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The Prayer for prairie reggae comes to the Boot

On the surface, Calgary seems like the last place you’d go in search of authentic reggae music.

Who: Ibo and KinDread

Where: The Boot Pub

When: Monday, Dec. 13

But the prairie city boasts a healthy Caribbean music scene, vocal and visible with this past summer’s first ever Calgary International Reggae Festival.

At the heart of the scene is Ibo, a Rasta reggae musician of Jamaican heritage and a founding member of the festival.

The musician fronted Montreal reggae band Imperial Force in the ’80s and has shared the stage with such artists as Half Pint, Mighty Diamonds, Scare Dem Crew, Shabba Ranks, Ini Kamozi, Jimmy Cliff and Burning Spear.

Western reggae fans likely know Ibo for his long stint as lead vocalist and guitar player with Calgary’s Strugglah, an act that has performed regularly in Whistler over the past decade.

Still based in Calgary, Ibo has left Strugglah and stepped out as a solo musician, recently releasing a 14-track album called The Prayer (Afesha Music) – classic roots reggae in the socially conscious tradition.

The bulk of the album was recorded at Calgary’s Smokey Room studios with portions recorded while the artist was travelling in Nevis and Jamaica.

A "mixture of new friends and longtime brethren" collaborated as players on The Prayer , five of whom have stayed on as Ibo’s new band KinDread. The band is accompanying Ibo on his current "Long Road" tour of Alberta and B.C., which brings him to the Boot Pub this Monday, Dec. 13.

For more information on shows at the Boot call 604-932-3338.