Event sponsored by WFSK 88.1, the Nashville Scene and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace.

Smooth Side Up
Presents
World-Renowned Conscious Reggae Band
INNER VISIONS

Date:       Wednesday, October 15, 2003
                Historic Belcourt Theatre - 2102 Belcourt Avenue
Time:       7:30 p.m.
Tickets:    $20 – Available at Belcourt Box office or charge by phone by calling 846-3150 
Contact:   Robert Luke (WFSK 88.1)  615-298-4669; smoothsideup@yahoo.com
                 (for general info)
                 Patty Watts 413-624-3948; fax 413-624-3328; pwatts@crocker.com
                 (for artist interviews) 

Every Sunday in June, Music City eagerly embraced the smooth and sizzlin’ sounds of local jazz presented by WFSK’s Smooth Side Up at Café 123.  In August, Smooth Side Up thrilled a sold-out audience at the Historic Belcourt Theater with the smooth and jazzy grooves of Motown’s rising star, KEM.  Now, Smooth Side Up presents Reggae Masters of the Caribbean, Inner Visions, in concert, Wednesday, October 15, 2003 at the Historic Belcourt Theater.  Making their first-ever stop in Nashville as part of a whirlwind tour crisscrossing the United States, Inner Visions hails from tiny Love City, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands to perform in this benefit for Nashville’s Village Cultural Arts Center, Inc. Inner Visions combines a lifetime of experience with youthful freshness to spread the universal message of love and understanding through their awesome reggae sound. 

“Smooth Side Up, WFSK 88.1, is doing it again,” says Charmaine Gibbs, Interim Director of The Village Cultural Arts Center.  “The Village is so fortunate to be chosen as the recipient of this wonderful cultural exchange…it’s good for our children and families to witness and participate in the universal language of music, which binds us together as one people.” 

St. John, a quaint little island in the Northern Caribbean, is home to the U.S. Virgin Islands’ best-kept secret: Inner Visions.  Creating beautiful harmonies for over twenty years, Inner Visions fought hard to overcome the calypso-dominated environment of the Northern and Eastern Caribbean.  Today, their music has transcended all barriers, and the respect they craved has finally surfaced.  Reggae by any stretch of the imagination is not easy to master, but Inner Visions has managed to master it.  Along the way, Inner Visions has maintained reggae’s critical authenticity while taking the music to a different level.  Good song writing and strong vocals have always been Inner Visions’ greatest asset, and the band truly comes alive in front of an audience.  Always ready to do benefits for worthwhile causes, InnerVisions is and has always been willing to work in a fundraising capacity.  Their benevolence is not surprising, given that their motto is “Love one another now.” 

After seventeen years, Inner Visions recorded their first big production, a CD entitled Love One Another. The title track raced up local charts and rested comfortably at number two on at least one major radio station.  Proud of their hard work and achievement, they embarked on a second recording venture four years later, releasing the single Shala-la in September 1999.  Shala-La spent six weeks at the number one position on three local stations.  One year later, Inner Visions was again in the recording studio cranking out a new CD entitled Spiritual Dancer.  Once again "Shala-la" (the remix) hit the charts.  Of the top one hundred songs requested and played for the year 2000, "Shala-la" placed at number ten.  Other cuts on Spiritual Dancer were also poised to dominate local airwaves. 

While the Love One Another CD and the single Shala-la continuing to dominate international airwaves, Inner Visions released in 2003 their much-anticipated Street Corner Musicians.  This new release is garnering rave reviews worldwide as being the best Conscious Reggae CD this year!  The cuts, "My Father's Prayer" to "Hold on to what you got" are the two most popular cuts from the new CD and are holding strong on the Reggae charts nationwide.  With other cuts also growing in popularity, Street Corner Musicians is without a doubt the best Roots Conscious release from the Inner Visions camp!   Fans are not only riding the waves, but also “holding on tight” to what they have -- the sweet, majestic sounds of INNER VISIONS! 

“I am extremely excited to be able to share with Nashville the awesome talent of Inner Visions,” says Robert Luke, host of Smooth Side Up on WFSK 88.1 FM.  “When I moved to Nashville from the U.S. Virgin Islands last year, I promised myself I would make every effort to share with Nashville the unique spirit of our own Caribbean paradise.  I see Inner Visions as ‘musical ambassadors,’ here to represent our island territory’s beauty, culture, and history – not only for the children of the Village Cultural Arts Center, but for all Nashvillians.”

Smooth Side Up is proud once again to give Music City something to smile about – Inner Visions in concert, Wednesday, October 15, 2003 at the Historic Belcourt Theatre.  Tickets are $20 and all  proceeds will benefit The Village Cultural Arts Center, Inc.