One of the longest tenured Hawaiian reggae bands to tour the mainland will return to the states this spring.
Natural Vibrations, or Natty Vibes for short, has been writing, recording and touring as a band since 1993. The band’s first album release was in 1996 with Balls Rolling. Since then, Natural Vibrations has received a multitude of honors at the Hawai’i Music Awards and earned three Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
Known for such hit songs like “Put A Little Love”, “Put Some Time”, “Shawty”, “Hot Like Fire”, “One On One”, “Balls Rolling” and countless others, Natty Vibes at one time had bands like Iration, Pepper and The Green, all from Hawai’i, as their direct support for shows. But career paths often change and the band has continued on amid numerous lineup changes over their 20-year career.
Currently, Natty Vibes has only two of the founding band members remaining, Wayne Enos (guitar/vocals) and Shane Abraham (keyboards/vocals). Other current members of Natural Vibrations include Ekona Ravey (bass/vocals), Jamin “Chief Ragga” Wong (guitar/vocals) and Tony Saenz (drums).
One major absence recently has been vocalist, Peni “Peni Dean” Pua’auli. The last performance for Natural Vibrations and Peni sharing the stage as lead singer occurred in 2014 in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
A turning point in the history of Natural Vibrations was Peni leaving, and deciding to pursue a solo career under the name PeniDean, the voice of Natural Vibrations. In 2015, Natty Vibes released their first single without Peni and other band mainstays, Jehua Evans (bass/vocals) and Kayton Macariola (percussion/vocals) and titled it “Rear View Mirror”.
The lyrics in “Rear View Mirror” state: “You told me that the band isn’t going nowhere and now you’re taking your loving elsewhere. So, what was your reason for leaving, I’m pleading, life on the road is not easy. Missing your home and you feel so alone and you fear you’re not making much money.”
It’s fairly rare in the reggae genre to receive so much insight into the real lives of these artists, but Natural Vibrations wrote, recorded and released “Rear View Mirror” for the public’s consumption, and it was even selected for the Reggae on the River Collection in 2015.
Natural Vibrations with Wayne Enos leading the way, has moved on and continued on as they always have, recording new music and touring relentlessly. Beginning on April 20th, Natty Vibes will perform 10 shows in 13 days, featuring seven dates in California, two in Washington and one in Portland, Oregon. Prior to their mainland tour, Natty Vibes will perform at Mai Tai’s in Honolulu on April 16th, showing love for O’ahu.
For reggae fans on the west coast, Wayne Enos and company have and always will bring that quintessential Natty Vibes flare to each and every show. So, find a date in a city near you and support O’ahu’s Natural Vibrations.
For more information on Natty Vibes, follow the links below.
Natural Vibrations Links
Website
Facebook
Tour Dates
YouTube
Video: Natural Vibrations – “Balls Rolling” (Live in Denver, CO)