Meet the man bringing reggae to the masses through California Roots

Photo courtesy of Press Junkie PR. Photo by Bulldog Media.

Dailyreggae.com spoke with Dan Sheehan about his multiple decade-long career dedicated to reggae music, passion for live music, and how he’s living his dream to bring reggae to the masses through California Roots Presents and the California Roots Music & Art Festival.

Tell us about your role in producing the California Roots Music & Festival.   

On the Cali Roots side, we haven’t produced a festival in-person in a while now. The last one we did was in 2019 with our next one slated for 2022, which when you say it out loud sounds crazy. It’s going to be three years between the last band and the first band. We’ve pivoted at Cali Roots to push our brand and merchandise. We’re working to turn that into something that’s legitimately profitable year-round and when we come back to doing shows, we’ll have this business that we’ve built around merch that will complement our event business. (Editor’s Note: California Roots Presents recently announced Roaring Camp Railroads).

That’s the balancing act of it all while having an almost six-year-old daughter. We’ve done homeschooling. This last year has been a year of a bunch of new things, challenging stuff, and some silver linings as well. 

Taking things back to your origins. I know initially, you got into live music with Reggae on the River and High Times. You saw the festival and were like this looks cool, I want to get this band I like, Natural Vibrations, on the bill. Was this when you were based in Hawaii?

Right after high school, I moved from Hawaii to the Bay Area to play football at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California, and I lived in Sunnyvale and Mountain View for four or five years. When I went to Reggae on the River for the first time, I was living in Mountain View and when I got Natty Vibes in, I was living in Sunnyvale.

It was crazy back then. It shows you how far things have come technology-wise. I found it in High Times. I was smoking a lot of weed at the time (laughs), so I was reading High Times and there was this little article in the back about Reggae on the River and I was thinking this sounds so awesome! I grew up in Hawaii, so reggae is in my blood. It’s a part of my DNA because anyone that knows Hawaii knows that reggae is one of the major heartbeats there.

I saw this thing and you know, you had to mail in a little index card to get a ticket. So, I was like all right, I rallied up some friends and we all mailed in an envelope with an index card and a return envelope in it and they sent us back tickets! That was the start of it. That was the birth of my desire and love of live music.

I’ve always loved live music, but to produce and to be a promoter, that was the birth of it for me. Reggae on the River. I’m always grateful for People Productions, who put on Reggae on the River with Mateel Community Center, the late Carol Bruno, and Jenny Foster. They helped me realize my love and passion for live music.

Was there a moment in this beginning time where you kind of had the realization that producing live music is what you want to do for a living?

Yeah, it was at Reggae on the River, and Lucky Dube was on stage. He was a great artist, who unfortunately was murdered a handful of years back. He was headlining Friday or Saturday night around ’97. He came on stage with a full orchestra. There were 30 people on stage, and he was conducting this orchestra. There were 15,000 people in this bowl and the energy was amazing.

That is one of the biggest things that has driven me to produce live music and live events, is the energy that it has. The energy is so real and there is nothing that can come close to it. Maybe surfing a big wave or different elements in life that have this feeling, but for me, it was live music. That was the moment, where I was like, “This is what I want to do”! I want to bring this to people. I want to be a part of providing and fueling the world with this energy. That was it. That was the beginning of it when everything kind of clicked for me. The passion and burning desire to become a promoter.

Starting as a promoter is not easy. You can take a lot of hits and you have to fight to get artists, because they’ve may have had another promoter they’ve worked with in the market. But I didn’t give up, and we kept pushing through.

Reggae River was such a vibey place. We strive to provide energy at all of our events. It’s an extremely huge part of live events that aren’t overlooked but is why this last year has been hard on a lot of people including me, because of not having that energy and fuel to keep pushing through life.

It happened pretty quickly and the next thing you know, I moved to Guam for a couple of years and started my next step in the music industry after Reggae in the River.

For it to happen so quickly, it seemed like it was your calling for sure.

Yeah, I one hundred percent know I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. What I was meant to do. To realize that at a younger age, I think I was 25 once I realized this is exactly what I want to do.

After attending Reggae on the River, I got Natty Vibes into Reggae on the River by persistently calling People Productions. After a lot of calls, they were finally like, “Ok, we’ve got an 11:00 a.m. spot on Sunday for Natural Vibrations. The money isn’t that great, but it’s a spot.” I was living with a bunch of roommates in Sunnyvale and our garage was converted into a bedroom. We had this big backyard, so I booked Natural Vibes a tour and they came up. They stayed with us. A couple of them camped in the backyard.

We rented a van and I booked around 15 dates from the Bay Area, Winstons in San Diego, and we went all the way up to the Pacific Northwest. Boise, Idaho, and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing (laughs). I remember vividly making black and white flyers at the Kinko’s in Menlo Park, and I had a spelling error on it, but I was like fuck it, we’ve got to get these out! Spelling has never been one of my strong suits.

You’ve got a graphics department now!

