Sun 9/4 @ 7PM
Everyone in the music scene back in the late ’70s and ’80s knew “Papa Dave” Smeltz. In 1978, he formed I-Tal, Cleveland’s first reggae band to cross over to rock audiences, creating a scene that late spawned First Light who for a long time in the late ’80s and early ’90s were the area’s biggest local attraction. Without him, Cleveland’s most likely wouldn’t have had a reggae scene that extended outside its tiny Jamaican community.
Sadly, he fell prey to substance abuse, which he battled for years before getting clean in the early ’00s. He’s written a book about his journey called Clean: From Reggae to Recovery. And he founded a nonprofit organization called Clean House which has been rehabbing a house on Buckeye Road where men in recovery will be able to live to begin their hopefully life-long sobriety, go to meetings and participate in martial arts classes.
Each year, he holds the Housefest benefit to raise money to support the project ahead. I-Tal headlines Housefest 4, taking place at the Beachland Ballroom. They’ll be joined by Outlaws I&I featuring former I-Tal and First Light members, blues guitarist Austin Walking Cane, Gata’s Gullah Gumbo, the Flavor and Bobby Dragon. Admission is $15.