Dennis is an original member of the Trenchtown musical fraternity and a founding member of Black Uhuru. He’s also played with the Wailing Souls and is now embarking on a solo career. College Times chatted with the über pleasant Dennis about his legacy and the Arizona Reggae Fest.

 

College Times: How has it been putting yourself out there as a solo artist and releasing your album, “19 Third Street”?

 

Garth Dennis: It feels really, really great. But the thing that I’m experiencing is, regardless of whether you’re solo or not, you’re still working with other people. You have to be yourself. I tried to do this solo thing twice but the guys came back and said, “Let’s do the group thing.” And to me one person, one voice is nice and strong and everything nice, but there’s nothing like a group whether it’s three girls or three boys. Y’know what I mean? That unity. But I’ve really enjoyed doing this solo project.What was it like putting the album together?The experience and the inspiration all come within. That’s what happened. There’s a special song that was done by my sister and I do that song with myself and her. I’m looking forward to seeing what the response is from that. The rest of the songs were all written by me.

 

College Times: What is it that drives you now to make your music?

 

Garth Dennis: Y’know what drives me, love? It’s that you’ve got to keep repeating certain messages because some of them young kids coming up now, they need to hear it. A lot of the folks need to be reminded of what they’ve forgotten. It might seem like I keep repeating the thing by singing it in a different way, but you can’t stop talking about love, y’know? You can’t stop repeating love and understanding and consciousness. It’s obvious [there are] younger folks coming up who need to know and folks who need to be reminded about love and what life is really about. It’s like repeating yourself, but you’re doing it for a good cause. You’re telling fresh people and reminding people who seem to have forgotten about love and unity and harmony and what life is really about.

 

College Times: What has it been like for you seeing reggae change over the years with new artists?

 

Garth Dennis: Change is good, but some of the lyrical content that is used need to be looked into. But where the music is concerned, you still have authentic reggae. I’m not sure what some of these people think about, but I still love the authentic reggae. They still have authentic roots coming out of Jamaica. This is what my album is about, the real authentic thing.

 

College Times:  Do you still encounter people who are discovering reggae for the first time?

 

Garth Dennis: Yeah, every day. That is part of what keeps me going. Because this music is for everyone. When I listen to almost any music, almost all of them have a little touch of reggae or a Jamaican influence and it makes me feel real good.

 

College Times: What can people expect at the Arizona Reggae Festival?

 

Garth Dennis:Let the people know they are going to be so surprised. I don’t want to give away everything, but I am going to be singing music from my Wailing Souls catalogue, my Black Uhuru catalogue and I might even surprise them with a little Bob Marley. I’m just looking forward to it.

 

Arizona Reggae Festival, Westside Sports Complex, 2209 N. 99th Avenue, Phoenix, www.azreggaefest.com

Saturday, September 28, 2013.