Good Vibes 2013 Tour Guest Blog: Collie Buddz Celebrates Birthday in Lake Tahoe, Reminisces in Berkeley

Editor’s Note: TheDrop.fm asked performers on the Good Vibes tour to share their stories in a series of guest blog posts. Meet Collie Buddz, a reggae artist from Bermuda best known for his chart-climbing hit 'Come Around.' He has countless singles to his name and mixtapes centered on his reggae vibes and even launched a radio station, Vibe 103, in his native Bermuda.

Blog 1 – Aug. 17 at Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., & Aug. 21 at MontBleu Resort & Casino in Stateline, N.V.

Stepping out on stage in Berkeley and looking at 8,500 fans in the crowd was a special moment. Berkeley has always showed love, even when we started out by cramming 500 people into a little basement club, the Down Low, a few years ago.

The show was great, but like Matisyahu said in his blog, it is hard to remember specific parts of the show, because its such an adrenaline rush on stage! I know I’m always looking out at the fans, trying to make a connection and since it can be hard to understand what I’m saying with my Bermudian accent, I check to see if anyone knows my lyrics as much as this guy did last tour.

Marley from Rebelution is from Nor Cal, so he had lots of friends out at the Berkeley show. That dude is one of the really good people in music, maddd respect to him and all of Rebelution. We did a little tour in Hawaii with them last year and its always vibes. The Good Vibes Tour is really about that -- it's one big connected family with all the artists, the crew and the fans, like a house party for 5,000 of your closest friends!

After Berkeley, we played a sold out show in Rebelution’s hometown of Santa Barbara at the Bowl, and then another sold out show in Jacksonville, Ore., (yeah I didn’t know how we were going to drive from Santa Barbara to Florida in two days either), and then out to South Lake Tahoe [Stateline, N.V.] for a show outdoors at the MontBleu.

It was also my birthday! The whole tour surprised me and came out onstage and sung 'Happy Birthday' with everyone in the audience singing along. I got some great pics on my instagram @realcolliebuddz wearing a funny bday hat…. Hopefully someone got to eat that cake, because it was gone by the time I got backstage lol.

I can’t wait for the second leg of the tour kicking off in Boston, which is like my second home. In the meantime, I just got back home to Bermuda after shooting my new music video out in Las Vegas. It's going to be maddd! Back in Bermuda, I’m going to spend time with my family and keep working on my radio station, Vibe 103. Big up to TheDrop.fm for supporting reggae music!