The Love Healers Band
Research Project
Feb. 14, 2019
Caitlin Davis
Introduction
The Love Healers is an up-and-coming country reggae band based in Nashville. The Love Healers use Caribbean flavors with country melodies to create an authentic, original sound that includes messages about sharing love and the healing power of music. They have made appearances at many prime locations in Nashville including “3rd and Lindsley” and have performed on WSMV’s “Today in Nashville.” The core members of the Love Healers include Rasayana, Empress Xi, Thomas Davis and Zach Lockwood. They are planning to release their first single in the spring, with an album to shortly follow.
Primary Research
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Interviews with leading members Sasha (Empress Xi) and Ritchie (Rasayana)
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Interviewed a fan that saw them perform at the Bob Marley Birthday Bash
Secondary Research
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Evaluated social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube)
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Used search engines (Google, Safari, and Yahoo) with terms love healers and love healers band
Research Results
The Love Healers are a band whose message is love and healing. I sat down with the founding members Ritchie and Sasha and asked them some general questions to learn about how their unique backgrounds have led them to Nashville and to forming the Love Healers.
Ritchie is from the hills of the U.S. Virgin Islands but moved to Miami in his teens. He recalled the country lifestyle of those in his village and reflected on how these values are a big part of the Love Healers message – the laid back, country lifestyle where everything is good and nature is beautiful. Sasha lived in Jamaica until five years ago, when her mom got offered a job in Miami. Growing up in the foothills of the impoverished Jamaican countryside, Sasha was constantly around music … music that could make people come together and heal even in unfortunate circumstances. She says that she had always wanted to pursue music but did not want to pursue it for the wrong reasons such as money, fame or selfishness. She reflected on how when she met Ritchie, at a hair salon in Miami she knew the opportunity to work with him would give her a chance to use music to heal and share the message of love.
“Everything moves because of vibrations, and that’s what music is and once people start connecting with you, it’s kind of like you can do anything, and it’s perfect,” she said.
Ritchie has an extensive music background. When he was 19, Ritchie signed his first record deal with a reggae, R&B group called P.O.V. Shortly after, he started his own production agency called Nateka Technology. Through this company, Ritchie has built his portfolio as a writer, producer and singer/songwriter working with many Grammy award-winning artists such as Damian and Stephen Marley and Wyclef Jean of the Fugees.
The Love Healers hope to reach all audiences. They feel like their music has no racial boundaries and can reach all age groups, ethnicities and even religions. The only thing that they hope to achieve with their music is to bring people of all backgrounds together, in love and healing. They want their brand to be more than just a band – but an organization that serves others. In fact, they already volunteer to play at homeless shelters, food pantries and other local nonprofits and hope to continue to do this despite their success. They want their name to be associated with positivity, service, happiness and an overall view of a relaxed lifestyle where family and friends are the most important thing.
“We believe in oneness and awareness,” said Ritchie.
The Love Healers are most excited about releasing the songs “Down by the River” and “To the Fullest.” They are working on a deal with the Red Cross to use their song “Over the Storm” in commercials to encourage people to donate to disaster relief. Melissa Russell, who attended their latest show at the Bob Marley Birthday Bash, said that there was roughly 100 people in the crowd who were passively listening to the band before them. But when the Love Healers got on stage, people got up and started dancing. She said that she noticed people really getting into the music and you could just tell that the music put people into a happy place. When their set ended, the audience kept asking for more songs, unlike any response any of the other bands received. Russell said that she really enjoyed it even though she has never really been into reggae music before, but the way that Ritchie connected to every single person in the audience with the words he spoke really impressed her.
When looking at their social media, they have 1,754 followers on Instagram, 804 friends on Facebook and they do not have a Twitter however, there is a Twitter with the username “Love Healers” that seems to be a provocative account. They receive an average of 50 likes on Instagram, showing that engagement is very low. However, they tend to post both personal and band-related material on the same account. I asked them about this, and they said they want people to constantly see their real life and how their music fits into it. On Facebook, they have comments such as “love their music and their attitude,” and “This is music for the soul. I’m inviting you to listen for yourself.” The Love Healers released their EPK, which was done by a CMA videographer, two weeks ago. On Facebook, this video has 193 views and on YouTube, the EPK has only 17 views. On YouTube, the band has 14 subscribers and are consistent with posting videos from shows. I did find a “Love Healers Fan Page” on Instagram which has 90 followers and is just pictures of the band members.
When searching on Google with “love healers,” the first thing that popped up was three videos from their debut on “Today in Nashville.” The rest of the search results were about how love is healing and studies like that. I switched my search terms to be “love healers band” and their website was the second thing that popped up, however, the website was down. Most of the images were of the actual band pulled from their Facebook page. The last thing related to them that popped up was the “Rasta Country” label’s Twitter, which is who originally was producing this project. When I searched Bing the only results that appeared related to the Love Healers was their latest YouTube post from the Bob Marley Birthday Bash and further down there was a live video posted by Nashville Unexpected from their set in December. This result did show that there is another band called the “Healers” who released a digital album last March that is primarily punk music. The Love Healers’ website did not appear in the first two pages of the search results. Lastly, I looked at the Yahoo research results and found the same search results as Bing. Again their Facebook and/ or website did not appear on the first two pages but their recent live performance was the top hit.
SWOT Analysis
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Strengths: unique sound, humanitarian values, positive and attractive personalities, clear and defined goals, already have EPK, music that doesn’t fit just one genre so it is attractive to a variety of music tastes
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Weaknesses: small branding so far, not well know beyond Nashville, limited budget, highly competitive market
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Opportunities: connections with other producers and musicians in the Nashville area and around the country because of Ritchie’s past success, connections to local vegan restaurants to be a regular band, unique stories could be told all over social media
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Threats: other country reggae bands with better branding, getting lost in the search engines with all the “love healing” yoga, therapy, etc.
Summary: I see true success in my client’s future. Between of their many connections and how amazing their sound is, I truly think their personalities and beliefs will take them farther than even I can see. I think that what they believe in will stand strong no matter how big their success is. In the state of our country, I think we really need a band that just expresses love and healing, not any of the other terrible stuff that I feel like makes up today’s popular culture lyrics. I have personally felt the way the music gets into your bones and brings you joy, and I think people all over the country, and the world, will get that feeling whenever they hear the Love Healers.