Mystic Bowie may not be as well known globally as Keith Richards and José Feliciano.
But — like those fellow Weston residents — his musical chops are very impressive.
And the story of how the reggae singer ended up living in, and loving, the quiet rural community is even more interesting than the Rolling Stones and “Feliz Navidad” artists’.
Mystic Bowie
Bowie performed as a child throughout the Caribbean. After college he moved to Florida, but quickly realized it was not for him. It was hotter and more humid than his native Jamaica; it lacked mountains, but had plenty of snakes and alligators.
He relocated to New York. Island Records got him an apartment on 91st Street and 1st Avenue. The city was not for him either. Traffic, horns and noise made it tough to sleep.
Bowie was dating a woman from Weston. She suggested he move there.
He fell in love with the town. To his surprise, it and nearby Westport were filled with musicians: Richards, Feliciano, Meat Loaf, Nile Rodgers.
And — even more surprising — Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth lived nearby.
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, back in the day.
He’d first met the Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club stars as a 14-year-old, at the Nassau resort owned by Island Records’ founder Chris Blackwell.
Then, in 1992 — soon after moving to Weston — he was asked to perform at Tramps in New York. All he knew was that the house band loved reggae. He was given an address — 10 minutes away, on the Fairfield/Westport border — to meet 2 of the members.
To his astonishment, they were Frantz and Weymouth. They’d been to Jamaica, and had many reggae musician friends in common.
Bowie sang with them, as a guest. When Tom Tom Club singer Charles Pettigrew was diagnosed with cancer, he asked Bowie to take over.
They’ve been together ever since, as partners and friends.
Frantz and Weymouth have shown him “the utmost love and respect,” Bowie says. “They’re so authentic in their music, and open-minded. They brought me into something, and I’m very grateful for it.”
Click above for a 2010 Tom Tom Club “NPR Tiny Desk Concert,” with Mystic Bowie.
Weston “is very private,” Bowie says. “There’s all the space you need for tranquility, and to compose, write or paint.”
When he needs “a town,” he heads to Westport — sometimes by bike.
On June 27 he’ll head there again. So will hundreds of others.
That night, the Westport Library and DinkinEsh Presents host a reggae dance party. The headliner: Bowie’s Talking Dreads.
The cleverly named band — formed in 2015– reimagines classic Talking Heads songs, through roots reggae, ska and lovers rock. New wave classics like “Psycho Killer” and “Burning Down the House” are transformed into Caribbean bangers.
He’s played at the Levitt Pavilion, as well as 2 drive-in concerts at the Imperial Avenue parking lot during COVID (and, a couple of years later, at Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center 100th anniversary).
But this will be Bowie’s first appearance at the nearby Library.
When it was being renovated, he and producer Rob Fraboni — also a Weston resident, who worked with Bob Dylan, the Band, Eric Clapton and the Stones, and who as vice president of Island Records oversaw the remastering of the entire Bob Marley catalog — hung out at what became Verso Studios.
“We brought Jamaican food and Caribbean vibes,” Bowie says. “So I’m personally invested in it.” It is now, he says proudly, “The world’s loudest library.”
Mystic Bowie, doing what he loves best.
Reggae may not seem like a genre associated with Weston or Westport. But, Bowie notes, “it’s a blessing to the world. I’ve traveled a lot. Wherever reggae is played, people dance and bop their heads.”
The lyrics are important too — especially now. Reggae is “spiritual, a fight against negativity. It makes you happy.”
Bowie’s high-energy shows are “exercises in disguise. You don’t even realize it.” Concert-goers should “come prepared to dance.”
Mystic Bowie adds: “Shoes are optional.”
(The June 27 show begins at 6 p.m., with a live DJ set from Tim Fielding. Bowie takes the Trefz Forum stage at 7:30 p.m. Click here for tickets, and more information.)
I lived and taught high school in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1976-77. In October 1976, a friend of mine named Cleveland invited me to a party at Bob Marley’s house in Kingston. Back then driving from Mo’Bay to Kingston was long and a bit dangerous. I didn’t go, but he did and said that 200 people came.