She is one of the golden voices of reggae  music and after 45 years in the music business she continues to wow audiences.

She is best known for international reggae hits such as ‘Someone Loves You Honey’, ‘Telephone Love’, ‘Make It Up To You’ and ‘More Than I Can Say’, plus a number of other hit singles and 14 albums.

She is in Jamaica for Reggae Month and will have performances in Montego Bay and at the Wickie Wackie Music Festival.

A true Brit, JC was born in England but moved to Jamaica at the age of 10. Having established a vibrant career in Jamaica she moved back to Britain in late 2001 and has been carrying the reggae banner in that country since.  

She admits that living so far away from Jamaica as a reggae artiste can be a bit challenging. “Being in London we are a bit out of touch. I would say that the move to  London has not been beneficial to my career. It used to be a good platform with people like Susan Cadogan, Boris Gardiner, John Holt, Jimmy Cliff and others but now you can’t even get reggae played on the radio. It’s not like back in the day when I had my big hits and there were two radio stations in Jamaica and you knew your song was a hit once it started to get played. It would then filter throughout the world. Now there’s a plethora of online stations and its so diluted that you can’t be heard. I think that is one of the biggest problems we’re having.”

There is the BBC 1Xtra but they play mostly urban and street music. Mainstream radio does not list Jamaican/Reggae music.

Lovers’ Rock, a spawn of reggae music has a devout following the UK with people like Carol Thompson and Janet Kay showing as big stars but JC doesn’t fit in there. “I’m not a lovers’ rock artiste. I am a reggae artiste and I built my career in Jamaica. People like Janet and Carol built themselves up from the 70s so they have a good following in the UK and that is important.

But unfazed, JC and her manager Errol Omeally continue to work hard at production. “We are always busy with production. We do our own stuff but people like Jammys, Tads and Lion Face also reach out to us. But I find that it’s not good enough to just have good material. The real struggle now is to get the music heard, she said.”

Among the new songs she has out are “Better Days” in response to Hurricane Melissa and “Have a Little Faith” a multi-artiste effort produced by drummer Willie Stewart of Third World fame.

She is very big on songwriting and keeps working  hard on developing that side of her talent.

And she is eager to showcase her new works to the world. “I find that when I do get engagements people say ‘sing your hits’. Other artistes tell me the same thing. But if you don’t introduce new music you don’t grow. “

JC has been trying to break into the European scene for some time now and she admits it has not been easy. “The promoters of the festivals and the booking agents have a certain image that they are going after so if you’re not Rastafarian with dreadlocks you tend to be overlooked. We don’t see Beres Hammond much in Europe and he is one of the biggest draws in reggae music.”

With 2 major albums for former premier UK production house Jetstar Records, ‘Reggae Country’ and ‘Reggae Country 2’, her last independent album release ‘Passionfruit’ (2019), plus a string of singles for various UK and Jamaican based producers, she has maintained the quality that she was noted for in the days of her classic work. Among the producers she worked with in the hey days are Joe Gibbs, Willie Lindo, Donovan Germain and Gussie Clarke, as well as New York based Rap/R&B label, Tommy Boy/Warner and Washington DC imprint, RAS Records, UK-based Ariwa and Sony and Mercury Records in Japan.

With further singles in the pipeline for release in Jamaica, New York and Miami and also having recently given her first performances in Brazil, where her fanbase is extensive, JC Lodge is busy re-establishing herself at the forefront of Reggae both in Jamaica, the Diaspora and globally.