Passafire comes home to bring reggae to The Jinx
Savannah-born Passafire returns to their old stomping grounds soon.
The heavy gigging rock/reggae outfit, formed by Savannah College of Art and Design students, has built a massive following over the last decade and toured with the likes of 311, Matisyahu and The Wailers.
Their fifth studio album, and first on Easy Star Records, 2013's "Vines" garnered them a No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart.
"It's been a steady building over a long time," frontman Ted Bowne said. "We've almost been a band for 12 years. Its been really fun, working with your best friends on cool musical projects. More and more people have been taking notice with it. It's been a wild ride."
They played Savannah earlier this year on the end of a winter tour, but despite a constant touring schedule, don't play the Hostess City as much these days.
Passafire, like so many other Savannah musicians, sees in their hometown the potential for a great music scene, but are frustrated by the current laws in place that don't allow for a true, medium-sized all-ages music venue.
"Savannah doesn't really have what it takes to be a music town, like it wishes it was," Bowne said. "There's no venue in town that allows for an all-ages show, which is why we don't have the big acts come through."
Bowne cited several music venues in the region that allow for an all-ages crowd, thus the ability to bring in larger acts. Among the ones Bowne mentioned are Music Farm in South Carolina, The Masquerade in Atlanta and Free Bird in Jacksonville.
With the exception of Trustees Theater and the Savannah Civic Center, which is a bit too large for many acts, Savannah blanks when it comes to medium-sized, all-ages venues, unlike the aforementioned spots in the surrounding region.
"Savannah is a great town," Bowne said. "It's inspirational, as far as writing music. There are a lot of great musicians in town. There's a lot of talent in Savannah.
"I've said this before. I love what they're doing with the Savannah Stopover, trying to make people aware that Savannah is a place on the map where they can stop. However, it's kind of in vain," he said.
"Most big bands are trying to play to the younger crowds and sell tickets. There's not really anywhere in Savannah where they can do that. Bands come and play Stopover, and are like cool, but we can't play an all-ages show there, so we won't go back. It's unfortunate ... There's a lot of young people in Savannah that are ready to go see music, but they just can't."
For now, Passafire will continue to play The Jinx, a venue not always known for rock/reggae, but one that has been building a reputation for hosting national touring acts, a title Passafire now falls under.
"The Jinx has been holding it down," Bowne said. "They're really the only venue in town that has national acts come through pretty regularly. They've developed their own reputation as sort of punk, hardcore scene, but they've embraced us and allowed us to come in there and do our thing. We're really happy to have The Jinx there."
As a follow-up to "Vines," Passafire is finishing up a four-track EP that is set to be released soon. Breaking from the two-year album cycle prevalent of years past, Bowne and company are working to get music out to the fans as quickly as possible.
For the show in Savannah, Passafire will, as they do with each live show, hit up something from each of their albums, as well as the new material off the forthcoming EP.
When asked what motivates them to continue such a grueling tour schedule, Bowne made it clear.
"The fans," Bowne said. "Every day, there are people singing praises on this song or that performance we played. There's always affirmations for us to keep moving forward and keep making music. There's not a lot of jobs that people write to you daily and tell you you're doing a good job. We're lucky. We're very lucky to be in this business."
IF YOU GO
What:Passafire and The Hip Abduction
When:10 p.m. Nov. 26
Where: The Jinx, 127 W. Congress St.
Cost: $8-$10
Info: www.passafiretheband.com