Former Rasta Rifiki member to showcase latest project at Gibbie’s

The Tom Batchelor Band is set to play Gibbie's Bar & Grill tonight, located at 368 High Street.

The five-piece band has performed its unique versions of reggae and rock at a variety of venues and festivals around the country, and said it is more than excited to return to the place where it all began.

Self-taught frontman and West Virginia University graduate Tom Batchelor said it's been a long road for him to finally get settled in where he believes he belongs in his music career.

Getting his start in island- infused Americana band Rasta Rafiki, Batchelor later became a part of local bluegrass/jam band The Recipe in 1997.

Sampling a variety of genres helped Batchelor find the musical confidence to form his own current group, The Tom Batchelor Band.

"I feel like I've joined forces with some of Morgantown's most accomplished musicians," Batchelor said.

He says he takes the most pride in the band's natural ability to take the live stage as it comes, without missing a beat, and its incorporation of multiple genres and styles.

"Live, we enjoy exploring all the realms of improvisational possibilities within the song structures, delving into genres as diverse as jazz, ska and country," Batchelor said.

Although the group has written original material, it often performs covers by classic names like The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan.

WVU senior accounting major Jim Sklencar said he is looking forward to checking the band out.

"I love Gibbie's as a venue, and it always has great bands that work well with the chill atmosphere there," Sklencar said.