Reggae Geel is one of the oldest reggae festivals in Europe. Held in Belgium, the festival has over the years brought some of reggae’s biggest names to the stage in the Belgian province of Antwerp. Among the acts who were set to take to the stage on August 3 and 4 was local singer Romain Virgo.

The young artiste who first caught the eye of music lovers while participating in the televised school choir competition, All Together Sing, would later cement his status as the winner of the Digicel Rising Stars competition back in 2007. Since then it has been nothing but a steady climb for the artiste.

When Jamaica Observer recently caught up with Virgo following his performance at Groovin’ in the Park in New York, he explained that the performance was sharpening his “road skills” as he prepared to take to Europe for four weeks from July to August to promote his latest project, Lovesick.

“The album is doing pretty well. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae charts, it has been on and off since, so we know it’s growing. I think it’s an album that will take time, though, to grow on the people. As I said, the kind of music that we’re pushing, not a lot of people doing it and it’s hard to really and truly convince people that this music is still powerful, but we’re there pushing and it’s just a belief that we have that this music will work at some point,” Virgo noted.

He further explained that because of the nature of the music and his lovers’ rock music style, Loversick will not be a hit now or a top album, or even the songs that people will listen to everyday. But he is convinced that over time it will grow on music lovers and is what he is looking forward to.

“We want to create more opportunities for people to get more interested in the direction that we are going and the music that we are singing. We are singing the kind of music that is starting to feel like its dying. I’m talking about lovers’ rock music You don’t hear much lovers’ rock nowadays, but it’s the kind of music that I believe in, and I believe that it can get back to the point where it’s the people’s music again. We are going to be there for a month for the Lovesick European Tour. That’s from July into August. We just want to do them from the heart and just push this Lovesick album.

As to the general direction of his musical career, the man behind hits such as Love Doctor, Rain is Falling, Who Feels It knows It and Can’t Sleep, is nothing but grateful.

“I never imagined I would be here, and so quickly. Everybody is doing music now and a lot of people are talented, so to really go over certain hurdles and to still be here after 10 years is amazing. Plus people still seem to be loving and pushing, and I still see myself as a new artiste — somebody who is still trying to break and find that big song somewhere in the reggae world first and foremost, then the world outside of reggae will know us. If we continue to just believe in what we’re doing and keep pushing forward, then someday something will happen.”