We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rich Wilson, Brandon Kishbaugh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rich Wilson, Brandon Kishbaugh below.
Rich Wilson, Brandon Kishbaugh, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I have always been a music lover, I dreamt about meeting my favorite artists, going on tour, and making my own music, only problem was, living in small town Pennsylvania, there weren’t many opportunities, and I couldn’t play an instrument. needless to say, i gave up on the dream but not the passion. deep down, i knew there was a place for me in music, I just never thought it would be in Reggae! in 2011 my friend had gotten us tickets for the Sublime With Rome and 311 show in virginia, that’s the day Reggae saved my life! at that time in my life I was going through my own personal hell and was struggling just to make it to the next day. I was a cook at a college bar on main street in Bloomsburg, pa and I used to put in long hours and would listen to music to get through the shift. I was listening to a lot of “angry” and “depressing” music and I couldn’t figure out why I was so angry and depressed all the time! I then discovered the Pandora Radio app. excited that I didn’t have to change CDs anymore, I typed in, “sublime With Rome” and pressed play! Now I have known about Sublime and knew who Bradley was but never really listened to anything outside of their mainstream songs that was in rotation on the radio and MTV. Through my speakers, came a whole different vibe that I never knew I needed. I was introduced to bands such as Slightly Stoopid, The Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds, and that whole “Cali” style. The one drop beats and groovy bass lines had grabbed hold of my soul, and uplifted my spirit, and made me feel…. happy, and I wanted the world to experience how powerful Reggae music is! Fast forward a few years, I meet my wife and moved to the Lehigh Valley pa. in a new town, for basically the first time in my life, I did not have any local friends and depression was starting to set in again. I turned to Facebook to try to find a local music scene, instead I found Slightly Stoopids fan page, “Stoopid Heads” and met Sammy Winslow, the person that turned me on to Reggae music as a whole, and I really latched on to the “East Coast” roots style, with bands such as TreeHouse, Sun Dried Vibes, The Elovaters, The Movement, the list goes on. together with a few more Reggae fans we started a music promotion family named East Rock Roots, built a music venue in Sam’s backyard and had our own festival! Through East Rock Roots, I met and befriended bands such as LNJ Sessions, Ill Rendition, Trouble City All-stars, The Elovaters and Mike Pinto. I was growing a pretty respectful list of bands and artists and laying the foundation for what would eventually become, Rebel Sounds Rising. noticing, there weren’t really any reggae events in the Lehigh Valley or surrounding regions, into the tri-state, and not really any promoters pushing this music to the masses, a good friend and colleague, Mike Frassetto, owner of Movement Moves Media, reached out to me in 2021 to ask me to help him organize a reggae festival. that fest is known as One Earth Reggae Festival in Bethlehem pa and it is now the biggest free Reggae fest in the country! through One Earth, I was able to capitalize off of the relationships I made and decided it was time for someone to show the world how powerful this music really is and start promoting these artists, organize events, and give them a platform, I wanted everyone to feel what this music made me feel, and the world needed it! In 2023 I reached out to my long time friend and now business partner Brandon Kishbaugh, and asked him if he wanted to go into business with me bringing reggae to the masses. Together we built Rebel Sounds Rising from the ground up, and into a family of some of the best reggae bands and artists the east coast has to offer. With a network consisting of bands such as, LNJ Sessions, MSJR, Mighty Mystic, Space Kamp, Cultivated mind, Elephants Dancing and many more we have united the Tri-state reggae scene and connected artists with each other that turned out to be some amazing events and even studio albums. We have had the Honor of working with legends such as Sister Nancy, Red fox, 10 Foot Ganja Plant and Lutan Fyah, and couldnt be more excited for what the future holds for the Rebel Famly!
Rich Wilson, Brandon Kishbaugh, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Rich and Brandon are long time friends and music lovers who came from broken homes in small town Pennsylvania. Artist ourselves, with a love for hip hop music, and a talent for writing lyrics, we took our chance in rap music. due to either, lack of knowledge, immaturity, proper management, life choices, or all the above, it didn’t work out. With an understanding of how hard it is for artist and musicians to get their craft out to the world and a want and drive to help people, we set out to lay the foundation of RSR. we feel so strongly about the power of music that we dedicated our lives to doing everything we can to help independent artists, weather its promoting from our platform, sharing across social media, buying shows, running sound, finding venues or organizing festivals, we put the artist in the forefront and keep the bands best interests in mind when working with them. We treat our clients and their fans like family and make every event as special as possible so you will always remember working with Rebel Sounds Rising! when you see the Raised fist and headphones logo on an event or backing an artist or band, you can count on a quality show, with talented artists, and an unforgettable time!
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Brandon and I are long time friends, with similar backgrounds. We come from Broken homes in small town Pennsylvania. We had a mutual friend, named Ryan (I-Roc) Foster, who had a small in home studio and was a pretty talented producer. we all would go over to his “studio” and hang out, party, and try to make hip hop music. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Brandon, I’m not gonna lie, I was a somewhat egotistical artist and he made me swallow my ego, he was better than me! At that point in my life I was young and had a lot to learn, but I knew talent and I knew there was a place for Brandon in music and I was gonna help him find it. his ability to paint a picture with his lyrics draws you in, and makes you feel every emotion he is feeling. he had the ability to paint a picture with his lyrics so vivid, you felt you were in the song! As hard as we tried, and despite our talent, life set in and the universe had other plans for us. Brandon and I remained friends and even shared in some bad decisions but ultimately we traveled our own separate paths. Throughout the years, approx. 10, we learned some harsh life lessons had ups and downs met women and paid our dues, that path lead back to a promise I made when we were young, to find a place in music for us and build a place that will always feel like home for our friends and family! In 2023, with the support of my amazing wife I was ready to make my long time dream a reality and I knew that it had to be Brandon to accomplish this dream with me, A dream that we started together so many years ago, a dream we all but gave up on. with nothing but a phonebook of artists, bands, and industry people, that I put together throughout the years and an idea, I sent Brandon a Facebook message at the time in his life when he needed it the most, we purchased a pa system, booked and bought our first show and sealed our place in music…. We accomplished the dream we had together a lifetime ago!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe that we had to live life on life’s terms, make the mistakes that taught us lessons, own the choices we made no matter what the outcome was and not let our pasts define us, we had to grow and mature and face trials and tribulations, in order for us to have a real understanding and true empathy of what artists go through, in not just their professional carriers but in their personal lives as well. We firmly believe that our, humility, ability to connect on a personal level, lack of greed, and complete understanding of how hard it is to be an artist, along with our willingness to go above and beyond to make you feel like family, is what drives artists to work with us and fans to support our cause, it is our whole reputation and we are extremely honored and proud to carry the torch in this east coast reggae movement!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rebelsoundsrising.com
- Instagram: @rebel_sounds_rising_llc
- Facebook: Rebel Sounds Rising LLC
- Youtube: @RebelSoundsRising
- Other: [email protected]
[email protected]
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