Counter-clockwise, bottom left:
Ziggy, Stephen and Cedella Marley,
and Sharon Marley Prendergast.

"When we're in South America, Europe or the Caribbean, football is everywhere. We can just go out and get a game with some guys, but in America don't get a lotta chance," Marley said, checking in via conference call last week.

Marley, brother Stephen, sisters Cedella Marley and Sharon Prendergast, and the extended family entourage will be here for the "Reggae In the Country" festival Sunday.

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers are the headline attraction. Three other perennial local favorites Shaggy, Maxi Priest and Inner Circle will be joining the Marley clan for what promises to be Hawaii's biggest authentic reggae event. The show is the last on the Melody Makers' tour. The Grammy Award-winning quartet will return to Jamaica to start work on an album scheduled for release early next spring.

At present, they're still celebrating the success of last year's "Free Like We Want 2 B," an album that once again took the quartet in fresh directions.

What Marley likes most about his group's music is that it is not programmed.

"The universe is ours to explore. Every time we play music there's something new. There are critics who say that it's this or it's that, but we just do what we feel like so people can learn something from it. We're not trying to prove anything, we just trying to make true music."

The Melody Makers expanded its collective musical horizons but remained true to its political beliefs. The album addresses issues equally relevant in Hawaii post-colonial economics, high living costs and the alienation of native people from the land.

"Jamaica is much the same (as Hawaii) because America dictates to Jamaica. We are like an American colony sometimes. They send the helicopters (and) tell the Jamaican government to cut down all the herb tree (marijuana plants). Our poor farmers can't feed their children. American government coming into our country and telling us what to do. You don't do what we want, we treat you like Cuba.

"People must control their land to feed their people and not be looking to no other (nation) for a handout. We must be able to survive with what we have without being slaves to the American dream or the English dream. Our dream is what we can do for ourselves with what we have in our own community."

Marley adds that although he takes an interest in community affairs, he has absolutely no desire to get involved in politics.

Marley is far from the first entertainer to launch a career in the shadow of a famous father (consider Frank Sinatra Jr., Hank Williams Jr., Julian Lennon). He has long since established himself as a distinct and innovative talent, and generally accepts the seemingly inevitable comparisons.

"Some people might carry it a bit far, but it's only natural. I accept it when it is the truth. The people accepted us (from the beginning), but some critics make comparisons. The criticism I don't like is when they try to use our father against us or us against our father."

What: "Reggae in the Country" featuring Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, Shaggy, Maxi Priest and Inner Circle.
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Turtle Bay Hilton
Cost: $27, includes parking.
Call: 545-4000 or 800-333-3388
Note: Gates open at 11 a.m.; no coolers, outside food