According to their press release, “Grammy Award winning Bahamian band” Baha Men release their first album since “Holla!” in 2004. This year marks the 15^th anniversary of multi platinum international number one smash hit, “Who let the Dogs Out?”

Dyson Knight, a lead vocalist and one of nine members of Baha Men, spoke with The Seahawk about their new nine-track album, titled “Ride with Me” released Oct. 9. Other members include vocalists Rik Carey and Leroy “Breaka” Butler, bassist Isaiah Taylor, drummer Colyn “Mo” Grant, percussionist Anthony “Monks” Flowers, guitarist Patrick Carey, keyboardist Jeffery Chea and guitarist/music director Herschell Small.

“The songs on the album,” said Knight, “are all of the same island boy in the city vibe and flavor, but each offer a unique sound.  There’s some for the dance club and pop/radio cuts and some just chill music, but it’s all feel-good music.”

The press release states, “The album is an infectious blend of world music, Junkanoo, and American Top 40.”

They filmed the music video for new single “Night and Day” on Sanders Beach in the North end of Nassau, Bahamas with some scenes shot in their friend’s home.

Knight said more music videos are on the way. “We have scheduled two more videos,” said Knight. “One is for ‘Ride with Me’, the title track, and there will be videos for most of the album cuts.”

 “We haven’t been together over these years,” said Knight, “everyone kinda got distracted by life.” With most members performing solo acts close to home. Knight said none of the members were backed by a label during this time.

Knight attributed the group’s dissolution to their numbers. “With nine members, some of us wanted to stay on the international circuit, and others just wanted to chill. But Baha Men as a unit has matured.

So why release new music now?

“It came as a surprise to everyone,” said Knight, “about three years ago, we got back together and started rehearsing when asked to do a showcase for SONY Latin America’s conference at the Atlantis resort.”

During that performance, the CEO of SONY Latin America asked if the Baha Men were signed to a record label, and upon learning they weren’t, offered them a three-record deal.

According to Knight, “everything just started to flow after that.”

“I’m hoping we won’t forever be known as the singers of ‘Who let the Dogs Out’”, said Knight, “but we accept that it’s a huge song, even today being played in sports arenas and being used in movies, but we have nice cuts on this album and hope that some will be close to ‘The Dogs’ in terms of popularity, so we’ll move away from just being the ‘Who let the Dogs Out’ band.”

The “Off the Leash” track is reminiscent of their well-known hit in terms of sound and Knight said this strategy was used to catch the attention of old fans.

“We just wanna get out on the road, let everyone know we are performing and feel our energy. We will revisit areas we’ve been to before and hit the colleges again,” said Knight.

Knight said “Carrying On” is his favorite of Baha Men’s new tracks. “It talks about how teenagers and young adults carry on when they wanna party. They won’t let anyone stop them. And it’s the perfect song for markets we had before like Nickelodeon and Disney – I really think they’re gonna eat that one up.”

Baha Men performed on Oct. 10 in Rhode Island for Autumnfest, the band is waiting to gauge responses to the album’s release before playing what Knight called, “identification shows that let people know about the Baha Men and see if they like the new music.”

Knight said other band members have discussed North Carolina as a tour stop in the future. In coming releases, the Baha Men intend to collaborate with Pit Bull and Shakira.