Mystic Bowie
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Mystic Bowie

Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

Fairfield, Connecticut, United States
World Reggae

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Grand Band Winners"

Fairfield Grand Band Slam 2006: Winners!


BEST REGGAE

Mystic Bowie & the Pallbearers
www.mysticbowie.com
www.myspace.com/mysticbowie

Summer is Mystic Bowie's time to shine, and winning the reggae honors in the Weekly contest is just one of many ways things have been going his way of late. On a recent trip to his homeland Jamaica, Bowie released a record with Tuff Gong, Bob Marley's label, featuring two songs from his album Rebirth: "16 Dimples" and "My Way." "They are the songs that Tuff Gong fell in love with," Bowie says. The band was in the midst of recording a second album but is waiting to produce it at Marley's studio on the island under Tuff Gong's tutelage. "We've got a lot of good support from the Marley family," Bowie says. The band's popularity comes not just from playing straight-up reggae, but a potent, dance-inducing blend of reggae, rock, zydeco and ska. As a frequent collaborator with the Tom Tom Club, Bowie is comfortable changing up styles to get the most out of his audiences, and band members bring a variety of backgrounds to the table, from New Orleans styles by keyboardist/guitarist Renard Boissiere to pop vocals from keyboardist Karen Johnstone to rock leads from guitarist Chris Michaels. A recent "supergroup" show at the SoNo Arts Celebration featured a stage crowded with local notables, including four guitarists, two female vocalists (Jen Durkin and Daria Musk) and two keyboardists, making a big party sound that kept the street hyped up until midnight. --B.B.
- Fairfield County Weekly


"Arts and Ideas Festival"

Mystic Bowie
Hailing from Jamaica, Mystic Bowie provides the ultimately diverse listening experience with a powerful blend of reggae, funk, zydeco and blues-infected ska. This seasoned performer, whose work has crossed over into film and advertising, mixes styles gleaned from countless musical collaborations far beyond his reggae roots. Get ready to move to the sounds of Jamaica, the Caribbean, and New Orleans, all on the Green on a warm summer night.


Family Friendly!
- Arts & Ideas New Haven


"Reviews on Rebirth CD."

Listen to These Jams!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reviewer: Cyberyukon
The songs on this CD showcase Mystic's exceptional musical gifts. The tunes are well-crafted lyrically and musically, resulting in a rare combination of creative expression and great feet-to-the-floor-wanna-dance rythym that sooooo many others can only try to emulate. It's an amazing album.


Funky island grooves with amazing vocals.
Reviewer: "Upper Room with Joe Kelley & Gi Dussault" radio show (click for website)
Bring some classic reggae grooves with a funk and R&B edge and top it with a New Orleans party vibe. Plus, a voice that has so much range and vibrancy to it. Yes, Mystic Bowie and the Pallbearers have given us a CD that shines in today's music world. I have had the pleasure to see this great band perform live and "Rebirth's" songs translate well to the stage too. This CD is a staple of our radio shows.


Energetic
Reviewer: Mark
uplifting and energetic I think I could get stuff done listening to this and feel good doing it BIG UPS Mystic Bowie Much Love Much Respect - Blessings -Mark - CD Baby


"Rock Royalty"

A Group Effort.
Mystic Bowie supports Tina's lead vocals during a live Tom Tom Club performance.
Mystic Bowie is one of Tom Tom Club's favorite Local Bands in Connecticut.

Westport Magazine Aug.'07 isssue.
www.WestportMag.com - Christy Colasurdo


"Mystic Bowie Teams with Mima"

Jamaica:
MIMA Music will collaborate with the musician Mystic Bowie,
to open up a music school and franchise in Jamaica.
Mystic Bowie's 2007 summer tour is presented by MIMA Music and will help raise awareness for this project.

www.mimamusic.org - MIMA music


"Warde Samples International Flavors"

The joint was jumping at Fairfield Warde High School as Reggae band Mystic Bowie and the Pallbearers performed for students during the school's International Day Multicultural celebration.
"I like Mystic Bowie because he is a great performer. He has a way of capturing the audience," Hilary Wething, Warde High school senior. - Connecticut Post May 19th, 07


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Since the age of seven, Mystic Bowie has performed professionally worldwide and recorded with some of the music industry's hippest melody makers...

