The Hip Abduction

Before the band had a name, David New and Chris Powers were picking up $100 and a fish sandwich for playing cover songs on a St. Petersburg beach. That scrappy start still sits behind the American reggae act they formed in 2010, whose sound takes in West African-influenced music alongside reggae itself. The band points to Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland as a touchstone for that cross-continental appetite, and names Van Morrison and the Dave Matthews Band among its longer-standing inspirations.

Powers said New picked the name after an exercise machine he had noticed in a University of Virginia gym. Their debut, One Less Sound, appeared on 28 October 2011, and the self-titled The Hip Abduction followed on 3 December 2013, propelled by the single "Children of the Sun" and debuting at number five on the Billboard Reggae chart. Gold Under the Glow arrived in 2016. The band has played venues across the country, including Red Rocks, and in October 2019 it attended Suwannee Hulaween in Live Oak, Florida, promoting its then-new album To the Ends of the Earth. Their fifth studio album, A Seafarer and the Infinite Dream, came out on 24 September 2021 and includes "We'll Be Alright" and "Pacific Coast Highway" with Trevor Hall. Stargazers, Wanderers & Rogues followed on 14 June 2024.