Dub is a Weapon brings live show to Asheville's Grey Eagle

ASHEVILLE — Despite some doubters, Dave Hahn always knew dub music could be done live. It admittedly took a decade of tweaking the formula, but the Brooklyn, N.Y.,-based musician and producer found a way to bring the predominantly studio-based subgenre of reggae to the live stage with his band Dub Is a Weapon, playing Saturday at The Grey Eagle.

“We're using a live band to create music that historically engineers have produced in the studio,” Hahn says.

Dub music broke out of Jamaica in the late 1960s, originating with studio masterminds like King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry. The drum-and-bass heavy sound usually features atmospheric studio remix versions of reggae songs with plenty of manipulated echo and reverb.

As a musician, Hahn has played Afrobeat with Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and ska with The Slackers. He also

produced the Pink Floyd reggae remake “Dub Side of the Moon” for the Easy Star Allstars. After he caught a Lee “Scratch” Perry show in New York City, he decided he had to make a dub album, but he wanted to do it with actual musicians.

“I've figured out how I have to operate as the bandleader on stage, sort of as a conductor,” he says. “At first there was a lot of trial and error in the live setting.

“I'm getting musicians to cue in and out, like they're faders on a mixing board, and also adding the reverb and delay that dub is known for. Since the core group has remained unchanged for a while, they now know how it works also.”

That group features Hahn's longtime musical partner, percussionist Larry McDonald, who recorded with Bob Marley and has backed Taj Mahal and Gil-Scott Heron. The band also features Ben Rogerson on bass and guitar, drummer Madhu Siddappa and Maria Eisen on sax.

Hahn recently took the group into the studio and captured the live dub sound on “Vaporized,” a dynamic new album released just last month by the North Carolina-based label Harmonized Records.

“We recorded the album like jazz musicians, all live in the same room,” Hahn explains. “It's very much a representation of the live show. In many ways it's a culmination of what we've been trying to do for the last 10 years. I think we've finally reached the Promised Land in a certain sense.”

The live dub sound has resonated on a variety of stages. Hahn's group has toured with Matisyahu, STS9 and Femi Kuti. They also backed Perry on his 2006 U.S. tour.

Jedd Ferris writes about entertainment for take5. Email him at jeddferris@gmail.com.