Toots & The Maytals

Legendary reggae act brings music with a message for Carolina Studios fundraiser

If it doesn't make you feel good, it's not Reggae.

"The energy, the way my music hits people … it's a happy message," said Frederick "Toots" Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals, who is set to perform Friday at Patriots Point.

In a soothing, grungy Jamaican accent, Toots described the genre: "The beat is like a hot beat, and then it gets groovy to the beat … and you start listening to the words, then they have to be positive."

And he should know, he coined the term.

He said the word popped out of his mouth when he was sitting with a couple of friends and a guitar one morning, a word that eventually lead to the band's 1968 hit, "Do the Reggay."

The reggae band Toots and the Maytals have been hitting charts and jamming their reggae souls out since 1962 under their original name The Maytals.

But after Toots was released from jail after serving a one-year, drug-related sentence in 1967, the band hit their most productive period over the next few years and changed the name to Toots and the Maytals because he said that's what fans started to call them.

"We just go with the flow," Toots said, revealing an attitude that colors the musical movement his band helped popularize.

Toots joined The Maytals at 16, in Kingston, Jamaica. After a few big hits, some Grammy nominations and a Grammy win for the 2004 album, "True Love," the 64-year-old musician keeps going.

"I am a sing-ing ma-chine," he said with a delirious, but heartfelt laugh.

Rolling Stone Magazine agreed, placing Toots at No. 71 on a recent list of the Top 100 greatest singers of all time.

To keep his voice in shape, Toots said he tries to rest it, but that's not always an option on tour when he's playing five or six cities a week.

"When I'm tired, when I'm clear, when I'm feelin' sick; they say they love my voice. They love me and I love them and I'm happy singing," he said.

Other band members have changed over the years, but according to the lead singer, Toots and the Maytals has managed to stay relevant because it will always be an original and powerful band.

The band expects to finish its newest album by November.

The open-air fundraiser concert is hosted by Carolina Studios, a nonprofit after-school music recording program for kids.

Mark Bryan, the program's founder and former lead guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish, said he's confident it will be a good time.

"Who doesn't love reggae on the water on a summer night in Charleston?" he said.

Before the legendary reggae group takes the stage, kids from the program will rap and sing music they've mixed in the studio. Bryan expects the young musicians to surprise and impress the crowd.

"It is fun to see the kids get their first chance to entertain, and surprising how good they are," he said.

Rain or shine, kids from Carolina Studios and Toots and the Maytals will go with the flow and perform, but Bryan said if it showers, a tent cover will keep out rain.