Born Fitzroy Alexander Campbell in St. Elizabeth in Maroon Town, a descendant of the Maroon Tribe — the only remaining unified tribe in Jamaica — he was given his tribal name, Mystic Bowie, by elders based on powers they sensed in him. Mystic became a singer for the Jamaica Tourist Board as a child, performing as many as 2-3 times a day all over the island at different resorts. Between the ages of 9 and 14, Mystic made three (3) recordings for Jack Ruby Records ("Back to Jamaica, "Happy Hut," "Whiny Whiny"). He was 13 when he first left the island to perform abroad, and 14 when he left his tribal home and family, moving on his own to Negril. Then as now, he continued to obey the core tribal rules and values — no alcohol, no drugs, no impurities polluting the body. At the age of 17, Mystic moved to Birmingham, England to study at the University of Birmingham. Upon completion, Mystic then moved to the United States.

Winning an award for acting and drama in 1982, he was also the winner of Jamaica's Pop and Variety Festival music competition in 1986. Mystic went on to perform at the 1987 Lima Festival (Peru), the Junkanoo Festival (Bahamas) two (2) years in a row, and 1998's Rock in Rio (Brazil). He made the circuit of resorts under the Superclubs emblem (Hedonism, Sandals, Beaches), and has taken his act to Cats(Cancun) for annual spring break and summer visits as well as the clubs of South Beach such as Clevelander, Mango's, Ocean Promenade, and Tropics on the Beach. He also made five consecutive appearances headlining Blockbuster Bowl festivities (1987— 92). Mystic Bowie (2005 & 2006): winner of the Grand Band Slam as Best Reggae Band by the Fairfield County Weekly.

Once a member of Stanley and the Turbines, Mystic has been a featured solo artist for Reggae Sunsplash, eventually going on to open for a heavy-hitting lineup of reggae greats including Toots & the Maytals, Burning Spear, Yellow Man, Buju Banton, and Jimmy Cliff as well as for Latin pop diva Gloria Estefan.

All of his hard work through these years culminated in the release of his first album, "Funky Reggae" (1992).

Well-schooled in the world of reggae and other Caribbean musical genres, it would be a performance in 1991 that opened a new path for him, a collaboration that would shape his future in more ways than one. Scheduled to perform on the Mardi Gras Fest bill at Tramps (NYC), Mystic had the opportunity to perform with the founding members of the Tom Tom Club as his backing band. Thanks to his performance with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz (Talking Heads), it evolved into a partnership that has lasted to this day.

Mystic has worked steadily with the Tom Tom Club since 1992. With the release of their album,"The Good, The Bad and The Funky" (2000), featuring his vocals on the dub-heavy tracks "Time to Bounce" and a remake of Lee Perry's "Soul Fire," Mystic Bowie emerged as a force in his own right as their lead singer. Touring worldwide with the Tom Tom Club since 2000, Mystic's performances have been praised for his seemingly ceaseless supply of energy and the excitement he generates with crowds everywhere. The irresistible vibe of this tour, and Mystic's performances, has been captured magically on the Tom Tom Club's "Live at the Clubhouse" CD (2002). Songs from this period also appear on the Tom Tom Club's DVDs, "Time to Bounce" and "In a Bootleg Style."

Mystic's work has crossed over both into film and advertising. Covering Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross," he sang co-lead vocals with Tina Weymouth on the Tom Tom Club's remake of the world-renowned hit for the movie"The Long Kiss Goodnight", starring Samuel Jackson and Geena Davis. Later, the track "Who Feelin' It" from "The Good, The Bad and The Funky" was used in the urban thriller, "American Psycho." Mystic's voice has also been put to good use in commercial sessions at Bigfoot Studios (NYC).

His most recent work with the Tom Tom Club appears on the Vanguard Records' release, "Creole Zydeco," a tribute album featuring, among others, Cyndi Lauper and Taj Mahal. Released in 2004, the CD includes their cover of the Keith Franks' song, "Only the Strong Survive." In a review from New Orleans' Offbeat Magazine — considered the authority on all indigenous Louisiana music — Dan Willging says, "Perhaps the award for the hippest track goes to the Tom Tom Club who waxed Keith Frank's 'Only The Strong Survive' in their own inimitable, relentlessly pounding fashion."

Mystic has enjoyed the fruits of countless collaborations far beyond his reggae roots, having performed with a variety of funk and rock units. During the heyday of Jamband scene — whether at Sierra Nevada Music Festival, the Gathering of the Vibes, Camp Creek, or appearing at the Jammies at Roseland Ballroom — he has performed onstage with the likes of the B-5