WATCH: SOJA and Ky-Mani Marley Jam Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival in Viera

TWO GREAT CONCERTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

WATCH: SOJA, the 2x Grammy nominated, eight-piece collaborative band, headlined the Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival on Friday, March 8 at Space Coast Daily Park in Viera, Florida with special guest Ky-Mani Marley. 

WATCH: SOJA, the 2x Grammy nominated, eight-piece collaborative band, headlined the Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival on Friday, March 8 at Space Coast Daily Park in Viera, Florida with special guest Ky-Mani Marley. 

BREVARD COUNTY • VIERA, FLORIDA – SOJA, the 2x Grammy nominated, eight-piece collaborative band, headlined the Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival on Friday, March 8 at Space Coast Daily Park in Viera, Florida with special guest Ky-Mani Marley.

SOJA includes Jacob Hemphill – Vocals / Guitar; Bobby Lee – Bass; Ryan Berty – Drums; Patrick O’Shea – Keyboards; Ken Brownell – Percussion; Hellman Escorcia – Saxophone; Rafael Rodriguez – Trumpet; and Trevor Young – Guitar / Vocals

Nearly two decades ago, SOJA began as high school friends in a D.C. area basement teaching each other to be musicians and play roots reggae music.

Today, the 2x GRAMMY-nominated eight-piece band, with over 7 million online followers and over 300 million Youtube views, headlines concerts all over the world for their massive dedicated fanbase.

Even with their continued success, SOJA always wants to remember their time together in that basement inspired by each other’s contributions and ideas.

The feeling of true magic, collaboration and brotherhood that started it all is still evident today in their music and each night at their live concerts. For their latest studio album, Poetry In Motion in 2017, it was essential for SOJA to consciously go back to the beginning and recapture that same sincere, collaborative magic sparked 20 years ago.

“For your whole life money is the thing you’re scarce on,” frontman Jacob Hemphill says.

“Then once you get busy enough time becomes the thing you’re most scarce on. So spending time at home becomes your most valuable commodity and then the collaborative process starts taking place over the phone and email instead of in person.

For Poetry In Motion, we asked ourselves, “What if we went back to the beginning and wrote, arranged, recorded and produced the entire thing together?” All eight guys in one room to create something special. That was the approach to this record – to make something we truly love and did all together.”

The band set up at Haunted Hollow Studios, Dave Matthews Band’s studio, near Charlottesville, VA. The idea was to live and work together in one place, investing all their energy into the process.

They spent three months in the studio over several sessions in late 2016 and early 2017, spending hours sitting on the back porch discussing music and life. Everyone showed up with new ideas, new instruments and new gear.

The band enlisted Rob Evans, Ivan Guitierrez and Mariano Aponte to co-produce the songs, and there was an open-minded sentiment throughout. “It was a learning and experimenting process,” Jacobs notes. “We got the exact thing we wanted from it.”

WATCH: SOJA, the 2x Grammy nominated, eight-piece collaborative band, will headline the Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival on Friday, March 8 at Space Coast Daily Park in Viera, Florida with special guest Ky-Mani Marley.

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The album’s 11 tracks embrace reggae completely, focusing on what the genre does best. They referred often to their 2009 album, Born In Babylon, to remind them of where they came from and how they’d like to go forward. Poetry In Motion is the beginning of a chapter, but it’s also a return to the past. I

t’s a revitalization of what made SOJA so special to begin with. It’s about eight guys in one room making reggae music that truly means something.

“We’re going back to our roots and what we do best,” Jacob says. “We’re remembering why we started this band and the magic of what we’ve built. We were lucky enough to create our own family and we picked every brother by hand. This album feels like we’ve had an amazing family reunion. It’s a blueprint for our future.”

Poetry In Motion continues the band’s belief that music should speak for people and uplift them. The album looks at the world today and asks why it feels like something is wrong when so much exists around us.

“Fire In the Sky,” propulsive and upbeat, takes the positive outlook on humanity while “Life Support,” a more introspective song, tackles the negative outlook. All the other tracks fall somewhere in the middle, as Jacob and the band grapple with the human condition, unafraid of big topics and essential life queries.

“The definition of the title is three-fold,” Jacob says. “I’m poetry, the band’s motion. The human race and the animals and plants that are spinning around on this Earth are beautiful – it’s poetry flying through the universe in motion. And then, thirdly, we are this beautiful poetry but we keep moving away from it. Right now it feels like we’re moving in the wrong direction and it’s scary.”

The album poses questions but never takes on a definitive reply. SOJA isn’t offering an answer. Instead, the answers are out there for each listener to find on their own.

“There’s no periods on anything,” Jacob notes. “I give hints and glimpses, but my own opinions on the human condition change every year. Sometimes I’m climbing, sometimes I’m sliding. So maybe I’m not the right guy to be answering questions. But I can ask all these questions that matter and help people. I’m out there fishing for the next person.”

His ultimate goal with each song is simple. “How do I make the human condition come into this song?” he says. “How do I relate to the biggest family of all time? That’s all I’m ever really trying to do.”

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A veritable smorgasbord of seafood, landlubbers delights and unique treats are in store for guests at the 2019 Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival, March 7-10 at Space Coast Daily Park in Viera.

“If you like to enjoy a wide variety of seafood and other gastronomic delights, then come out and join all your friends, during the biggest food event of the year in Brevard County,” said Tom Palermo, a partner with Brevard Production Inc. and Space Coast Daily, who are sponsoring the four-day food and music love fest.

