COVID-19 has challenged the existence of many bands since it surfaced globally in early 2020. The Live Wyya Band, which formed in 1999, knows a thing or two about survival.

Band leader and bass guitarist Carl Edwards told the Jamaica Observer that the pandemic put a damper on the sextet’s schedule but they still managed to take the bandstand regularly and release new music.

“For the past 18 months, we tried to keep ourselves busy regardless of COVID. We do lots of corporate functions throughout the hotel circuit and did a few overseas runs since year, and we are also working on our fourth album as we speak,” he said.

Liberation, Live Wyya’s latest song, was released in January. It is produced by their keyboardist Tristan Richards for his Kulcha Rootz Production.

Back to The Roots, the band’s third album, was released in April 2019, and contains 12 songs including guest spots by Bushman and Capleton. It preceded a summer tour of the United States that year.

Edwards and drummer Arnold Bolt formed Live Wyya 23 years ago. Richards and lead vocalist Jerome Smickle are the other original members, with the line-up completed by guitarists Stephan Foster and Ian “Beezy” Coleman.

The Ocho Rios-based Coleman was for years a mainstay of the Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers and Stephen Marley bands.

The Live Wyya Band are scheduled to perform November 12 at The Windward, a restaurant located along Windward Road in east Kingston. It will be the first live show at the venue since it officially launched in August.