Mystic Roots member, Coot Wyman, better known as cootdog, DJed at a local bar called Lost on Main Street on Thursday night. The performance was part of a Bob Marley tribute featuring Slo Horizon and Stay Positive Sound.

Wyman and the rest of the Mystic Roots band started out playing backyard venues and local bars in Chico almost 20 years ago. They consider their style to be a subgenre of reggae.

“It’s reggae with a twist,” Wyman said.

The band relocated to Southern California for a while and managed to get a record deal, but the band has since moved back to Chico.

“That’s where we were when we got… our first major U.S. tours,” Wyman said.

Their first album, released in Chico, was titled Constant Struggle. It had songs on it that the band is known for like “Pass the Marijuana” and “Chico CalifornIA”.

Their second album, Cali High, was a collaborative effort with a reggae band from Hawaii. Since then Mystic Roots have produced two more full albums titled Campfire (no relation to the disaster), and Change, which was released last year and went number one on the reggae Billboard chart.

Now the band is aware of the broadening of their audience. As reggae fans get older and start to bring their kids to concerts, the range in attendees has expanded.

“We try to do a lot of all-ages shows,” Wyman said. “Our crowd is now like from every age. From little kids to college kids, to high school, to parents.”

Mystic Roots will be performing at the Senator Theatre on October 6th. To learn more, check out their website.

Emily Neira can be reached at [email protected].