Laughing Crab Catering from Maryland will offer its 27-Time Award Winning Crab Cakes and Chesapeake Bay Seafood including Shrimp Puppies, Lime Grilled Shrimp, Maryland Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches, Rockfish Baskets, Crab Cake Sliders, CrabWon Tons, Maryland Crab Soup and Crab Stuffed Hush Puppies with Chesapeake Curly Fries of Fresh Cut Chips.

David French and his group called Hammerheads from Tampa will offer Seafood Jambalaya, Sautéed Scallops, Grouper Fingers, Coconut Shrimp, Shrimp Scampi, Fried Oysters and an awesome Seafood Platter.

Many more seafood specialists are signing on to present this smorgasbord of seafood and some landlubbers specialties too. Bangkok Style Thai Food with shrimp rolls, seafood yum yum, spicy shrimp, bbq shrimp, garlic shrimp, Pad thai, basil chicken and crazy noodle chicken and shrimp will be on offer.

Other delights include Steven Briguglio’s delicious freshly squeezed lemonade shakeups, Ron Joseph of Strawberry Events will tempt you with his Maryland Style Crab Fries and check out Alex Paulin, with his Rockstar Lobster tea, serving up freshly made lobster rolls and more.

Herminio Iphier from Puerto Rico will prepare his seafood rice, hot and spicy and David Nunnally and co. will offer their Fish & Chips, Shrimp, Oyster and Gator Boats. The California Fish Market will offer fresh, lightly breaded catfish platters, special oysters and squid.

For those looking for a delicious “pick-me-up,” Canadian transplant and now proud Brevardian, Alain Mazaudon, from Cora’s Island Cafe, will offer classic cold and hot gourmet coffees, fresh seafood paninis and delicious pastries. Like you some Cheese Curds?

Then stop and meet Travis Cernoch of Good Ones, who will be serving those oozy, cheesy delights, hot and fresh, along with Red Shrimp, lobster tails and poutine.

Lightly breaded and golden fried fresh calamari, crab cakes, coconut shrimp, alligator and jambalaya flash will be available at European Vele Dabeski’a Seafood Market – and stop by Brandon Grabhorn’s BZ’s Gelati Truck, for some authentic Italian ice, ice creams and seafood dogs.

Thirsty? Pick up a refreshing lemonade fusion concoction from David Ortiz’s DR Smasher stand. Hankering for some hot pies? Visit with Gary Carney at his Shadrach’s Fiery Furnace, where the man will be hand-tossing specialty artisan seafood and custom pizzas from inside his super hot brick oven.

New to the Space Coast and a true sight to behold, is the world’s largest ice cream truck. At 40 feet long, this ice cream bus, aptly named Cosmos Ice Cream, is proudly owned and operated by Tanisha Davis.

The Cosmos Ice Cream Truck was originally born as an Airport Shuttle bus and started its transformation in Brooklyn, New York. Once selected for the build, the second floor was added along with a staircase. All remnants inside the cabin were stripped out to make room for a cutting edge Nitrogen Ice Cream kitchen.

Why Use Nitrogen to Make Ice Cream?

Liquid Food Grade Nitrogen poured at -321 degrees Fahrenheit freezes the Ice Cream base in a matter of seconds. This prevents ice crystals from forming which is typically found in most commercial ice creams.

The quick freezing process leads to a creamy richer Ice Cream without the ice crystal or “overrun” (air pockets created in commercially made ice creams).

Just as important, each serving is unique to the ice cream connoisseur ordering it. Once you taste Cosmos ice cream made with Nitrogen there is no going back. Choose your flavor and mix-ins and take a ride to another flavor universe.

Back to the ocean, we go, as you stop by to meet John Newton and the crew from Henry’s kitchen, where you may enjoy fresh lobster delights, seasoned gulf shrimp, snow crab clusters, conch and some spicy wings for the landlubbers.

Kevin Watson’s Cool Yeti Shaved Ice Truck is a great place to stop for a refresher as you watch the Swamp Cowboys Alligator Wrestling, the Jungle Adventures Animal Exhibits, the Globe of Death Motorcycle Stunt Show or for a chat with Panama Pearl at her Pirate Encampment.

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Oh, and after those delights, don’t forget about the incredible concerts with a few names like the Space Coast Symphony, SOJA, Ky-Mani Marley, The Cadillac Three, The Charlie Daniels Band, Travis Tritt and Molly Hatchet.

How about some different Bangkok Style Thai Seafood and treats? Visit with Nung Bunajamsri at his authentic Thai hot kitchen.

Who Dat talkin’ bout dem Shrimp Po Boys? That might be John Morris and his partner at Lisa Renne’s Po Boy Kitchen and don’t forget to stop by to meet “A Couple of Nuts” led by Johnathan Degraff, who will gladly serve you some freshly roasted cashews, almonds and more – great for walking through the Arts and Crafts Village.

These are just a few of the delights on offer at the 2019 Space Coast Seafood & Music Festival, March 7-10 at Space Coast Daily Park in beautiful Viera, Florida.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit SpaceCoastSeafoodFestival.com, call 321-323-4460 or 1-855-386-3836 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

SPACE COAST DAILY PARK – THE VENUE: The beautiful 30-acre park was named after Space Coast Daily – Brevard’s most popular free news source. Space Coast Daily Park is ideally located in the middle of Brevard County, just off Interstate 95, for easy access from all areas of central Florida. Please do not bring the following items to the event: No food or beverages, coolers, chairs, alcohol of any kind, weapons, umbrellas may be brought into the event. Enter Space Coast Daily Park from Stadium Parkway. Parking is $5 and VIP parking is $10.

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