KINGSTON, Jamaica – Because she wore multiple hats, Bridgett Anderson was back and forth from the entrance to stage area for Music Is The Rod, a show celebrating Garnet Silk’s 58th birthday.
The event took place here at Footprints bar on April 3, one day after the Rastafarian singer’s ‘Earthstrong’. Garnet Silk died in a fire at his mother’s home in his native Manchester parish, December, 1994.
As the 30th year since his passing approaches, Anderson (Silk’s former manager) said it is important to keep his legacy alive.
Bridgett Anderson
“The message in Garnet’s music has to be maintained because Music is the Rod. These messages of truth and righteousness are food for the spirit, soul and body. The works he has done, the impact made, must be recognized by the powers that be. So many have been awarded and have not made the contribution this Archangel has made on the world,” she told South Florida Caribbean News.
Music is The Rod is one of the many hit songs Silk recorded in a prolific two-year run. Other tracks such as Zion in A Vision, Hello Mama Africa, Love is The Answer and It’s Growing made him a huge star.
Along with Tony Rebel, Yasus Afari and Everton Blender, he was part of a roots revival in Jamaican music during the early 1990s. They were committed Rastafarians out south-central parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.
Garnet Silk
Silk was billed among the headliners for Sting, the popular December 26 show, with Tony Rebel, Luciano and Capleton when he died in the blaze at his mother’s house.
At Music Is The Rod, there were performances from a number of artists including his younger brother Aaron Silk, who did several of his famous sibling’s songs.
Anderson recalls seeing Garnet Silk two days before his death. She was no longer his manager but they maintained a cordial relationship.
With his songs no longer saturating Jamaican airwaves, Silk’s music is in danger of being lost to a new generation of fans. Anderson has a solution for that.
“I will not speak out of turn but Garnet’s works should be taught to the youth in books, teaching the lyrics to children at an early age so they can grow in the knowledge and love of the Most High God of Israel. I feel privileged to have worked with this ‘jahmazing’ artist, Garnet Damon Smith aka Garnet Silk,” she said.
