Senya Show Some Love

Olive “Senya” Grant was a gifted songwriter and performer hailing from east Kingston. Blessed with a beautifully melodic voice and fused with the eternal grass roots spirit of social consciousness, struggle and perseverance, her musical development began when she was quite young in the early 1970s.
The young Senya was brought under the attention of Aston 'Familyman' Barrett by Bunny Wailer. In 1974 Familyman took Senya to Randy´s studio and, together with Clive Chin, created the haunting tunes 'Children Of The Ghetto' and 'Rootsman'. When Bob Marley finished building the Tuff Gong Studio at 56 Hope Road, Senya returned to the studio and recorded 'Natural Woman' and a new version of 'Children Of The Ghetto'. Senya can even be heard singing background vocals on the internationally acclaimed album and tune 'Jerusalem' by Alpha Blondy.
The next few years saw Senya recording at various other studios and releasing a consistent string of songs such as “Show Some Love” which was originally released on Jimmy Cliff's Oneness label in 1986, however produced by his aspiring nephew Ras Sipho who learned his production craft from the best being naturally exposed to the music and destined to become a producer himself.
During the latter part of the ‘90s, Senya was the head of the backing vocals group that toured with the Wailers band throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Brazil and the South Pacific including Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and New Caledonia. Filling in the gaps between touring, recording and performance dates, Senya also worked for the Reggae Sunsplash organization performing various administrative duties behind the scenes for roughly 16 years and even managed a successful restaurant for many years. Amazingly, in the midst of all of this she raised a beautiful family, making Senya one of the hardest working women in the business.
In 2001 she sadly transitioned away leaving many beautiful recordings to be explored and experienced. The Original Roots Dawta is greatly missed by all.