Looking forward to warmer weather, cool ocean breezes, and good reggae vibes this summer, (not to mention some of the best craft beer on the planet)?
The line-up is set for the 2025 Ragged Island Music Festival, a two-day event on the grounds of the popular brewery, with ten local and nationally recognized bands scheduled to perform.
I spoke to Kevin Kinsella, lead singer of John Brown’s Body, playing Ragged Island on Sunday, June 8, about the upcoming festival and what the reggae band has been up to lately. An original member of JBB, Kinsella re-joined the band in 2024. He’s looking forward to getting out on the road and was especially pleased with the festival lineup, which includes Badfish, Dudemanbro, Start Making Sense, and The Original Wailers.
“Making music is like it’s a labor of love,” he said. “It’s so important for a healthy society. Just like healthcare, jobs, and education. You know, these are the quality of life stuff.”
The band, formed thirty years ago in Boston, MA, and Ithaca, NY, is legendary for it’s live shows. Their reggae/dub life-affirming beat is formidable, and they focus on connecting with their audience.
“Obviously, you’re working hard performing on stage, but there is a special connection with the audience when it’s live,” said Kinsella. “I think it’s religious, for lack of a general term, or you could say spiritual. A lot of people say ‘good vibes,’ you know, but ‘vibes’ kind of gets overused. But it is true that it is a church-like experience, a transformative experience that demands participation, demands action. You know what I’m saying?”
Kinsella shared some thoughts on what the band’s name represents to him. “Obviously, it’s named for the abolitionist John Brown, who raided Harpers Ferry to arm a slave insurrection,” he continued. “But beyond just John Brown, there’s that word ‘body,’ which I always took really seriously, because that means the church, which is the group of people. The idea of a body, means that people here are like family. I’ve always felt really strong about that; we’ve been blessed that we have kind of these like 30-40 year friendships going on.”
Kinsella credits the growing acceptance and legalization of marijuana as an element supporting live music.
“The rise of marijuana acceptance and beer breweries has been huge,” he said. “In the past 10-15 years, absolutely exponential growth. And they have the capital to put on shows. Those kinds of people are kind of music-minded, live music-minded people. So yes, that’s been the trend for sure.”
“Marijuana and the music business go back for 100 years or more, probably, you know, 1000 years, you know, way before Marley and The Wailers coming to England. A lot of those growers, you know, before it was legal, they backed a lot of bands up for sure,” he added.
Kinsella mentioned some new music is on the way for the band, including a new single that was just released. “It’s called ‘Hard Fight’ and it’s the first new song in 10 years,” said an enthused Kinsella. “So that’s exciting, and we’re feeling good about that. We’ve got more great songs that we’re working on – we’re going to be putting out more music this year, which is really a blessing.”
Meanwhile, block out the weekend of June 7-8. Music begins at noon, with five bands daily, including local openers playing till around 8:30. Click here for tickets to the Ragged Island Music Festival.
The full lineup for the weekend:
June 7:
Chelley Knight and the Dope Things
The Ravers
Morrissey BLVD
Pete Francis Band
Badfish – A Tribute to Sublime
June 8:
Guess Method
Dudemanbro
Start Making Sense
John Brown’s Body
Original Wailers
