This is the fourth in a 10-part series on Jamaicans who have made their mark on North American radio.

THIRTY years after settling in Southern California, Wayne Jobson is arguably the Golden State’s most influential reggae personality. His biggest achievements have been as “Disc Jockey Native Wayne”, helping to break some of America’s biggest rock-reggae bands.

The 64-year-old Jobson hosts the syndicated Alter-Native Rock Reggae Show which streams on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Jobson’s playlist is heavy on music from acts who blend reggae with rock and punk such as Sublime, 311 and No Doubt, bands he helped introduce to the mainstream over 20 years ago.

Back then, the St Ann-born Jobson hosted Reggae Revolution on KROQ, one of the top stations in the United States. He worked there for seven years before moving to the groundbreaking XM Satellite station to present The Joint, then launched Alter-Native Rock-Reggae just over eight years ago while at Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles.

Jobson is not afraid to talk about his record as a trailblazer.

“I was the first one to play rock-reggae pioneers Sublime, who are still the biggest band on KROQ, 28 years later. I was also the first to play No Doubt, 311, Sugar Ray, etc, so it helped to start the rock-reggae movement in America,” he said.

Using a similar format on Alter-Native, Jobson was one of the DJs who pitched American bands Rebelution and SOJA to an audience outside of the club and college scene. But he also plays songs from the 1970s and 1980s that experimented with reggae, including Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The Police.

Like his British counterpart David Rodigan, Jobson gives anecdotes about each song he plays, such as the year it was released, musicians who played on them, or what inspired the artiste to record it.

That format, he said, has earned Alter-Native fans “from Hawaii to Laguna Beach to the ski mountains of Mammoth, and also across the world on the Internet. It is getting bigger as rock-reggae takes over”.

A lawyer by training, Jobson chose music over a legal career. His family had strong ties to reggae and Bob Marley; his cousin Dickie was a promotions man for Island Records, the company that distributed Marley’s music. Another cousin, Diane, was the superstar’s lawyer.

Native, the band Jobson co-founded, was the first reggae act signed to Arista Records. They recorded an album for that label with producer Lee “Scratch” Perry and later worked with legendary trumpeter, Herb Alpert.

In addition to his radio work, Jobson has written or produced songs for Gregory Isaacs, Willie Nelson, Sugar Ray and Jimmy Buffett.

He does spin Jamaica-produced songs, but admits he is very selective.

“I play dancehall but it has to have some kind of melody and message. Reggae has had brilliant songs like Tyrone Taylor’s Little Cottage in Negril and Beres Hammond’s Putting Up Resistance, but dancehall does not have that same standard of songwriting. So I only play the great stuff, like Protoje’s Blood Money or Popcaan/Gorillaz’s Saturnz Barz,” he said.