Well, I think it's like Bob Marley said: 'A good man is never honored in his own land; he's got travel to make his name.'"

This was the response Coozie Mellers, guitarist, vocalist and band leader of the Bridgeport-based reggae group Anthem, gave when asked why his group is more celebrated outside Connecticut than within.

So, travel Anthem did. In between their previous shows at Fairfield's Bear and Grill, Anthem embarked on an Armed Forces Entertainment tour during which they performed in Korea, Japan, Hawaii, Guam and Kwajalein, a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Over the past decade, they've performed original music, done their share of summertime hey-do-you-know-the-theme-from-Cops? gigs and acted as the backing band for top reggae vocalists such as Judy Mowatt and Sister Carol.

Mellers relocated from Portland, Jamaica to Connecticut with his family when he was a boy. Reggae was omnipresent in the Mellers household but, as a young man, Coozie found that his tastes diverged. "My older sisters would always buy reggae and I heard it everyday," he recalls. "But all my friends were American guys listening to hip?hop and rap and that's what I liked. When I started out [in music], I was a rapper."

Later, Mellers had a transformational experience. "One of my friends put on Steel Pulse one night and I was like, 'Whoa, this is where it's at!' I learned one of the bass lines, and from then, it's just been reggae."

Before Anthem, Mellers worked as a solo artist, producing and recording several singles with legendary Bronx producer and fellow Jamaican ex-patriot Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes under his own name and as "Coozie Don." Most were moderately successful abroad but garnered little attention stateside. "I went to Japan twice through Bullwackies," said Mellers. "I also played all the instruments, except the drums, on tracks that Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Horace Andy sang on, but I didn't get the credit for it all." Thus for the same reasons many reggae artists have set out on their own, Mellers founded Anthem.

Much like the two British reggae bands Mellers cites as major influences—Steel Pulse and Aswad—Anthem performs a brand of diasporian reggae with a progressive edge not usually heard on recordings from Kingston. Even Anthem's status as a band—several musicians dedicated to crafting a sound and image collectively—is unusual in an industry that's now marketing the individual personalities of solo vocalists almost exclusively. And musically, Anthem switches gears in a manner unlike any reggae group.

For example, the minor chord progression and a stately melody of "I Have My Goals," from the 2004 Mack Ave Records release Are You Ready? is classic dramatic roots reggae. The band's harmonized voices relate a message of personal achievement and the drums and bass click into a somewhat edgy rendering of a traditional one-drop pattern reminiscent of Steel Pulse. The song is tightly arranged and performed entirely by instrumentalists; it is definitely the cooperative product of a band. However, Anthem's recent single, "The Way You Move," could not be more different. Here vocalist Rob Ellington rides a quick, choppy loop of bass drums, hand-clapping and keyboards, while crooning through a dense layer of Vocoder. This is a song for a lady—any lady—and it's the type of track one would likely hear pressed up against a few bodies under strobe lights.

While roots reggae is more popular in the U.S. and Europe, Anthem's newer bump-and-grinder "The Way You Move" is a song very much in the now of Jamaican popular music. Mellers asserts that some of the group's recent direction is the result of his bandmates' constant infusion of ideas. Currently there are four Mellers in the group: Coozie, his brother Charles on drums and their nephews Carey and Jermaine on bass and keyboards respectively. Also featured are Ellington's vocals, second keyboardist Eugene Medina and frequent guest saxophonist Jerry Johnson, a Connecticut resident who's toured with Steel Pulse.

"I think a lot of the younger American youths appreciate dancehall because it's so much like hip-hop," says Mellers. " Hip-hop came from early dancehall, basically. Some of the guys in the band, they were born here [in the U.S.], they bring their own flavor and all add their own take on the original sound. Sometimes we're accused of playing too many different styles or of being pop-ish but it's just Anthem being Anthem."

Despite the band's successes in far off lands like Kwajalein—Mellers said that about half of the island was at their concert—Anthem has yet to crack the Jamaican airwaves. Mellers hopes that the new video for "The Way You Move" will help. "Most reggae artists, everybody goes down to Jamaica and promotes their music. Somehow it seems that if you get the acceptance of the audience down in Jamaica your music just spreads."

While a following in Connecticut doesn't seem to have quite the same effect, Anthem's Aug. 18 performance at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport will (hopefully) introduce many to their tight and fiery live show. For Mellers, the opportunity couldn't have come at a better time. "Anthem went through a lot of changes over the years," he said. "But right now I feel the most confident I ever have with this ensemble."

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