Bob Weir, Jack Johnson traverse ‘Winding Roads’ with Stephen Marley

Stephen Marley recently unveiled Winding Roads, the latest single from his newest album Old Soul, out digitally September 15. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and singer/songwriter Jack Johnson join Marley on the new track recorded at Weir’s TRI Studios with his Wolf Bros band.

Tamalpais Research Institute (TRI Studios) is a state-of-the-art, world-class audio, video, streaming venue, and recording facility created by legendary Grateful Dead founding member, and 1994 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Bob Weir.

Winding Roads, metaphorical of life’s journey, struggle, and eventual salvation, soulfully closes out the new Old Soul LP with interlacing guitar and vocal trade-offs from Weir, Marley and Johnson, creating an unforgettable bluesy classic and the only song from the album recorded with a full band.

Old Soul (Tuff Gong Collective/UMe/Ghetto Youths International) is his first full-length project since 2016. The album explores a musical palette that spans a variety of cultures and genres, with hand-selected special guests furthering the spiritual journey that encompasses the album. Stephen and his older brother Ziggy collaborate on There’s a Reward, a heartfelt tribute to Joe Higgs, the man who mentored young Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer in Trench Town. Stephen’s younger brother Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley features on Cast the First Stone, a powerful, thought-provoking tune set to an ominous groove that sounds like something from a lost spaghetti Western soundtrack.

Stephen enlists his friend Buju Banton on the ska-flavored Thanks we Get (Do fi Dem), a Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry composition made famous by Junior Byles that explores the idea that no good deed goes unpunished. And Kyle McDonald of Slightly Stoopid joins on a verse on Standing In Love, a ballad that hearkens back to reggae’s sweet rocksteady era.

Eric Clapton laces up tasty lead guitar riffs over a powerful acoustified version of Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff, a song Clapton originally helped to immortalise.

Among the more unexpected selections embedded on Old Soul are a cover of Sinatra’s These Foolish Things (Reminds Me Of You), as well as Marley’s take on The Beatles’ Don’t Let Me Down.

In celebration of the new album, Stephen Marley will embark on his Old Soul Tour -Unplugged 2023 from September 8 to Oct 22.