Kevin Kinsella

Kevin Kinsella discovered the music of Bob Marley during his childhood, inspiring him to form reggae band Tribulations while attending college in Boston in the late '80s. After releasing a 45 rpm single and two cassettes, the group's full-length debut, The Gate, arrived in 1992, followed by Daddy Good Pieces in 1994. The group opened for Toots & the Maytals, and won the Yamaha Soundcheck competition, which led to them performing concerts in Japan. After the group disbanded, Kinsella formed dub-influenced roots reggae group John Brown's Body in 1995, who released their full-length debut, All Time, in 1996 on their own I-Town Records. The album received acclaim, and the group signed to Shanachie, who released the band's albums Among Them (1998), This Day (2000), and Spirits All Around Us (2002). During this time, Kinsella released two solo albums, acoustic folk-leaning I-Town Revival (2000) and Firestick (2002), and participated in JBB's dubby spin-off group 10 Ft. Ganja Plant, whose debut album, Presents, was released by I-Town in 2000. The group subsequently signed with ROIR, releasing a long string of albums starting with Hillside Airstrip in 2001. Kinsella contributed to JBB's 2005 album Pressure Points, released by Easy Star Records, but left the group on good terms in 2006. Continuing to record and perform with 10 Ft. Ganja Plant, Kinsella's third solo album, Great Design, was released by ROIR in 2011. His fourth solo album, Riding Higher, arrived in 2014 on I-Town, with worldwide distribution through VP. ~ Paul Simpson