Jon Wayne and The Pain share funky reggae sound on Saturday
Packed in a van full of guitars, drums, and other performance necessities, the four members of Jon Wayne and the Pain took off from Minneapolis last month and began a tour around the country to share its funky reggae sound.
The group will play the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St., at 10 p.m. today. Admission is $5. Aaron Kamm & the One Drops will open the show.
The tour began after some unexpected changes in the group.
“It was a really tough spot to be in,” said lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Wayne.
After losing its drummer, the group rebounded quickly by adding Scottie Zaker and an additional percussionist, Tito Milla, three months ago.
Wayne said the tour’s success so far is a result of the new positive relationships in the band. Audiences can count on a fun show put on by a group of new friends.
The Yacht Club has hosted the group in the past, and people at the club are excited about the band’s return. The band members said they are encouraged by the supportive atmosphere for independent and local musicians at the venue.
“They’re not cheesy reggae,” said Yacht Club employee Pete McCarthy. “They don’t try too hard to sound like traditional reggae.”
Wayne and the other band members are working on their live performance to entice new fans. The four musicians focus on their professional career as a group and the quality of how their individual sounds work together. Wayne said it’s refreshing to work with other musicians as dedicated to a musical vision as he is.
The songs audiences will hear deal with life’s struggles. For example, “None More Dat” is about being alone and doing things in life that will hurt you, then moving past them. Wayne wrote this song about his battle with drugs and alcohol in the past.
“It’s about the things that hold us down and keep us from being who we should really be,” he said.
Wayne has a tremendous voice, McCarthy said, and he doesn’t try to change it to sound like other reggae musicians. Drawing from the shows he has heard, McCarthy said the band mixes a Sublime sort of sound with reggae and adds its own flavor.
Despite lyrics that are serious in subject matter, the band members like to keep things high-spirited on- and off-stage.
“We keep sarcasm high in our band,” Wayne said. “We like to give each other a hard time a lot of the time.”
And the guys’ fun attitudes are sure to appear in the Iowa City show. In fact, they invite audiences to enjoy it as much as they do.
“We’re going to be dancing,” Wayne said. “So feel free to dance with us.”
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