Reggae rhythms in Hull: High Hopes C-Note gig is benefit show for Hingham Youth Lacrosse

The connection between reggae music and lacrosse is seldom explored, but on Saturday night, the C-Note in Hull will welcome back another edition of a special South Shore reggae/lacrosse alliance. The South Shore reggae band High Hopes will perform a benefit concert for the Hingham Youth Lacrosse program, with all proceeds going to further the sport in the town.

This is the third time the club has hosted such a fundraiser, and the second time High Hopes has been the headliner. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the show will go until the last rhythm is struck, but tickets will not be sold at the door. For this event only, tickets must be purchased in advance through Hingham Boys Youth Lacrosse, through its Venmo@Hingham-boys-youth-lacrosse, and all tickets are $30.

The show is a chance to help a local youth charity and it's a re-emergence of sorts for High Hopes. Not only did the sextet encounter the same lack of gigs almost every other musician did during the pandemic, but the group had to undergo personnel changes as well. Add it all up, and it seems like the band, which has delighted audiences up and down the East Coast for two decades, is beginning a new chapter, with new members and a revitalized attitude.

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Ras Droppa in the lineup

The biggest change fans will note is that High Hopes has a new lead singer, and he’s a reggae icon. Ras Droppa was born in Jamaica as Samuel Richards, and did some of his first performing with his family in The Richard Brothers Band. Over his 30-year career as a reggae singer and bassist, Ras Droppa has shared the stage with such titans of the genre as Sugar Minott, Beres Hammond, Lucky Dube, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff and The Wailers. Ras Droppa is now the High Hopes' lead singer, and when he does his solo gigs, they serve as his backup band.

But the origins of High Hopes came on the South Shore. Bassist Julie Feola had played a lot of different musical styles, but a trip to Jamaica in her late 20s convinced her that reggae was her calling. She found several like-minded musicians in the area, including Marshfield percussionist Zeke Carlson.

“It was about 2003-ish, when I built my studio space and reggae was my favorite music,” Feola recalled from her Hull home. “Zeke and I were partners in High Hopes since the beginning and we have been the foundation of the band.”

What is it about this particular style of music that is so compelling to them?

“I think we are all very much into ‘conscious reggae,’” Feola said. “It’s the way the words and the sound have a power all their own. Typically, ‘roots reggae’ like we play has a strong message of liberation from suffering. It draws a very diverse crowd and brings people together. We all become unified through music. The music business in general is very ego-driven, but we wanted High Hopes to stay true to the feeling we found in Jamaica: holding hope in the forefront of our music, and reaching out to others.”

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The Ras Droppa connection came about through just playing together in the reggae world.

“We started working with Ras a couple years ago,” Feola noted. “He’d been playing with the Easy Star (a reggae record label) All Stars, and he writes his own originals. We had been playing his music and got a chance to act as his band and realized what a great performer he is. Ras is a fantastic bass player and toured with (singer) Anthony B for about 14 years. He is a lot of fun for me to work with, as both a musician and a bass player.”

Pandemic pause

But as Feola was ready to undertake a restructuring of the band, the pandemic rendered a lot of that moot. Nobody was playing much music anywhere.

“It was really strange to go that long without playing a show,” Feola said. “We had been used to playing 50-plus shows a year and traveling all around the East. It was a good time to make some changes in the band, which we’d been contemplating. It was also a good time to just take time and breathe. We’d been going pretty hard for several years. It was good to just go with the flow for a while.”

The new lineup includes Ras Droppa on vocals, Feola on bass, Carlson on percussion, Gabe Kirchheimer on drums and Jason “Big Dread” Smith on guitar. The band is using several keyboardists and hasn’t settled on a permanent member yet.

“Aside from Zeke and I, most of the other guys are based in and around New York City,” Feola said. “By late 2020, we began getting together at my home studio in Hull, and working on new music. Gabe runs a studio in Times Square, so we meet and collaborate with lots of other musicians when we go down there. Having half the band in New York does make logistics a bit more complicated, but we make it work. We had a recent show in Connecticut, so for that show we went down to New York and rehearsed for about a week. This New York connection has opened up a lot of new opportunities. I always try to see obstacles as opportunities.”

It's been a challenging time but as the music world continues to come back to life, Feola and High Hopes are eager to get back into regular action.

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“It has been an interesting journey at times,” Feola said. “Spreading the energy of our music is what I have missed the most. Live shows involve so much energy going from the crowd to the stage and vice-versa. People tell us this music is almost Medicare for them, and that’s very satisfying. People say ‘You’re REALLY a reggae band,’ which is so funny, but I think it’s because reggae has been shifted into so many various sounds. We try to stay true to roots reggae, where you can really feel the vibe.”

And how about that lacrosse connection?

“We played a previous benefit for Hingham Youth Lacrosse, in the ‘before times,’" Feola said, laughing. "So it was either 2018 or 2019, but it is definitely always nice to be able to support local organizations. I think originally one of their people contacted us and said they were fans and we were happy to do it.”

Hot Stove highlights

We arrived at Saturday’s Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston after 9 p.m., so unfortunately, we missed Kay Hanley and the latest edition of A Band of Their Own. But we did hear sportswriter Peter Gammons singing rock classics with the Hot Stove All Stars.

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Former Red Sox hurler Bronson Arroyo sang a vibrant take on The Foo Fighters’ “Everlong,” with guest guitarists Theo Epstein and Lenny DiNardo. Soulman Barrence Whitfield sang a wailing rendition of Chicago’s old “25 or 6 to 4,” and Will Dailey led the All Stars through a lively “Band on the Run.” Goo Goo Dolls singer Johnny Rzeznik did a solo acoustic set that was sublimely on target, and then brought out the All Stars for a final romp through “Give a Little Bit” and Tom Petty’s “American Girl.” A lady named Lynette bought a guitar autographed by Rzeznik, Arroyo and DiNardo for $7,500 to cap off the night for the benefit of A Foundation to Be Named Later’s community and youth programs.

See High Hopes in Hull

When: 8 p.m. to midnight May 7

Where: The C-Note, 159 Nantasket Ave., Hull

Tickets: $30 via Venmo @Hingham-Boys-Youth-Lacrosse

Info: Tickets will not be sold at the door

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: High Hopes reggae band to perform benefit show for Hingham lacrosse