Sat., July 06, Steel Pulse

Despite hailing from Birmingham, England, Steel Pulse is a fairly traditional roots-reggae band. The first non-Jamaican reggae group to win a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording (with 1986's Babylon the Bandit), Steel Pulse first formed in 1975 and has headlined reggae shows and festivals around the world for the past several decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, the group's sound leaned toward the dancehall-tinged styles that gained popularity in Jamaica at the time. On its latest album, 2004's African Holocaust, Steel Pulse returns to a more rootsy sound, and the track “No More Weapons”—featuring Damian Marley—is arguably the group's catchiest song to date. 1417 R Street, www.steelpulse.com.