Who are 10 Ft. Ganja Plant? They are a dub & roots reggae band shrouded in mystery. They hail from the great Northeast and are rumored to share members with another great reggae group, John Brown’s Body. Their shows are rarely announced or promoted. In fact, like a yeti sighting, they seldom occur. Anyone who has seen them live, or owns one of their albums, can attest to the fact that no other band has captured the 70’s spirit quite like this crew, that 10 Ft. may be the best roots group in America.
Bio
It’s a sweltering hot day in 1999, we convene for the usual chalice and ital stew at 286 Beacon street in Somerville. Then suddenly a drum fill cracked and “Good News Dub” or as we like to call it “Why Can’t They Tell Us The Good News” was permeating the third floor living room. 10 Ft Ganja Plant from the start had many things to say. One was to play the only music we knew how and to give people something we felt was not heard a lot in the world today, roots reggae. Being collectors of the music we sought out many pieces of vintage equipment to make these records. I will never forget the first day the Ampeg 8X10 vibrated the house and the clavinet morphed through the wah-wah and phaser.
When 10 Ft. began, its main intention was to get together and do song writing that would then be presented to another group of musicians- some of you may well know. As some of us were out touring with a familiar reggae band called John Brown’s Body we would get off the road and run to the studio; which at the time was called “Mang Studio” or as some of us called it, home. At Mang, everything was positive, and there was no stress to make music but more to relax and enjoy the company of our friends and family. As we played music through the summer, frequently taking breaks to hit the rooftop to get a breath of fresh air we would get the next track ready. The amount of material we created began to grew quickly and something changed inside all of us. The album Presents debuted in 2000 and was released independently on I-Town Records. As we continued to build up an arsenal of music we decided to present the material we had recorded on two consumer JVC cassette decks to a friend. In doing so our relationship and family grew by introducing us to the well known record label ROIR. From here it encouraged us to grow as a group of friends, family, musicians and engineers.
Signing with ROIR brought Hillside Airstrip in 2001 and introduced many new sounds and musicians to the record. From this point on the studio was like a revolving door of musicians cutting a track and passing it off. Midnight Landing arrived in 2003 reiterating the bands passion for roots deeply rooted in the mid to late 70’s. The bass got heavier and the drums bigger, the melodies stronger and the ganja smoke thicker. Bass Chalice was then released in 2005. As touring slowed for some, and life decisions took people into different parts of the world and realms of music. A short break was taken to gather the vibes, build a new studio and lay the foundation for what would become Bush Rock which was released in 2009. Reaching new levels of psychedelic sounds and heavy bass production brings us to where we are now.
In talking recently, a few of us seemed to be in the same place of looking back to classic sounds of groups like The Upsetters, Silvertones, Pioneers, Gladiators, Gregory Isaacs, Lee Perry, The Maytones, Burning Spear and some of the greats that graced them such as Ernest Ranglin, Lynn Taitt, Jackie Mittoo, Carlton Barrett, Family Man and so many others. We decided in February of 2010 we would get together for a weekend and do a full instrumental record, in conjunction with ROIR, as a special digital release to coincide with the launch of the website. That album, "10 Deadly Shots" is released this summer on CD. We recorded most of the tracks live to reel to reel tape and then overdubbed some vocals, keyboards, guitars and horns. We cut the final recordings straight to vinyl so that the digital transfers have the warmth and feel of classic vinyl sides.
Fans can groove to the vibe all summer. Keep your eyes open for a new full length/vocal 10 Ft. Ganja plant album to be released this Fall.
Official 10 Ft. Ganja Plant Website
View All 10 Ft. Ganja Plant news
 
Praise for Presents and previous 10 Ft. Ganja
Plant releases:
"… an example of dub at its finest.” – Global
Rhythm
“Like a communion with Jah Bob [Marley] via ouija board.” –WIRE (uk)
“Highly recommended to all John Brown’s Body fans and
anyone else with an insatiable hunger for classic reggae.” –
All Music Guide
“Refreshingly urgent and transcendent…rarely has a reggae
group ever appeared so accomplished in mixing orthodox roots reggae
with modern dub creation.” – The Beat
“It’s as if we’d uncovered a lost collaboration
among Jimmy Cliff, Augustus Pablo, and Ernest Ranglin.”–
Boston Phoenix
“… it’s amazing how 10 Ft Ganja Plant mixes orthodox
roots reggae with modern dub creation without producing waves of electronic
dribble. They are innovative enough to build on top of an already-sturdy
foundation laid down by Jamaican musicians generations ago.” –
Slug Mag
“Highly recommended to all John Brown's Body fans and anyone else with an insatiable hunger for classic reggae."
– All Music Guide
“Over they years they’ve managed to build a sound all their own while remaining true to the foundational elements that make roots music such a nurturing, cleansing experience… they’ve captured a sound as original and good as the Jamaican classics they emulated in the beginning of their career. Sit back and take a draw: this 10 Ft. Ganja Plant is ‘the kind.’” – The Beat
Also check out this recent interview with Kevin Kinsella from LA2DAY.
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