Andrew Diamond

Andrew Diamond was born in Stanford, California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He started his musical career with a drum set that was given to him as a Christmas present when he was ten years old. He played in school bands and by the time he was thirteen knew that he wanted to make a career of music. It was about this time that, while listening to the college radio station KZSU, Andrew Diamond first heard reggae music. He was instantly captivated and started playing reggae.

In 1992 Andrew Diamond did two tours with The Native Sons of Portland, Oregon. They toured Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. In 1993 Andrew joined the San Diego California band, The Cardiff Reefers. Andrew spent two years with the Cardiff Reefers touring and recording before he left the group to study recording studio engineering. In 1995 Andrew Diamond toured with Jamaican reggae artists The Itals. His friendship with Itals singer David Isaacs prompted Andrew to visit Jamaica for the first time. In Jamaica Andrew started recording with many of Kingston's notable studio musicians including; guitarist Dwight Pinkney, percussionist Bongo Herman, and singer Winston Jarrett. In 2000 Andrew Diamond invited Winston Jarrett to come to the US for the first time to tour and perform at the Sierra Nevada Music Festival. Andrew Diamond started The Solid Foundation Band to back Winston Jarrett on this tour. With the success of the Winston Jarrett performances The Solid Foundation Band continued to tour with other Jamaican artists including; Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica, Everton Blender, and Richie Spice. In 2002 Prezident Brown asked The Solid Foundation Band to be his backing band.

In 2004 Andrew Diamond moved to Jamaica. He was the Resident Engineer at Geejam Studios in Port Antonio, he also started to write and record songs for his debut album, ?Diamond in the Rough?. After two years in Jamaica Andrew moved to Washington DC and released, ?Diamond in the Rough? on his own SUB80 Record label. He turned the drummer's chair in The Solid Foundation Band over to one of Burning Spear's drummers, Nelson Miller, and stepped to the front of the stage as a singer. In 2007 Andrew Diamond performed with Prezident Brown on four US tours and his album, ?Diamond in the Rough? won the Top 10 Reggae Albums of 2007 Award from 1.FM ReggaeTrade Radio.