A couple of days ago, I was flipping through the Chicago Onion and they had an article for Matisyahu (Mahtis yahoo). If that doesn’t ring a bell, he is a Hasidic reggae artist. I’ve always seen promotions for his second album ‘Live at Stubb’s,’ but I’ve never actually heard any of his music or anyone talk about him. So, out of sheer curiousity, I read the article and became even more curious after reading it.

In the article, he talked about following Phish and Bob Marley as he grew up, Judaism, and coming together as a musician.

“You can be religious. You can have a family.” I have my wife and my son on the road with me. You can be religious and be living on a bus with your wife and your son and, like, six non-religious or non-Jewish people, playing concerts every night… and there’s no contradiction there. It can work. Whatever a person wants, whatever a person puts their energy into, there’s no closed doors.

After reading the article, I had to check out his music. He has 3 CDs, and one is a live album. Because I like live music, I think it’s the best one, and for the right reasons. The three piece band is aerodynamic and flexible, able to do the slow reggae groove or rock out with ferocity. He also has a talent for beatboxing, which he does on a couple of tracks. His combination is novel, but the music is quite groovy and easy to get into.

There’s also a great documentary on Google Videos about his spirituality and music. Give him a listen or hit me up for the CD.