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RootsRockSociety is pleased to announce the release of their latest single entitled The Cost of Living. Available Now!

Roots Rock Society is also pleased to announce the release of their single entitled La Familia from RRS International Records. Check out the promo video here.

Also available: Riddim to Riddim
Download two FREE MP3s NOW!

Check out the RRStore for information on where to find MP3s and where to buy the CD.

The Story
2012-02-03

Back in 1978, I had a band called, “Champion” and we had a Bob Marley song in our set list because we played different types of music, rock, soul, blues etc. My performance was caught by a couple of musicians starting what they called an “Americanized Reggae Band”. Since I was one of the few guitarists in town that was playing reggae as well as other things, they asked me to join. The band was named, “Gypsi-Fari”. LeRoy Webster from St. Kitts and Kevin Coleman from Chicago met Bob Marley in New York and Bob invited LeRoy to come to Jamaica and record at “Tuff Gong” studios. Bob liked one of LeRoy’s songs and promised to help him with the project. I had a brief stint with the band and they split up 1978 to be reformed later . In 1980, my band was booked at The Wild Hare by Dave Katzman. The Hare had not started to book reggae, when I got a call from Kevin to come to Kingston and record. At first, I was skeptical but I got a round-trip ticket in the mail. Weeks later I cancelled The Hare show and was on a flight to Tuff Gong studios in Kingston, Jamaica. The band had been there for a month and I stayed 13 days. While in JA, I met Neville Lee of Sonic Sounds label, Roger Lewis of Inner Circle, Junior Marvin and Seeco of The Wailers and Third World. We quartered at Jacob Miller’s house on Shenstone while Jamaica was under a state of emergency because of the violence from political parties. Had I known, I would not have left the U.S. -I was stuck. I remember hearing gun shots down the street and in the valley, but I felt safe because Jacob’s house was located near the embassy’s.??? When we got to Tuff Gong, Rita Marley informed us that Bob was ill and getting treatment in West Germany. Junior Marvin took charge of the project and played guitar on “Chi-Town Reggae”. Junior show me all parts of Island House, especially a hammock upstairs where Bob would write songs and I saw Bob’s BMW which was given to Junior. It still had the “BMW” plates. He also shared some studio tips that I still use today. Rita referred us to Third World and their Zinc Fence Theater on Dunfries Rd. Gypsy was invited to perform there although we had no drummer because he could not get out of St. Kitts. We recruited a drummer on the spot and worked a 4 song set. Also on the performance was Third World, I-Kong, Chalice and The Fantastic 4. All members of the band was bestowed, “Playing for Peace Award” for that performance and we were approached by a reporter from the Jamaican Gleaner who was curious about us being from Chicago-his name was Ephraim Martin. Soon after in late August of 1980, we came back to Chicago to kick off a reggae music scene now joined with Blue Riddim, Skanking Lizards, New Era, Traxx, One Love (started as Gypsi) and Nyan Como. Gypsi stood out because we started the scene with a good live act and recordings that were getting air play on local and regional college stations. Although Gypsi had recorded and performed in Jamaica, we were from Chicago’s south side and always represented the city as a Chicago band. We recorded at historic studios and with legendary engineers and producers. After returning from Jamaica, Gypsi’s first Chicago show was at a place called Banana’s with Skankin Lizards. Soon after press releases where sent out to all the Chicago area bars and nightclubs, the local music scene was exposed to Gypsi-Fari. The first Chicago show went so well that the band was invited back to perform with Blue Riddim. On that same night, I was approached by a man who had the press release in his hand. His name was Bob Swire and he represented the new Sunday night reggae at The Wild Hare. Gypsi released the Jamaica project with another song being finished at Curtom studios with the help of Freddy Breitberg and a deal was cut with Sonic Sounds to be released in JA. We agreed to play on one of those Sundays and only 15 people showed up, but The Hare liked what they heard and invited the band back for more Sundays. Each Sunday got better and better and soon they offered to test a Friday night and Gypsi was the first reggae band to get a weekend date anywhere including The Hare. In Chicago, it was hard for a all black band to find gigs on any day much less on weekends. Steve Segal from Creative Soundz began working the band into the suburbs, which was unheard of then, but he got Gypsi’s 45 record (Chi-Town Reggae/w Hail Jah) in jukeboxes and soon after word started to spread and Gypsi was playing on