WOMAD

King Tide

From Australia

In early 2004, Tony Hughes, one of Australia's great reggae singers, was asked to reform his old band Bellydance for a month of gigs at a Bondi hotel. When amazing Trinidadian toaster/MC Sean Collins joined a jam session with a few extras from The Whitlams, DIG and Wicked Beat Sound System, the spark created a new band - King Tide, named after the band members' love of surfing. Two advertising executives who saw the pub jam asked the band to cut a version of Toots & the Maytals' song Broadway Jungle for Sony's new international advertising campaign "Wag the Dog". Releasing it as a single called No Dog War (with artwork from Mambo artist Reg Mombassa), the song sparked huge interest that led to King Tide's 2005 debut album To Our Dearly Deported (referring to the sudden deportation of Sean Collins to the US). Reminiscent of the reggae styles of Lovers Rock and the Rocksteady grooves of Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a touch of ska and dancehall added to the mix, King Tide established itself as a festival favourite by the release of a second album, Scared New World, in 2007. The current single Beggars Waltz precludes a new album in February 2009.

http://www.myspace.com/kingtidesydney