André Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

Nasio Fontaine - Contributed

Dominican singer, Nasio Fontaine, is only one of the many artistes who reggae icon Bob Marley has influenced.

Though he grew up in Dominica, he was still under the influence of the flow of the music into his consciousness and it lifted his energy.

"I was a country boy. I just had to get use to what I grew up on. My love of music is from creation and my parents use to have to beat me sometimes beat to stop knocking on everything I found," Nasio, who is also of Carib heritage, said.

The youngest of seven children, Nasio can now look back at the one-room dwelling he shared with his parents and siblings with pride, knowing that did not stop him from becoming the artiste he is today.

Long before he could afford to buy his own instrument, Fontaine became creative and resourceful by using just about anything to accompany his vocals.

First instrument

"My dad, Atto, made my very first instrument, a piece of board with fishing lines for strings; it meant everything to me," Fontaine said in a quote on the Greensleeves website.

He knew he wanted to do music and he had a better chance of making it big at the neighbouring St. Maarten.

After much persuasion from his older sibling, he finally decided to check out what St. Maarten had to offer. It turns out it was a lot. While there, he saw musicians playing in the streets and just about every little hangout spot in town. That is where he got his first opportunity to sing in front of a microphone.

For the more authentic sound, Fontaine decided to spend a little of his time in Jamaica in 1994 working on his first album, Reggae Power. During that period, Fontaine also had the chance to work with some of Jamaica's best. His first album was followed by Wolf Catcher in 1997 and Revolution in 1999.

Now, music lovers around the world are familiar his Mufasa-like dreadlocks, his voice and his conscious lyrics. He speaks of revolution, of waking up the sleeping consciousness of the oppressed as well as the tales of freedom loving people across the Earth.

Greatest goal

"I want to make sure that black people have a right, and can stand up with equal rights and justice. My greatest goal in life is not a personal thing, but that this earth can be a better place," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Fontaine says he holds firm to his Rastafarian faith and believes he will one day return to the land of his ancestors. Fontaine's most recent album, Universal Cry, was released in last year.