
RON ADELBERG
Lauryn Hill with her son Zion Marley at Beardfest in Hammonton.
Lauryn Hill made a surprise appearance at this year’s 13th annual edition of the Beardfest music and arts festival at The Paradise Lakes Campground in Hammonton, performing with her son Zion Marley during his headlining set, June 27 (the second day of the five-day festival).
Beardfest was created by — and features annual performances by — the band Out of the Beardspace. This year, the group also backed Marley throughout his set.
As part of the set, Marley performed his new single “Marching,” which samples Hill’s vocals from her song “To Zion” (from her hugely successful 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill). At Beardfest, the song segued into “To Zion,” with Hill, and then Hill continued with songs including “Killing Me Softly,” “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop (That Thing).”
You can watch videos of “To Zion” and “Killing Me Softly” below.
Out of the Beardspace members Sam Gutman and Zach LoPresti are part of Hill’s current touring band, and also perform regularly with Marley and his brother YG Marley. Zion and YG are two of the five children Hill had with Rohan Marley, who is one of Bob Marley’s sons.
In addition to music by dozens of acts, Beardfest offers interactive activities such as community murals and workshops on subjects including yoga, hula hoop dancing, improv comedy, art therapy, and sound meditation.
“We always wanted to bring people together in a positive way,” said Out of the Beardspace co-founder Jeremy Savo in a recent NJArts.net interview.
Here are the videos:
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