Band brings ‘bayou reggae’ to Hopkins
Good reggae vibes will flow at Hopkins Icehouse Saturday night when Shreveport-based Stiff Necked Fools come to town.
Practitioners of what they call “bayou reggae,” Stiff Necked Fools weathered the passing of the band’s founder three years ago and subsequent reworking of their sound only to persevere and thrive.
Their debut album, “Too Much Rain,” came out in the spring of 2011. Ryan Viser plays trumpet and does some vocals for the band, who’ve made Hopkins a regular stop over the past year or so.
Viser says they blend highenergy, Louisiana-style music with all the things for which reggae is known, as well. “Our approach is to just hit it as hard as we can and blow it out,” he said.
In this band, horns are up front with that Louisiana influence. If you think of a reggae band coming out of New Orleans, that’s pretty much what they’re like, Viser says. They have an appreciation for the music that originates there.
“Our drummer hits real hard, our guitar player likes to shred, our lead singer has a real soulful voice,” Viser said.
Band founder Dan Sanchez died in 2010, according to the band’s online bio, and when that happened they felt lost, Viser remembers. They didn’t know what to do then but pressed on, and with the arrival of new members their sound started to change.
“Before we knew it we were writing original songs ... kind of a new style emerged and we just kind of went with it, and here we are today,” Viser said.
Early Stiff Necked Fools concentrated on an older style of roots reggae in the vein of Bob Marley or Black Uhuru, he said. But their sound shifted to a more contemporary, younger one in keeping with the more modern reggae emerging.
That more modern reggae features guitar effects, keyboards
and synths, vocal effects and echoes, Viser said.
Their show consists of about 80 percent to 90 percent original material.
“We do some covers just because crowds love songs they know really, really well,” Viser said. They’ll even cover some older songs and put a reggae spin on them.
Their trumpet player says they’re somewhere in between a regional and national act as they start widening their touring territory.
“We’re in the middle of working on our second album right now and are extremely excited about it. It’s going to be a great album,” Viser said.
He enjoys playing music people appreciate. He also gets to pour his heart out playing music and meet good people. People who like reggae want to enjoy life, he says. “It’s based on very good vibes.”
(Cover: $5. Show starts at 8:30 p.m. Hopkins is located at 3rd and Wood streets downtown. More info: 870-774-3333 or HopkinsIcehouse.com.)