Best known for her hit songs “These Streets,” “It’s a Pity” and “Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet,” Tanya Stephens is an influential reggae artist that emerged in the late 90’s. On March 24th she will be performing at the Blue Lake Casino & Hotel in Northern Humboldt County, California.

Local, Humboldt County favorites, Woven Roots, will be opening the show along with DJ Rundat with their rich roots reggae and dub styles.

Tickets are available now via eventbrite.com.

A few weeks ago, Florida based reggae artist Zally released his EP titled “Call on Jah.” The reggae / dancehall project is filled with strong and inspiring messages all delivered in a melodious, and sometimes, comical way. Though we’ve done several articles about the EP, we wanted to have a one on one with the man behind the music to find out his thought process while he was working on the project. Here is how it went down.

1. Usually the word roots is associated with historic lineage but you seem to be saying something else in your song. So the question is; what does “Am a Roots” mean to you?

“Am A Roots means simply am a roots, I don’t stray. I am not easily persuaded or influenced by ideology or philosophies. I am more traditional. I stick to my roots.”

2. In the same song you made reference to recording artist Ishawna, suggesting that you may have some attraction to her. Is that the case?

“Hell no. The reference was to her song where she tried to trample on traditional Jamaican dignity. When I grow, we know we no do certain things, so I have to share that. Things in time change, but people do not have to change with it. For example, we are not just what we eat, we are what we listen to. So any music that influence negativity or try to trash traditional way of lifestyle, I say we should always embrace our roots. It’s never about her, its about what she said.”

3. You’ve got a couple songs on the EP that’s dedicated to mothers so we wanted to know what’s your relationship like with your own mother? And what inspired the song “Mamma Nah Fi Cry”?

“My relationship with my mother….I don’t have one. My biological mother abandoned me at 9 months. When I found out, I was grown. She told me I am not a part of her family. I call my Grandma, Mom. As for the inspiration for the song, women are Mother’s, nurses, teachers, and most naturally life givers. Every human being is from a woman. I see mother’s as godly.”

4. You are obviously a strong believer in the Rastafari faith and lifestyle; when and why did you join the Rasta movement?

“I was born this way. For example, I can’t explain it, I haven’t seen no other way that is better than Rasta way. As a root, you’ve got to be Rasta.”

5. For those not familiar with Rastafari can you give us a little background about the religion?

“Rasta is not a religion, it is a way of life. For instance, I reside in Florida, USA and I do not trim or shave, I live Rasta. It is a way of life; what you eat, what you drink, what you listen to, the places you go, and the things you do. Most likely everything is supposed to be up-ful regardless of the situation, that’s Rasta.”

6. What do you want your listeners to take away from your ep “Call on Jah”?

“I did this ep for one reason only, to let my fans know that there can be dancehall music without violence or derogatory lyrics. I was raised up when dancehall did not have to get bleeped out. We used to play the music from beginning to end, enjoy it, dance, and have fun. But now, it’s all about the DJ’s and the producers more than the fans. They forgot about the artists and musicians.”

All songs on “Call on Jah” can be streamed on our YouTube channel and it can be downloaded from iTunes.