GRAMMY-NOMINATED reggae group the Wailing Souls has announced plans to donate a portion of the profit from its new album, Equality, to the Trench Town Development Association. Members Lloyd 'Bread' McDonald and Winston 'Pipe' Matthew are the initiators of the project.
"Our roots run deeply in this community, and we are in a position to give back something to the people who are our family, our friends and our fans. The town gave us so much love, kindness and strength, while we were recording Equality and this is our way of saying thank you.
"With the support of our record company, Musicblitz, we decided to give the Trench Town Development Association a percentage of every album that is sold," the group said in a release.
Musicblitz will also make an additional donation each time a Wailing Souls song is downloaded from its websites www.musicblitz. com and www.reggaeblitz.com.
According to the release, the songs are available at no charge to users, who log on to the site.
In response, Michael Smith, chairman of the Trench Town Development Association said: "The Wailing Souls is the only musical group, outside of Bob Marley, who left Trench Town and returned to give something back to their birthplace. The entire community of Trench Town feels that 'Pipe' and 'Bread' have brought a renewed sense of life back to the people."
The group returned to Trench Town in June to present the association with a joint donation from the band and Musicblitz and to tour the Trench Town Culture Yard, Jamaica's first inner-city heritage tourism project.
