There are crossover bands, then there are bands who cross over oceans to tour together.

John Brown’s Body is on a two-week United States tour with the New Zealand band the Black Seeds. The two bands tour New Zealand in November.

John Brown’s Body, an East Coast progressive reggae band, perform with the Black Seeds in the Crown Room at the Crystal Bay Casino Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Tahoe fans will remember John Brown’s Body from its concert in March at the MontBleu Casino Resort and Spa. Australia’s Blue King Brown opened that concert.

The Black Seeds, who are touring the U.S. for the first time, open Wednesday’s show for John Brown’s Body, who in turn will be the first onstage while in New Zealand. A music critic for the Huffington Post compared Seed’s vocalist Barnaby Weir to Morphine’s Mark Sandman, who died just as the band was gaining widespread recognition.

Like John Brown’s Body, the Black Seeds are an eight-piece, reggae-based band. The New Zealanders bring soul and funk to the mix and may be considered more rootsy than the high-spirited band from the United States.
The Black Seeds are from Wellington, New Zealand. It has two double-platinum selling albums and one gold album in New Zealand, and it has been a hit on the European festival circuit in recent years.

John Brown’s Body is much changed from what it was in the 1990s.

“I would be hard-pressed to call what we do roots reggae anymore,” said drummer Tommy Benedetti, one of the two original members remaining in the eight-piece band.

A change in sound began with “Pressure Points” in 2005. Tragedy created a change in personnel a year later: Bass player Scott Palmer was diagnosed with cancer and died in just six months. Band co-founder and singer-songwriter Kevin Kinsella and others left.

“That was a traumatic bunch of months and something that was a challenging situation,” Benedetti said. “But Scott’s passing turned out to be a point for us to stop and (reflect). And also me and Elliot (Martin) wanted to see the band progress. We were heading in a different musical direction more geared toward his compositions. It was time for people that were sitting on the fence to move on or move forward.”

Martin, indeed, had taken over the band’s creative reins, writing eight or nine of the songs on “Pressure Points.” According to the band’s Web site, Martin and Benedetti had their creative differences since they were childhood friends.

“Kevin’s songs tended towards religious themes and roots reggae sounds, more in line with the group’s beginnings,” the Web site johnbrownsbody.com reported. “Elliot’s writing emphasized futuristic and atypical rhythms, as well as dense metaphorical imagery.”

Benedetti described the new sound:
“To me the music we’re playing these days has a cutting-edge kind of vibe to it,” he said. “It’s a little more difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is. I think we’ve integrated a lot more of (reggae’s) sonic influences and beats and different lyrical textures. I think it’s a really fresh sound that we’re coming onto right now.”

Right around the time of Palmer’s illness, Martin developed some serious throat problems. He had surgery in January 2008. The release of “Amplify” nine months later proved that Martin had regained his pipes.

“I think he feels and sounds a lot better, and thank goodness for that,” Benedetti said. “It surely could have been catastrophic. He’s got a lot of noise to project over. We’re a pretty loud band. It’s a big sound that he’s got to get over. But he’s got more than enough ability to make it happen. He always has.”

“Amplify” was an instant success, hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s reggae charts upon its release. Artists throughout the world were so taken with it, that a remix of the album followed last spring.

Buyers of “Amplify” in all formats will get most of the tracks from the remix EP JBB released earlier in 2009, “Re-Amplify,” including tracks produced by Australian urban roots powerhouse Blue King Brown, UK remixer Wrongtom, UK artist-producer GoldieLocks and Juno Award-nominated Canadian producer Dubmatix.

Between its U.S. and New Zealand tours, John Brown’s Body will play 16 shows in the United Kingdom with Easy Star Records labelmates, the Easy Star All Stars, who have become internationally known for its reggae covers of Pink Floyd (“Dub Side of the Moon”), Radiohead (“Radiodread”) and The Beatles (“Lonely Hearts Dub Band”).