Singer Lutan Fyah who recently returned from a short summer tour to Europe, says he is awed by the way in which fans there openly show their appreciation for reggae and how easily the music that comes from Jamaica transcends language and cultural barriers.

The singer, born Anthony Martin, who grew up wanting to emulate reggae icons Dennis Brown and Garnett silk, enjoyed a 10-show European tour that included stops in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Croatia. Everywhere he went, he said, there was incredible response to the music.

“It was such a great feeling to be so appreciated, especially when you remember that the people in many of these countries don’t even speak English. But somehow they knew my songs and that of the other reggae acts they were very expressive. I feel heartened and by this response and the level of appreciation,” he said. “Each and every show was like a different gear, a better performance,” he declared.

In Croatia, he said, the best way to describe the crowd response to the music was ‘pandemonium’ and again the language barrier proved no deterrent as the Croatians openly embraced reggae music and its troubadours. Lutan Fyah also performed in Lazinello, Italy along with Julian Marley. According to him, the show in Germany “had an especially great vibe and ambience”.

Fans responded well to all his songs, he said, but particular favourites included Watch Over Me from his Africa album, as well as the title track, Africa. They were also enamoured with Save the Juvenile, Rasta Still De Bout and the Don Corleon-produced Come Over.

In comparing his stage time in Europe with that of Jamaica, the singer noted, “In Jamaica, Lutan Fyah might get a seven or 10 minutes but when we go out in the world we sing for 90 minutes and two hours and still waan sing more because of how the musical vibe and the love these people have for what we are doing,” he said.

The reggae singer closed off the tour with a performance at Reggae Gael in Belgium on August 7.