BEVERLY — It will be a night of celebration and remembrance when Soul Rebel Project takes the stage at The Cabot on Saturday, April 23.
The band, now approaching its 11th year together, will be celebrating the release of its new, 15-song album. “Someday,” and the remembrance will come from the evening’s love and feelings of loss from the passing of lead guitarist Jay Harris to sarcoidosis at the beginning of the pandemic.
Above all, Adam Saylor of Soul Rebel Project said the evening, the whole record debut show at the historic 850-seat theater, is about the fact “the album is dedicated to our brother Jay, who passed on.”
Late guitarist Jay Harris will be remembered during the April 23 show at The Cabot and release of “Someday,” the new album by Soul Rebel Project. The album honors the life and music of Harris, the Soul Rebel Project guitarist who died in 2020.
Saylor said “Someday” honors the life and music of Harris and SRP fans can expect to hear all of the new album during the April 23 show.
“We’re going to play every song off the record. Not in sequence, we’ll sprinkle some of the old favorites in there, too, but it will be every song off the record.”
Before the Cabot show, the band will warm up with an out-of-state gig and kick off the festival season at the 34th Annual Sugarloaf Reggae Festival, Friday, April 8, 9 p.m. in the festival’s King Pine Room.
Losing Harris in the early days of the pandemic was tough on the band, followed by the extended lockdown, Saylor said. But with some help from Dave Hill of Fusion Blue Records, Soul Rebel Project pulled off some successful livestreaming sessions. Saylor said fans made the difference for the band, in support and through venmo.
“Our fans are the best, they kept us going through thick and thin, always supporting us. We are blessed on the North Shore to have such a following,” Saylor said.
Saylor said it was “weird playing without an audience. But you can see people comment in the thread — it was fun, a cool experience.”
But for now, as restriction are lifted, live shows are back.
“Now it seems like things are clearing up and we able to go back out and can play more. So it’s exciting.”
Saylor reported great ticket sales for The Cabot show.
“It was a big undertaking, but we decided to go big this time. and why not?”
“And it will be fun, make sure you get your tickets soon because hopefully it will sell out,” Saylor said.
What’s ahead after the Cabot? A trip to a reggae fest in Spain this summer is in the works for Soul Rebel Project. “They have a pretty cool festival in Spain, called RotoTom,” Saylor said.
And then, there’s the always anticipated summer show at Crane’s in Ipswich.
The past decade has been rewarding for a group of guys who all originally hailed from Gloucester, he said. “Someday,” is the band’s fourth release. SRP is led by Mike Francis, guitarist and vocalist, who used to play with the “ska revival’ band, Mile 21.
“It’s been awesome, we’ve gotten to play with all our favorite musicians,” Saylor said. “It’s been really fun and we had a song chart in the Billboards. So it’s been good run.”
“After so many years together, we’ve kind of created our own sound, which is really nice to have. It’s definitely reggae with a rock edge.” Saylor said.
SOUL REBEL PROJECT
LIVE: Debut of fourth release, “Someday,” Saturday, April 23, The Cabot, 285 Cabot St., Beverly, www.thecabot.org Tickets: $25.
NAME: Reference of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ second album, 1970’s “Soul Rebel,” the band’s first available outside of Jamaica.
BAND: Vocalist/guitarist Mike Francis, drums Geoff Pilkington, bassist Adam Saylor, lead guitarist David Drouin, percussionist Aaron Zaroulis and Jon Persson on trumpet.
AWARDS: VPAL recording artist Soul Rebel Project are two-time winners of the Boston Music Awards’ International Artist of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
ON STAGE: SRP has shared stages with The Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, Damian Marley, Skatalites, Yellowman and Redman and Methodman, among others.
CHARTS: Charting No. 5 on the Top 100 Reggae albums on iTunes and No. 8 on The Billboards, SRP’s first three albums have earned the band industry respect.
