Lively Up with The Wailers, touring Montana in March

Published: February 25, 2010

The Wailers, considered the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition, perform in Missoula, Billings and Bozeman in March. Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide.

Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the band also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Burning Spear.

The band has completed innumerable other tours, playing to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. They have also been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East.

The iconic group’s nucleus formed in 1969, when Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh recruited the Barrett brothers – bassist Aston “Family Man” and drummer Carly – to play on hits such as “Lively Up Yourself,” “Trenchtown Rock” and many others. This line-up pioneered roots-rock reggae and the Barrett brothers assumed the title of Wailers, and backed Marley on the succession of hit singles and albums that made him a global icon.

Drummer Carly Barrett died in 1987; subsequent line-ups have revolved around Family Man, who – with lead singer Elan Attias – fuses tried and trusted roots authenticity with fresh excitement.

“The reggae music is the international voice of the people,” Barrett says. “It’s universal. It can be understood by everyone and carries a message of roots, culture and reality.”

Catch them in:

Missoula: 8 p.m. March 6 at the Wilma Theatre (888-MONTANA or griztix.com)

Billings: 8 p.m. March 7 at the Shrine Auditorium (866-464-2626 or www.ticketswest.com)

Bozeman: 8 p.m. March 10 at the Emerson Center (866-468-7624 or ticketweb.com)