Mishka

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to grow up on a 40-foot boat, sailing around the Caribbean, taking in the various island cultures, and soaking up their sounds. By day, you study — math and geography by charting courses on maps, history by talking to the natives, and recess with the beaches of Bermuda, Trinidad, and Jamaica as your playground. And that, in fact, was reality for Bermuda-born Mishka.

"In a lot of ways, it was idyllic," says Mishka. "It was beautiful, you know? In other ways, it was tough, a really rustic sort of life. But overall, it was a way of life I would prefer still to this day." Listening to Mishka's music, a soulful blend of reggae, roots, folk, and rock, one can tell it couldn't have been any other way. His third and latest release, Above the Bones, is rife with references to his seafaring beginning: Consider tracks like "Coastline Journey" and "Mountains Meet the Sea." Meanwhile, others, like "Higher Heights" and "3rd Eye Vision," examine the human spirit with uplifting positivity. Check Mishka out for yourself and see why Matthew McConaughey snatched him up as the first artist on his own j.k. livin' imprint.