both North and South sides of Chicago as well as some suburban areas. We were being approached by managers and booking agents as Gypsi introduced Chicago to reggae and roots music. Gypsi began to share the stage with international artists like, Culture, Burning Spear and Steel Pulse. The band found more futile ground in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri and was selected to be part of the first Midwest Reggae Festival in 1981 at Duffy’s in Minneapolis. Gypsi was introduced to Chuck Colbert in 1981 and he produced one of the bands songs, titled, “Rich Man, Poor Man”, that was broadcast on “The Mutual Black Network”. I composed a song before joining Gypsi, that become a big part of the live show, titled “The Girls”. It became the band's most requested. I met a fan from the audience who wanted to record it as a single. This session started Chicago’s first reggae label, Obvio Records owned by Gene Lubin. Those recordings set the stage for an article in “The Jamaican Gleaner”, hailing Gypsi-Fari as “Chicago’s Best Reggae Band”, written by Ephraim Martin. Some bands became upset at the notion of a Chicago band featured in the Gleaner. But Gypsi or their fans were unmoved by the jealousy and tribalism. We were doing things others wished for because it was serious and we were supported by our Jamaican connection. We had gotten together with new managers and worked with Marty Feldman and his Paragon Studios. I learned a lot more about music production from Marty, that I still use today. I was too serious as I saw some members lagging. If there was a chance for the band to take off, there would have to be better focus. There were some issues, plus I was fully invested, more so than others and I felt I was wasting time and time was running out. So I would not lose my apartment space, I had to get back working a job. Shortly after that, I quit performing with Gypsi all together in 1984. I returned back to the private sector in 1984. One evening I got a call from Gypsi drummer Ed Gosa and he asked me if I was interested in playing still. I had not planned on not playing music, just not with Gypsi. Ed was playing drums with Yabba Griffiths and Carl Brown after the break up of Gypsi. Later, I got a call from Bob Swire about putting a band together for Jamaican singer/ songwriter, Carlene Davis. Bob had proposed a North American tour for her and he wanted me to play. I was very interested, especially since I liked Carlean as an artist. We joined forces with a band called, Traxx and we would be the touring band. That tour never materialized and since we were preparing for Carlean, plus with our own material, we stayed together for about 2 months. Ed and I broke away from Traxx and started backing other performers. Soon, with Bob Swire managing, Ed and I formed Safari in April, 1984. There was still talk about working with Carlean, so we added new members. With new members, Safari had a killer band and we backed other artists as well as on our own. Safari would have a regular night at the Hare and we developed a large following, plus we were working with Dave Katzman and American Famous Talent agency. Safari started to perform with national and international acts, colleges and festivals all around the nation and to come home to our regular night at the Hare. Ed and me were writing songs and we recorded tracks as well as performed live. We were busy. Safari in 1985 won “Best Band” and as winners, we were to win 10 hours of studio time. We made plans to record our songs, but that studio time did’nt come til a year later. It took another year to finish our EP, titled, “First Step”. We did finally perform with Carlean in Chicago and it was a great performance. We were hoping to get in high gear, but things took to long to work out and with the delay of the record Ed became fed up and he made plans to join the Chicago Police. We replaced Ed with another drummer, but Ed and I had the real vision for Safari, but for me, it was’nt the same without him. One evening, my brother came to my apartment and asked if we could start a band, so he could make a little extra money playing Bass while he was in Engineering School. I called some musicians that I thought would be interested and familiar with roots music. We practiced in my apartment and before our first show at the Hare December 1986. We got a favorable response and were asked to come back that following week. I then named that group, Roots Rock Society. At first, I was working both Safari and RRS, but with RRS I had a more clear picture and direction. By the summer of 1987, Safari was to be no more.

God Is Great
2009-09-15

Member of Chicago Federation of Musicians-Local 10-208.

Stann Champion exclusively uses Elixir Strings with the "Nanoweb" coating (.010-.046)

Stann plays a G&L Legacy, PRS Mira electric guitars-Taylor, Martin and Takamine acoustics.

Amps by Mesa and Rivera.

Transportation provided by Ford XL 350 Wagon.