One of my big musical influences in the NW was a band from Vashon Island called Trolls Cottage. I always felt the songwriting was brilliant, the vibe was relevant and everyone always had a blast at Trolls shows. Eventually as things go, my band Panda Conspiracy started doing shows with Trolls and I began to get to know the musicians.

Some years later as Panda Conspiracy was winding down, Jacob Bain one of the singers from Trolls called me out of the blue and asked if I would be interested in collaborating. He was developing a world music / hip-hop project called Publish the Quest. The answer was an easy yes! Within weeks I was in the studio with Jacob recording keyboard parts, and working with Isiac Mills (Clinton Fearon) and Samantha Boshnack (Picoso, Reptet) on horn parts! We recorded at Mel Dettmer’s studio, released our first album The Threads and hit the road playing venues from Vancover to Los Angeles. One time we even played a show with Macklemore!

We recorded a second album with a heavy afrobeat influence that featured the son of Nigerian afrobeat himself – Femi Kuti! Matt Chamberlain played drums and again, I played keys and baritone sax. More touring began, this time in addition to US shows we started playing overseas. We played in places like Cabo Verde, Portugal, Poland and Zimbabwe. All along the way we collaborated with world class musicians I never dreamed of meeting like Neka and Oliver Mutugutzi. I also helped arange hornlines for a rendition of Cesaria Evora’s tune Sodade we recorded with Lisa Sanchez (x factor winner).

A highlight for me was working with Learn Africa, an international Non-profit that strives to bring instruments to children that otherwise would have no access. We ended up spending time with impoverished youth in small townships outside of Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare. I played music, shared stories, sang songs, played soccer and connected on a quick but deep level. Music has a way of cutting to the core. This was Jacob’s message when we performed at the Seattle TEDX conference in 2017 and I couldn’t agree more.

There have been several renditions of Publish the Quest and as Jacob continues to create, I enjoy every opportunity to collaborate on this special project. For the full story check out: www.publishthequest.com