Soldiers of Jah Army

Jacob Hemphill (vocals, guitar) and Bob Jefferson (bass) met in first grade shortly after Hemphill had returned with his family from living in Africa, where Jacob's father was IMF resident representative in Monrovia, Liberia. He and Jefferson then met Ryan Berty (drums), Patrick O'Shea (keyboards), and Ken Brownell (percussion) in middle and high school. After forming SOJA, they recorded their first album, the self-titled Soldiers of Jah Army, independently with sound engineer Jim Fox at LION and FOX Recording Studios in 2000. The band released their first full-length album, Peace in a Time of War, in 2002. SOJA then released a Dub version of the album titled Dub in a Time of War in 2005. In 2006, the band released Get Wiser, their second full-length album. It debuted in the Top 10 Reggae Albums on iTunes and has remained in the top 100 since its release. The album release party was held on January 6, 2006 at The State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia. It consisted of two separate sets, with the opening set being older songs, and the second set being Get Wiser in its entirety. The show was recorded and was released as a DVD, known as the Get Wiser Live DVD, on November 21, 2007. In January 2008, they released an EP titled, Stars and Stripes. That same month in Hawaii, SOJA recorded their live performances in Oahu, Maui, and Kailua-Kona. Those performances were released as a DVD, known as the SOJA ? Live in Hawaii, on January 8, 2009. SOJA released their third full-length album Born in Babylon on August 25, 2009. The band recently released their newest album "Strength to Survive" on January 31, 2012. In August 2014, they released the album "Amid the Noise and Haste" along with participation of musicians as Damian Marley, Michael Franti, Nahko, Anuhea, J Boog, Alfred The MC, Collie Buddz, Nahko and Mala Rodriguez.


Jacob Hemphill (vocals, guitar)
Bob "Bobby Lee" Jefferson (bass, vocals)
Patrick O?Shea (keyboards)
Ryan "Bird" Berty (drums)
Ken Brownell (percussion)
Hellman Escorcia (saxophone)
Rafael Rodriguez (trumpet)
Trevor Young (guitar) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.