Exactly! I have a great team that is always proofing my work (laughs). We did the tour. I had a buddy whose family owned the radio station in Guam that was planning to go all-island and reggae. It was I94FM, so I went out, became the music director and nighttime DJ. I was on 6:00 – 10:00, Monday through Friday. My radio name that I use on Sirius now is Irie Dan. I was Irie Dan the Red Eye Bandit (laughs). I did all that and then came back to California to start Good Vibes Entertainment and went all-in on doing shows and figuring it out.

I lost a bunch of money; I made money. Made a bunch of connections, built a strong reputation, and here we are!

Growing up in Hawaii and living in Guam, how do you think your time living in the islands affects your vision and how you help cultivate the reggae music scene?

My love of reggae came from there but also growing up in Hawaii in Ewa Beach, where I was pretty much one of the only white kids in school that weren’t military. That had me grow up understanding diversity and being more open to a lot of things. I pin a lot of who I am with where I grew up. The love of roots reggae, which is the foundation of it all, stems from this time. I grew up listening to Bob, Gregory Isaacs, Jacob Miller, The Gladiators, The Melodians, Chalice, and some of these artists that I have a huge passion for.

When I started going all-in on shows, I was organizing a lot of roots shows. Israel Vibration, The Itals, The Mighty Diamonds, we probably did more shows than most other U.S. producers with Midnite. I probably did a hundred shows over my career with them.

We did a bunch of tours in Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii with the love of reggae made me want to push the roots, which if you look at my lineups now, when I can and where I can, I try and inject the roots. Even on our radio show, I find it important to highlight the roots of reggae music. Bands like Rebelution, Dirty Heads, or Slightly Stoopid; all these bands kind of get their influence from roots reggae music.

Some of the fans don’t necessarily know that and my whole concept has always been, if we put Rebelution on this lineup and we have Don Carlos on, these people will get turned onto Don Carlos and start going through his catalog. The great thing about Spotify is you can look at similar artists, which keeps opening up that rabbit hole to show there is so much reggae music and so much roots reggae that the younger and newer fan base isn’t familiar with and it’s important that they are.

Recently we’ve lost some great foundation artists with U-Roy, Albert Griffiths of The Gladiators, Bunny Wailer, and Toots. These are all artists that are foundation members of reggae and the core of reggae. I don’t think a lot of people realize that U-Roy is a massive influence on hip hop and rap music. Those toasters out of Jamaica were rapping before rap was even rap. They were toasting in the ‘70s with sound systems in the yard. It’s important to highlight those artists.

You’ve been a major player in the reggae scene, especially the American reggae scene for the past couple of decades. In your experience and view, how have you seen reggae music change and evolve?

It’s evolved a lot. I was fortunate enough to work with bands like SOJA and Rebelution when they were coming up. Even before that, there was Slightly Stoopid and those bands that laid the groundwork. And even before that with Sublime. The whole scene has evolved in such a way that it’s a beautiful thing. These bands are selling real tickets now across the country. Not just on the coasts. It’s not just Florida and California that they are selling tickets. They are selling tickets in Kansas, Iowa, Chicago, Pittsburgh and that shows the popularity of this music.

It started very small and for a while, there were hurdles to overcome with these white guys playing reggae and all this stuff. Some of that is still there, but I think, for the most part, these bands have staked their claim. Not just in the reggae scene in America, but the music scene in America. Rebelution can sell eight thousand tickets on a Wednesday in the Bay Area. That’s more legitimate than a lot of other bands in other styles of music. It’s a good thing.

I wish more Jamaican artists were touring right now. I think we’re missing a lot because it’s hard for these Jamaican artists to tour. It’s expensive, the visa situation is not easy, and it’s hard to predict the restrictions that will be in place after COVID. Not a lot of artists want to pile in a 15-passenger van and grind across the country, and that’s what you need to do to get to that level. I wish there was more Jamaican talent touring the country. They’ll play Europe because quite honestly the European reggae scene is much larger than ours and their festivals are much larger than ours. Different countries like France subsidizes promoters to bring in those kinds of artists because it’s part of our culture.

I honestly believe once we get out of this COVID situation and we start playing shows again, I think it’s going to be through the roof. The demand is there. A lot of bands have been putting out great music during this time. For those middle-level bands like Tropidelic, Bumpin Uglies, and Artikal Sound System, they have put out really good music at this time, which is huge. If you can’t tour, you might as well put out good music and try to sell cool merch (laughs).

Yeah, I think the advent of livestreams has forced musicians to also realize the tools available.

Absolutely. We’ve dabbled with livestreams to see what is going to work and not going to work. I think we realized that anything behind a paywall for live streaming in our space doesn’t work.

My whole philosophy with live streaming is we do live streaming for free, we pump merch, and there is a tip jar for artists. I think you can generate more revenue that way than trying to charge $10 for a show. I think live streaming is here to stay and we’ve been live streaming Cali Roots for years. We’re fortunate to have a lot of content too.

You’re involved in the industry in multiple facets. I was curious, what do you think separates the reggae music scene and reggae music industry from the rest of the music industry and scenes of other genres?

