Orange Grove
Biography
The Orange Grove sound is a musical melting pot of cross-ocean influences combining the sounds of Reggae music with zouk, ska, rap and rock, complimented by lead-singer Michael Maidwell's rough yet tough voice. These elements combined with a group of 5 professional musicians, all with strong roots in the Caribbean, lead to a positive and upbeat experience while listening to Orange Grove. A brand new and exciting chapter has begun recently for Orange Grove with the release of their second studio...
The Orange Grove sound is a musical melting pot of cross-ocean influences combining the sounds of Reggae music with zouk, ska, rap and rock, complimented by lead-singer Michael Maidwell's rough yet tough voice. These elements combined with a group of 5 professional musicians, all with strong roots in the Caribbean, lead to a positive and upbeat experience while listening to Orange Grove.
A brand new and exciting chapter has begun recently for Orange Grove with the release of their second studio album "Fingerprint". Since their first studio sessions together two years ago, the band had grown in sound and skill and this became very obvious in the studio. They decided to go with Oscar Bor as the producer and engineer for the album and it surely paid dividends! The name of the record came from the idea to allow a number of their devoted fans the chance to send in their scanned fingerprints, which were then incorporated into the album's artwork. They released it in the Watt (Rotterdam, Holland) in June of 2009 and again (just like their debut album release in 2007) it was a packed floor and a very memorable night! They even let the whole audience take home a free copy. They also streamed the concert live to venues on St Maarten, Curacao and Aruba, islands where OG members originate from and where the band also has devoted followings.
Since its release, Fingerprint has gotten a ton of great reviews in many national publications. In 2009 the band played twice on the popular dutch talk show DWDD (De Wereld Draait Door) as well as doing many interviews on various radio stations in the country, some of their songs are being used in surf dvd's and already some college radio dj's in the US are spinning their latest! Most importantly, the reactions from their fans have been genuinely amazing!
Michael Maidwell, lead-singer and founder of the group, has this to say about the album: "Fingerprint is feeling like the album we had been dreaming of for a long time. It feels like we have put down a true OG fingerprint with this one. The songs on the album have added a great deal to the live show as well and it has become obvious that we have taken a huge step in the right direction with this record."
With Fingerprint, the band has stepped over into more mainstream waters. The reggae elements, as well as some other Caribbean styles, are still very present in the music but the band has taken on more of a rock-pop approach as compared to their first studio album. Michael adds: "It just came naturally. Everybody in the band has different musical preferences but is still very open-minded. The songs on Fingerprint came from many different corners in OG and no two songs on the album are alike". Radio stations around the globe have been playing their songs for years and by doing so have helped spread their sound to places on earth where no band-member has set foot before. "Our goal is to eventually have been able to play shows in all the places around the globe we are seeing listeners pop up! That would be sweet. Imagine..we'd be playing in Egypt as well as Thailand and New York and LA and Jamaica...wouldn't that be wonderful.."
OG has managed to achieve quite a bit as an independent band. They have already performed in just about every major venue in Holland as well as having played in Belgium, the USA (Atlanta and Yale), Barbados, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Cuaracao and Statia. No other band has played at the world-famous Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta as much as OG, having already performed at the international festival four times. They have opened for legendary reggae bands like Damian Marley, the Wailers and Steel Pulse. What's more interesting though: their songs have been downloaded over a million times on the internet to people who have never even witnessed their live show in person while OG's live show is one of the band's strongest qualities.
Being independent in this industry is not an easy road and like other independent groups, OG has had many hurdles to clear along the way, but they have managed thus far and if they can continue in their progress we should see some very nice things from Orange Grove in the years to come! Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.