Sheldon Shepherd to ‘Give Thanks’ on his birthday

Award-winning actor, poet and cultural practitioner Sheldon Shepherd will release his début album, Give Thanks, on September 18, which is also his birthday.

“I started a thing years ago where I ‘give’ on my birthday as a way to show how grateful I am for the support I have received in this life,” Shepherd explained.

“It is more mystical and divine than anything else. I don’t take the credit for this album. It came to and through me, as opposed to from me like a conduit or vessel,” the singer and songwriter added.

The 11-track body of work, which is rooted in the enduring power of cultural memory, brings Shepherd’s distinctive voice and storytelling into a musical landscape that moves through dub, reggae, dancehall and wider global influences while remaining grounded in the sounds, references and messages that have shaped Jamaican cultural expression.

Ten of the album’s 11 tracks are dub-poetry musical works. The 11th offers listeners something particularly intimate: an excerpt from an hour-long reasoning Shepherd recorded with legendary Jamaican graphic artist Neville Garrick, while preparing to portray Garrick in the Bob Marley biopic Bob Marley: One Love.

The album looks backwards in order to move forward, drawing on history, memory and the work of those who came before as sources of confidence, identity and purpose in the present.

Musically, the project is both familiar and exploratory. Elements of dub, roots reggae, dancehall and other musical traditions are woven throughout its narrative, creating a layered soundscape for Shepherd’s poetry, observations and reflections on life, culture and gratitude.

Produced by NoMaddic Movement and distributed by Tuff Gong International, Give Thanks is more than the title of Shepherd’s first album, it expresses a way of approaching life.

“For me, every day is better than the one before,” Shepherd said. “So I give thanks.”

Widely recognised as a member of the acclaimed collective No-Maddz, Shepherd has developed a distinctive artistic voice grounded in Jamaican language, memory, music and lived experience.

His screen work includes his role in Storm Saulter’s Better Mus’ Come, for which he won Best Actor at the American Black Film Festival in 2012. His most recent work is in Sky TV’s five-part original thriller, Possession.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com