With his new album Revival of the Spirit, Wilmington’s Kenny Vanella is building upon the inspiration of Bob Marley
By Matt Morrissette
Though a point of pride for many native Delawareans, it’s an obscure bit of trivia to the rest of the world that reggae icon Bob Marley lived in Wilmington off and on for more than a decade. Starting in 1966, Marley began calling his mother’s residence at 2311 Tatnall Street his U.S. home — up until 1977. His untimely death from melanoma would come just four years later at age 36.
Ironically, 1977 is the year of birth for Wilmington’s Kenny Vanella, a reggae musician on the rise. Vanella credits Bob Marley as the primary influence on both his life and art.
Though Vanella discovered self-expression through song early in life, it was a deepening interest in Bob Marley that set him upon his current path, both musically and spiritually.
“I’m very fortunate to have had a great relationship with wordplay since I was a young boy, so I’ve written literally thousands of songs over the years,” Vanella says. “But after the release of the documentary Marley in 2012, something inside of me just clicked, and reggae music just started pouring out of me.
“I’ve been a highly sensitive and spiritual being since birth, so it came very naturally at that time to give my life to Rastafari.”
On his first pilgrimage to the home of reggae — Kingston, Jamaica — in September of 2013, Vanella booked time at the legendary studio founded by Bob Marley, Tuff Gong, to demo some the songs that were accumulating faster than he could get them recorded. On his first day in the fabled studio, he knew that nowhere else would ever do to record his songs.
Through a relationship with Marley’s son Stephen and his family in Wilmington (the Malcolms), Vanella was able to strike up a friendship and working partnership with the legendary producer and drummer Squidly Cole. Cole has sat behind the kit for both Stephen Marley and Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers of “Tomorrow People” fame.
In the spring of 2014, Cole put together a collection of musicians for a session that yielded two tracks and cemented Cole and Vanella’s creative chemistry.
Another recording session at Tuff Gong followed in the fall of 2019, with the lofty goal of putting together enough material for a full LP. The plan was to go back to Kingston a year later for another session, but the global pandemic that began in earnest in March of 2020 forced the project to be put off indefinitely.
The official sessions for what would become Vanella’s debut album, Revival of the Spirit, reconvened in October of 2022.
The resulting record was worth the wait, according to Vanella, as the stars aligned to assemble an all-star cast of Jamaican musicians as well as several Delaware luminaries to flesh out his ideas.
“I brought my bassist from Dover, Hugh Carey,” says Vanella. “Squidly Cole plays drums. Llamar ‘Riff Raff’ Brown and Stephen Stewart play keys. Harjinda Singh is on guitar. Through the legendary engineer at Tuff Gong, Michael ‘Boxy’ Howell, I was able to get in touch with legendary Jamaican saxophonist Dean Fraser (of Sly & Robbie fame), to add horns, as well as Nikki Burt to contribute backing vocals along with my friend, IshaBel. I also flew in Alex Wasily of the New Orleans band, Dumpstafunk, to play trombone.”
The record’s first single and video, “I Fly a Flag,” is a collaboration with Jamaican artist Kumar. Another song on the record, “Compassionate People,” is inspired by the song “Lessons in My Life” by the legendary Peter Tosh and features Peter’s son, Andrew. In terms of Delaware musicians, rapper and social activist, Richard Raw, appears on multiple tracks including a Vanella favorite entitled “All Day.”
Squidly Cole, who arranged and coproduced the record beyond his rhythm duties, is effusive in his praise of both Vanella and the record they’ve made together.
“The record is 100% rockers,” says Cole. “You can put it on and leave it on. Kenny has great lyrics, so the album just flows. Kenny is totally sincere in his love of roots rock reggae and his commitment to Rastafari. It has nothing to do with color. Kenny has a great future in the music business.”
Vanella released a vinyl single featuring two original songs, “Our Song” and “Riverwalk,” in 2021 on the in-house imprint of Squeezebox Records located in Wilmington’s Little Italy neighborhood. The store’s owner, Richard Fisher, is a trusted friend and advisor to Vanella as his career grows, functioning as his business manager.
— Revival of the Spirit will be released worldwide Friday, June 28 on all digital platforms, with a vinyl release following later this year. Visit KennyVanella.com.