Sat 11/26 @ 9PM
Without I-Tal, Cleveland would never have had much of a reggae scene that the average non-Jamaican would have ever heard about.
When Dave Smeltz formed the band in 1978, they became the first reggae act in the area to appeal to a large cross-section of listeners and bring Marley-style reggae to rock and roll fans. And when half the members left in 1984, they founded the band that became the area’s biggest drawing act, First Light, benefiting from the audience that I-Tal had warmed up for them,
Smeltz went on to tour with the band until 1990, performing mostly out of town in the beach resort towns on the Atlantic coast. After returning to Cleveland, he battled substance abuse for many years until getting clean a decade ago. He’s now launched his Clean House project in the Buckeye area to reach out to other men recovering from addiction.
But he still gets the old gang back together from time to time, and the time is usually Thanksgiving. They’ll be stretching out on those old reggae tunes at the Grog Shop. As an added treat, the opening act will be dulcet-voiced folksinger Cindy MacKay, who performed extensively around the area from the early ’70s through the ’90s, but has been absent from the stage recently.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
Cleveland, OH 44106