I think there is comradery amongst the bands in this scene. If you’ve been backstage at Cali Roots near the dressing rooms, you’d see it. Cali Roots has become kind of an industry event, where I’ve got agents and managers from all the agencies, and managers of most of the big bands grinding it out with us. Everyone is hanging together. There is a family vibe.

Don’t get me wrong, it is very competitive. It is a competitive scene, which is healthy. Bands work hard in this scene. I’m not saying they don’t work hard in other scenes, but they work hard to grow, to be where they’re at, and it’s important to recognize that as a promoter. Sometimes the billing stuff kind of gets my nerves, but that’s also part of doing a show and doing a festival with many bands.

What separates our scene from others is the comradery and family vibe. Not to be cliché, but the love and unity of it all. 

This is your calling. You’ve been able to spread the music that you love. What would you say is the most fulfilling part of your job?

The fans and seeing the vibe. Feeling the vibe and seeing the looks on their faces. Being a part of something that has made somebody’s day better. Something that has made their week better. Something on the level of Cali Roots and a festival that has made their year better. We hear it all the time.

When I was a festival goer as a young lad, I always joked that Reggae on the River was kind of my New Year. I know for people Cali Roots is that event. A kickoff and replenishment. For me, it’s always been about the fans.

The growth of the bands and the overall scene is a big part of it, but sometimes I just turn my radio off, and I just go and be with the crowd. That’s always been a driving force on why I do what I do.

With all of these festivals and shows, you’ve done. What is your favorite moment at any of the shows?

I rarely see full sets. It’s unfortunate, but in 2019 I told my staff, I’m going to go in and see this set. It was Tash Sultana, and she played the Bowl at Cali Roots and I found it to be one of the greatest sets I’ve ever seen. I remember being in the bowl, kind of by myself in an area where no one would come talk to me, and I could just be a fan. I watched the entire 70-minute set. My staff knew if they needed me, where I’d be, but I have such a great staff that they don’t really need me (laughs). I had tears of joy. It’s one of those things like we did this! That was a great year. It was also the year of the Collie Buddz pizza party, which I also found to be a massive moment. Big ups to Collie Buddz. Always coming up with some crazy shit (laughs).

Year four at Cali Roots is one of the stand-up moments, where I went on stage, looked out at the crowd and it was a sea of ten thousand people. The feeling of wow we did this is incredible!

Another moment is when I had The Green sing Happy Birthday to my wife, Amy. It was her birthday. I told her we should go to the stage to watch the show. She had my daughter McKenna, and she had this look on her face like who are all these people and what’s going on? All of a sudden 12,000 people are singing happy birthday to my wife. That was a really fun moment!

I’ve seen at some of your festivals that you’ll bring on artists that aren’t necessarily reggae. In your mind, what is a defining quality of an artist that makes them a potential Cali Roots artist?

We do a lot of hip hop, which works well. It has to be the right kind of hip hop. No offense, but I’m not going to have Chief Keef or Lil Uzi. They don’t make sense, but Atmosphere makes complete sense for it. Nas made a lot of sense for it. E-40 is kind of the definition of Cali Roots. He’s as Bay Area as it gets. I’ve looked at Wu-Tang, Public Enemy, and some of those artists fit in. It comes down to a vibe. Ice Cube this coming festival might be a little out of that box, but not really.

We’ve had Disptach before. They make a lot of sense. Rising App makes a lot of sense. Even artists like Nakho, who aren’t necessarily reggae but bring great energy. It’s about what they believe in and what they sing about. We try our best to book acts that fit. The days have to fit, they have to flow with the other artists in the lineup. It’s important to me to have those types of artists because I look at it as a palate cleanse. If you’re listening to reggae all day, it’s great but by throwing in different kinds of things, you kind of cleanse that palate and it helps keep the energy going. Keep the vibe alive.

What advice would you have for the promoters and managers trying to come up in this scene? And for the up-and-coming artists in the reggae scene?

I think it’s about being agile. As a promoter, manager, artist, you have to be agile and roll with the punches.

On the artist front, for me, one of my pet peeves is when artists send me an email saying book my band and that’s it. It’s like dude, what? You have to have this solid front-facing persona. In a lot of ways, you have to fake it until you make it. You have to develop, but on the front side. It has to look good.

You’ve got to get out there and play. Sometimes you have to take those crappy slots where you’re getting $50, but you can get two new fans. That’s a success! It’s about grinding hard and putting out good music.

The promoter game is hard right now. It’s never been easy. There are a lot of strong independents like me and a bunch of other independent promoters. It’s about finding your niche and finding what you’re good at. What markets are you good at, what style of music are you good at, and focus on that niche.

Find your lane and stick with it. Know that nothing is going to happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and time.

Being true to your word is everything. That’s what we’ve built our reputation on.

Follow Dan and California Roots at https://californiarootsfestival.com/ & https://www.californiarootspresents.com/ Listen to Dan on Cali Roots Radio on SiriusXM’s The Joint channel https://www.siriusxm.com/channels/the-joint