Today, the Spotlight shines On Lem Oppenheimer, co-founder of Easy Star Records, an independent record label specializing in pushing and expanding the boundaries of reggae music.
Founded in mid-90s New York City, Easy Star first focused on raising the bar for US reggae but soon expanded to uncovering and highlighting great artists from regional scenes around the world.
Their in-house band, the Easy Star All-Stars, are a touring and recording outfit that has played on some of the label’s most renowned releases, including reggae reimaginings of seminal rock albums like 2003’s Dub Side of the Moon, 2006’s Radiodread, which covers Radiohead’s OK Computer and now their upcoming release, Ziggy Stardub, which is, you guessed it, a front-to-back reggae-style retelling of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, with features from Steel Pulse, Maxi Priest, and Carlton Livingston - there is even guitar work from Alex Lifeson of Rush and Vernon Reid of Living Colour.
Ziggy Stardub is out on April 21, 2023 at easystar.com or wherever you get your music.