GoodVibrations:ClintonFearon

Clinton Fearon sneaks up on Guam

The very first time that reggae godfather Clinton Fearon visited Guam in 2007, he was intent on giving the 4,000-plus concert-goers a memorable show for the Hagåtña City Jams. It was the same motive when he returned late last year as the headline act for the Reggae in the Park concert series. Both times he delivered in style, spreading a message of “one love.” In doing so, he added a new generation of younger listeners to the fan base he’s cultivated for nearly 40 years. Yet somehow, this world-renowned recording artist managed to spend a quiet week on Guam in early May. He came to raise awareness for Guam’s endangered species. He flew in under the radar, his arrival unheralded. His visit missed the headlines and dodged the ad agencies, radio stations and beer sponsors. In the first performance of his trip on April 29 at the Outrigger Guam Resort’s Bambu Bar, Fearon opened a solo acoustic set to just 18 people. Of that audience, some were hotel staff and at least two of them were students doing their homework on laptops on the knee-high tables. The rest were treated to a remarkably intimate concert with perfect acoustics. This worldly performer, this Jamaican-born music missionary, this reggae cornerstone — a showman who could easily command a $20 ticket for several hundred Guam fans — was playing for free. He made a few more public appearances through the week and his grand finale — a free concert at Skinner Plaza in Hagåtña — drew at most 350 people. It was great anyway, say the duo of government wildlife biologists who dared to bring Fearon back to Guam. As far as Suzanne Medina and Cheryl Calaustro were concerned, the visit was a stunning success. “It’s a different agenda this time. Suzanne called me up and said ‘Let’s do something on the ko’ko bird.’ I asked her, ‘What’s a Ko’ko bird?’ Fearon says. “She said it’s a beautiful bird that’s going extinct and we want to restore them. We had a discussion of similar principles in Jamaica with some things there. So I told her I got to be there. I wanna do it.” Medina was thrilled. “Everybody does stuff about ocean. Nothing for the wildlife,” Medina says. “For years, we’ve been thinking about some kind ko’ko carnival. Cheryl Calaustro, she’s a wildlife biologist, same as me, so we just did it.” They did get some unexpected help. Lisa Lenckowski (pronounced len-KOV-ski), marketing manager of the Outrigger, sent out a press release with valuable information. The Outrigger was one of the major sponsors of the visit, which was part of the Fanihi Festival May 1, which was coordinated through the Guam Environmental Education Partners, Inc., the Guam Regional Environmental Network and the Guam Department of Agriculture. There were few public performances, none of them very large. He adopted a gang of similarly-minded musicians to play with him and dubbed them the “Ko’ko Band.” Besides the big one at Skinner Plaza and the tiny one at Outrigger’s lobby, he also played at Good Vibrations, plus a couple of performances at St. John’s school. “He just kind of chilled. One day I took him to the refuge, did some work in the building,” Medina says, “(and) he enjoyed the quiet time so much they asked to go back the next day.” But more than out of duty to the trip, Fearon gave a message from the heart: “One Love” means everyone can do something to make things better. “Where I came from, you could call me a nature boy, for lack of a better word. I love nature. I had trees that were my friends. Little birds used to come and eat my chocho leaves, the chocho blossoms, right beside me, and I’d be humming away, they wouldn’t be afraid of me,” Fearon says. “Later on, I learned about ecology and how everything is intertwined. We learn that everthing, all of is, is equally important. The ants are important, the bees, the birds, everything. We feed off of each other. We all coming from the same source. “I am really hoping that we don’t add to the damage already done over the years, that we have as much sense now as a whole, doesn’t matter what side of the fence you are. If we have a problem, then we ALL have a problem. So let’s get together, forget this, forget that and solve it and work towards this problem. That’s my hope.”