JOURNEYMAN singer Spliffy Dan has been recording for over 30 years and is well known in underground music circles.

But, though he has worked with acclaimed musicians like Pablove Black and Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, Spliffy Dan says his work has never got much attention in Jamaica.

“I don’t think promoters are interested in finding me, they can if they want to ’cause I am out there,” said the Rastafarian vocalist, who performed recently at the Marcus Garvey Awards in Kingston.

He says he performs intermittently in Europe, mainly Germany and The Netherlands, but says his main income is from his profession as an auto mechanic.

Spliffy Dan’s songs include Thunder If It Rain, which was done in 1980; Credel (1981) and Wake Up (1985).

Dance So Nice and Jah Bless, two of his latest recordings, were done for the Bricktown label.

An album, Culture Rock 2, is expected to be released by December.

Now in his early 50s, Spliffy Dan (born Basil O’Connor) hails from the community of Salem in Montego Bay. He got into music at an early age and remembers getting into the business after meeting Wallace in 1975.

Wallace was a leading session musician at the time. He introduced the aspiring singer to Black, a keyboardist and influential member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The link with Black saw Spliffy Dan recording his first song, Send Us, which was featured on the Twelve Tribes of Israel album, Nine Voice.

— Cecelia Campbell-Livingston