reggae scene before turning his sons on to the music of their island heritage.
Starting with jam sessions in the family’s Brooklyn basement, the brothers began their career playing Bob Marley and Earth, Wind & Fire covers at parties and gatherings around the neighborhood.
New Kingston’s first album, “In the Streets,” was released in 2010.
After a tour across the world, the band then released “Kingston University” in 2013 and “Kingston City” in 2015.
With those albums all having various degrees of success, Panton says, the band wanted to switch it up for its current album, “A Kingston Story: Come From Far,” released in September.
He says the band is constantly working on music, taking about two years to put the current album together.
“This album had a unique process to us,” he says. “We got one of our friends in Ohio and went to his spot. We recorded 20 tracks. All of the tracks were started from jamming together.”
From the 20 tracks, the number was whittled down to the nearly dozen tracks on the album.
“The music gets more polished each time we’re doing an album,” he says. “We’ve grown to trust each other’s judgment. We’re comfortable with each other and know that we’re all working towards the same goal.”
It’s been a few years since
New Kingston has performed in Albuquerque.
Panton says there’s a ton of new music that hasn’t been heard live yet.
“Over the years, we’ve worked really hard to get our music to match the intensity of our live shows,” he says. “It’s always great to be on the road and share the music with the fans. And we’ll be back in Albuquerque, which gives us so much energy.”