A quick glance at Barbadian reggae artist David Kirton seems to paint him outside the mold of a typical reggae artist. First off, there’s his music. Instead of a lock, stock and barrel approach of replicating Jamaica’s reggae artform, Kirton has merged varying degrees of rock, pop and other genres into his music. The result is a musical discourse with a solid foundation in conventional reggae music and sprinklings of reggae innovation.

Kirton’s third and most recent album Time for Change contains a number of tracks which effectively showcase Kirton’s blending style. Miss the Water, Time for Change and Free to Fly are three of the songs on the11-track album which fully embody the style which Kirton describes as ‘Modern Alternative Roots Reggae’. Other tracks like Green Camouflage, a ‘down with Babylon’-styled number, provide a more unadulterated version of reggae that purists would appreciate, and reinforce the fact that despite musical nuances, Kirton is still very much a true reggae artist at heart.

Then there’s Kirton’s image. The cover of Time for Change features the dreadlocked artist in fitted jeans and matching jacket, carefully framing a bright green shirt with flowered pink collar and striped tie. Other Kirton PR shots show him in a rock-star inspired black jeans, black jacket getup, complete with superstar shades, pointytipped shoes and beaded necklace accessories — not exactly par for the course when it comes to reggae artists. It’s obvious that Kirton isn’t pitching himself as a clone of Jamaican reggae artistes. But why should he? While Jamaica is undoubtedly the home of the genre, other non-Jamaican reggae artists have gained credibility for themselves by the very nuances which make their versions of reggae music unique. These include Matishayu, a Jewish reggae unit, Rude Boy Face out of Japan (yes, you read correctly), and Ziggy Rankin out of Trinidad & Tobago. So maybe, with the somewhat hybridized reggae and the non-conventional attire, Kirton may be on to something…

That ‘something’ seems to be working in his favour. He’s managed to catch the attention of Tempo, the Caribbean music video channel. The videos for Time for Change (the title track off Kirton’s album) and Free to Fly have both received regular rotation on that channel in an environment already crowded with Caribbean videos vying for attention. Kirton has seemingly pulled out all the stops for his two videos. The video for Time for Change was shot by award winning cinematographer/ director Tom Krueger, who has also directed videos for U2, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and R.E.M., while the Free to Fly video features live painting sessions from renowned artist William Attaway. It also features a cameo from Gary Dourdan of television’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fame.

His Modern Alternative Roots Reggae has also carried him outside of Barbados, to stage performances in France, Canada, Switzerland, St. Croix, Grenada, and just about every state in US.

While the frontier of reggae innovation is undoubtedly not yet fully explored, David Kirton seems determined to put his own spin on the genre…

Photography by Victor Joel  Brooks