Episode Transcript
Intro
Welcome back to Sharkbelly Nation. Today we're starting a new run of episodes, one band member at a time. And there's only one place to begin: the voice you hear first on almost every Elovaters song. Jackson Wetherbee.
He's the lead vocalist, the main songwriter, and the rhythm guitarist for The Elovaters. Over the next few minutes, we'll cover where he came from, how the band got started, and what he's been up to beyond it.
Roots
Let's start at the beginning. According to a profile in Power Fades, Jackson was born in Georgia and raised on Massachusetts' South Shore, with ties to Kingston, Duxbury, and Marshfield. That's the coastal stretch south of Boston that later became the heart of this band's story.
His own website says he started singing as a kid and taught himself guitar while he was young. The music that shaped him was a mix: old reggae and soul legends, plus Jack Johnson and Slightly Stoopid. If you've listened to The Elovaters, that mix makes sense. You get warm, soulful vocals, laid-back guitar, and a reggae rock backbone.
Finding the Band
The Elovaters formed in 2014 in the Boston and South Shore reggae scene. According to The Reggae Museum, Jackson has said he met drummer Nick Asta at a bar, and the two decided to try building an original band together.
Original is the key word. Plenty of bands in a local scene play covers to fill rooms. These two wanted their own songs. From there the lineup grew into the group listed on the band's official site today: Jackson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Nick Asta on drums, John Alves on lead guitar, Matt Link on bass, Greg Nectow on keyboards, and Derrick Cabral on percussion.
We'll get to each of them in future episodes. For now, let's hear Jackson at work.
Song break: "Gimme Love" by The Elovaters
Shark Belly Motel
Welcome back. The Elovaters' 2026 album, Shark Belly Motel, is the project that gives this show its name, and Jackson was at the center of it. The official album page credits him on vocals and guitar.
According to The Pier, he described the approach as trying to outdo the last album, with a bigger focus on songwriting. The band worked with producer Jon Joseph, and the goal was a more natural, live-in-the-room studio feel. The album was recorded at Harbor Martyr Studios in San Pedro, California.
So here's a band that started in South Shore bars, and a few records later was making an album in a California studio, aiming for better songs rather than just a bigger sound. That's a good snapshot of Jackson as a writer: he's pushing for craft.
Beyond the Band
Jackson's voice has also traveled outside The Elovaters. In 2023, the Dirty Heads released "Constellation," featuring Jackson Wetherbee from The Elovaters. It appears on the deluxe edition of their album Midnight Control. For a band from the South Shore, landing a feature on a track by one of the biggest names in reggae rock says a lot.
He's also released a self-titled solo album under his own name, Jackson Wetherbee, in 2010, which is on Spotify. I haven't found detailed interviews about it, so I'll leave the story behind it for another day. But it's a chance to hear him without the full band around him.
Song break: "Constellation," featuring Jackson Wetherbee from The Elovaters, by the Dirty Heads
Wrap-Up and Solo Album
Welcome back. That's the thread running through Jackson's story so far: a kid who sang early, taught himself guitar, soaked up reggae, soul, and surf-rock-leaning influences, then found a drummer at a bar and built a band from scratch.
If you want to hear where his songwriting lives on its own, here's your last track.
Song break: "Ages of Tomorrow" by Jackson Wetherbee
When you're done, head back to the Sharkbelly Nation playlist for more.
Outro
Welcome back. For tour dates, merch, band news, the Label page, and our new band member pages — Jackson's page is coming — head to sharkbellynation.com, and join the Sharkbelly Nation newsletter while you're there.
That's Jackson Wetherbee. Next time, we move to the band's engine room with drummer Nick Asta, the other half of that first bar conversation. Thanks for listening to Sharkbelly Nation.