The Green

The Green was formed in 2009 with Caleb Keolanui (lead and backing vocals), Ikaika Antone (keyboards, lead and backing vocals), JP Kennedy (lead and backing vocals, guitar), Zion Thompson (lead and backing vocals, guitar) and Brad Watanabe (backing vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, drums). Drummer Jordan Espinoza joined in 2011, replacing Leslie Ludiazo, who remains the band’s musical director.

They are among the very first reggae bands from the Hawaiian islands to extensively tour the US mainland and perform in such far-flung locales as Japan and New Zealand. One of the genre’s busiest acts, prior to headlining their own tours, the band supported many American reggae bands including Rebelution, Iration, SOJA, and even Jamaica’s Damian Marley. Grammy winning pop superstar Bruno Mars selected The Green to open his three sold out shows at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Arena in 2014 and his two sold out dates at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium, Hawaii’s largest outdoor venue, in 2018. The Green have also appeared on several of America’s biggest music festivals, including the Vans Warped Tour, Wakarusa, Life Is Beautiful, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, One Love Cali Reggae Festival, California Roots Festival, and Rebelution’s Bright Side Festival in Jamaica.

With much of the live music industry scaled back or in a holding pattern for 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, many musicians enjoyed an extended hiatus at home with family and friends and additional time to focus on their music. Hawaii-based reggae band The Green sum up their

period of self-reflection, on their 6th studio album, Brand New Eyes, out now (Easy Star Records/Ineffable Records).

For band members Ikaika Antone (keyboards, vocals) and Zion Thompson (guitar, vocals), who became first time fathers during the pandemic, the lockdown afforded expanded time to bond with their newborn daughters; for the entire band, the lockdown provided an opportunity for deeper concentration on their music making. “Because we weren’t touring, we were able to pull the album together in a way that we couldn’t before,” says Ikaika. “Now that our families are growing, it’s time to get more proactive with our music, so the pandemic was a blessing in disguise, and we adapted really well.”

By Patricia Meschino