Rawayana

Five piece Venezuelan band Rawayana have released four studio albums and are well known for their unique reggae and ska influenced sound.

Rawayana was started in Caracas in Venezuela by Alberto Montenegro and Antonio Casas Jr in 2007. The group quickly grew to include guitarist Alejandro Abeijón and drummer Rodrigo Michelangeli, and the band started to play bigger and bigger shows around their home country. By 2009 they were signed to World Musical Madness, with Antonio Casas Sr joining the lineup on percussion. Their big break came in 2010 when they played the New Bands Festival, raising their profile across the country and leading to bigger bookings and international recognition. Their debut album License to Be Free was released the following year with a headline show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Caracas to over 1000 people. The album was awarded four honours at the Pepsi Awards of Venezuela including Best Reggae Song of the Year and Best Reggae Artist of the Year. In 2013 Rawayan followed up with their second record Rawayanaland, and their 2016 album Trippy Jamaican saw them embark on a world tour with stops in North America, Europe and South America.

Most recently this powerhouse quintet have released their fourth studio album, Cuando Los Acéfalos Predominan, which was released in May 2021. The record features artists such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Akapellah and Fer Casillas, with the band now amassing more than 320k followers on their Instagram page.